Fact
Risk comes with investing - you can’t avoid it entirely but you can manage it through asset allocation

Fact
Investment classes and styles move in and out of favour

Fact
Even the best managers don’t stay on top for long

Diversification:

• is the most common way to manage risk by not placing all of your eggs in the same basket
• assumes you can’t be right all of the time - it hedges your bets by investing across the spectrum of asset classes, investment styles and money managers
• is prudent - effective if not very exciting
• is an investment approach designed to meet your long-term goals without requiring a lot of your time and energy

Over the long term, the purchasing power of cash is eroded by inflation, so the only way to maintain or grow your wealth is to invest - not necessarily just in equities (stocks and shares) but in the other asset classes of cash, property and bonds. Unfortunately, many individuals now equate investing with equities.

Prolonged periods of rises or falls in the prices of stocks or bonds are part of the normal investment cycle. If you invest for the long term, you have longer to ride out the ups and downs of the markets and consequently have a better chance of seeing your investments grow.