Once you have used your personal financial plan to decide how much money you have to invest within an asset class like the stock market, you still want to ensure you diversify within that asset class.
In other words, if you have 5,000 dollars to invest in the stock market you should not put it all in one stock or even in a set of related stocks that could all lose value simultaneously. For example, I am not diversified very effectively if I spread my investment across 5 stocks, but they are all banks… or all oil companies… or all technology companies. If everything goes well I may feel like a genius, but I am also taking a significant risk if something disrupts a whole sector. If I invest in all oil-related stocks, then I am subject to the changes in the price of oil affecting my entire portfolio.
There are many options for investing, even in how to diversify. One way to diversify is to invest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that represent sectors of the stock market instead of single stocks. Another way is to pick specific stocks but make sure they are diversified (e.g. maybe 1 financial, 1 oil, 1 tech, 1 healthcare, etc.). However, the more specific you get in investing in individual stocks, the more homework you need to do to keep up with each individual company and what may affect the stock price. You should never just buy and hold without continuing to follow the stocks or groups of stocks you hold. You should visit the performance of your investments and underlying sectors or companies on a regular basis.
Many are well served to consult an investment professional. However, even those who rely on professional investors to help them should do their own homework to understand the recommendations and investments that they are making. You would not just tell a real estate agent to buy a house for you… you go with them, look at the data, look at the specific houses, you get their input but you make the decisions. The same is true for investing.
For those still trying to find out what diversification across sectors of the stock market means, or for those trying to find effective ways to steward their investments, there are many valuable tools to give you information at a quick glance with the opportunity to drill down for more detail. I found one example of a good tool for sector analysis at Fidelity. You can start with a sector overview and drill down for more information within each sector. I have included a picture below as an example of different sectors of stocks. In the live version, you can click on the “+” and drill down further on their website.
I hope these quick thoughts help you stay properly connected to your investment decisions!
Remember that all you have belongs to God. Manage your money God’s way. Visit GrowGodsMoney.org .