Five timeless principles for investing success
While investing in volatile times can sometimes challenge your discipline and commitment, there are timeless principles to include in your investment strategy that can help ease your mind and keep you focused on the long term.
1 Think diversification
It’s rare for any investment to repeat as a top performer from one year to the next. Diversifying across various economies, businesses, countries, and popular investment classes can help spread risk and reduce the potential for underperforming assets to affect your portfolio. However, it's just as important to keep in mind that diversification doesn't guarantee a profit or eliminate the risk of a loss.
Equities
Calendar year total returns (%)
Source: Manulife Investment Management, Bloomberg, as of December 31, 2023. Total returns are shown in local currency or in USD for multimarket indexes.
Fixed income
Calendar year total returns (%)
Source: Manulife Investment Management, Bloomberg, as of December 31, 2023. Total returns are shown in local currency or in USD for multimarket indexes.
2 Be rational, not emotional
In good times, investors are excited; they want to invest more and often buy high.
When markets turn negative, investors become fearful and decide to cut their losses and sell low.
Stay disciplined and committed to your long-term investment plan to avoid riding the emotional roller coaster.
An investor’s emotional roller coaster
Source: Manulife Investment Management. This chart is an example and does not represent the performance of any actual investment. This is not meant as investment advice. For illustrative purposes only.
3 Missed days mean missed opportunities
The difference between investment success and disappointment can boil down to a few days of being in or out of the markets.
By staying fully invested and not missing the best 20 investment days over the last 20 years, investors would have more than doubled their investments.
Growth of $10,000 in S&P Index from 2013–2023 (total return)
Source: Manulife Investment Management, Bloomberg, as of December 31, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. You cannot invest indirectly in an index. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
4 Measure performance over time, not overnight
Accept the fact that markets will rise and fall but, over time, markets have always moved higher.
Taking a long‑term perspective can help you stay the course when markets move from crisis to opportunity and back again.
Despite setbacks, the S&P 500 Index shows growth over the long term
Growth of $10,000
Source: Manulife Investment Management, Bloomberg, as of December 31, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. You cannot invest indirectly in an index. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
5 Turn market volatility to your advantage
By investing a fixed dollar amount in regular intervals, dollar cost averaging can help you buy more units of an investment at lower prices and fewer at higher prices.
This helps take the worry out of making a single lump-sum investment at the wrong time.
12-month comparison ($)
$12,000 single lump-sum investment vs. $1,000 monthly investment using dollar cost averaging
For illustrative purposes only.
Discover how timeless investment principles can help you manage risk through all market conditions and improve your investment results.
Contact your advisor.
Important disclosures
The views presented are those of the authors and are subject to change as market and other conditions warrant. This commentary is provided for informational purposes only and is not an endorsement of any security, mutual fund, sector, or index. Any economic or market performance is historical and is not indicative of future results, and no forecast is guaranteed.
The S&P 500 Index tracks the performance of 500 of the largest companies in the United States. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market -value-weighted index that tracks the performance of all stocks listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The Russell 2000 Index tracks the performance of 2,000 small-cap companies in the United States. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is the benchmark Canadian index that tracks the performance of companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The MSCI Europe Index tracks the performance of large- and mid-cap stocks of developed-market companies in Europe. The MSCI All Country (AC) Asia Pacific ex Japan Index tracks the performance of large- and mid-cap stocks across developed and emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan. The Nikkei 225 Index is a price-weighted equity index that tracks the performance of 225 companies that are listed in the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Index tracks the performance of listed real estate companies and real estate investment trusts in developed markets on a free float-adjusted basis. The S&P Global Infrastructure Index tracks the performance of 75 companies from around the world that represents the listed infrastructure industry.
The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index tracks the performance of U.S. investment-grade bonds in government, asset-backed, and corporate debt markets. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index tracks the performance of U.S. investment-grade bonds in government, asset-backed, and corporate debt markets. The Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate, nominal debt issued by the U.S. Treasury. Treasury bills are excluded by the maturity constraint but are part of a separate Short Treasury Index. The Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Investment Grade (IG) Index tracks the performance of the IG, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bond market. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Securitized Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Index tracks the performance of investment-grade U.S. securitized MBS. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. The Bloomberg U.S. Credit Index tracks the performance of the investment-grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate, taxable corporate and government-related bond markets. The Intercontinental Exchange Bank of America (ICE BofA) U.S. High Yield (HY) Index tracks the performance of below-investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds in the U.S. domestic market and includes issues with a credit rating of BBB or below. The ICE BofA Canada Broad Market Index tracks the performance of publicly traded investment-grade debt denominated in Canadian dollars and issued in the Canadian domestic market. The ICE BofA Canada Government Index tracks the performance of Canadian-dollar-denominated sovereign debt publicly issued by the Canadian government in its domestic market. The ICE BofA Canada Corporate Index tracks the performance of Canadian-dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds issued by Canadian firms. The Bloomberg Emerging Markets (EM) U.S. Dollar Aggregate Bond Index is a flagship hard currency EM debt benchmark that tracks the performance of USD-denominated debt from sovereign, quasisovereign, and corporate EM issuers. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Financial markets are volatile and can fluctuate significantly in response to company, industry, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. The information provided does not take into account the suitability, investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs of any specific person.
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