Topic: Growth Stocks

4 ways to cut your risk — and improve profits — in your aggressive portfolio

Our Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund is one of four “pooled funds” we offer as part of our Successful Investor Wealth Management service. The fund takes its name from our Stock Pickers Digest newsletter, which focuses on investments that would be suitable for your aggressive portfolio.

Our pooled funds operate like traditional mutual funds. They give us a way to offer investment management to investors with smaller portfolios. They also give investors with larger portfolios a way of investing in specialized areas of the market.

Our Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund brings a conservative approach to aggressive investing

We launched our pooled funds on December 18, 2002. All four (including the Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund), follow the risk-averse philosophy of investment quality and diversification that we advocate on TSI Network, and in our newsletters and investment services.

This approach has paid off for holders of the Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund: from inception until February 28, 2010, the fund posted a return of 95.4%.

Here are 4 principles we use to select aggressive picks for the Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund. You can use all of them to lower the level of risk in your aggressive portfolio.

1. Hold a diverse aggressive portfolio: As with your more conservative holdings, we recommend that you cut your risk by spreading your aggressive holdings across the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities). Compared to a conservative investor, you may choose to invest more heavily in Manufacturing and Resources, the two riskiest sectors. If so, take care to spread your money out across the many industries within each of these sectors. That way, you protect yourself from an unforeseeable industry downturn.

For a rising portfolio

Learn everything you need to know in 'How to Find the Best Growth Stocks' for FREE from The Successful Investor.

Canadian Growth Stocks: CGI Group, CAE Inc., Fortis Inc. Stock and more.

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2. Downplay stocks in the broker/public-relations limelight: Another key part of our philosophy is to downplay stocks that are in the media/broker limelight, since it fosters bloated investor expectations. When stocks fail to live up to those expectations, brutal downturns follow.

Applying that aspect of our conservative philosophy to an aggressive portfolio leads us to stay out of most new issues in our Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund. That’s because most new issues come to market when it’s a good time for the company or insiders to sell. That’s rarely a good time for you to buy.

3. Focus on investment quality: You’ll want to avoid loading your aggressive portfolio with “penny mines” (speculative mining stocks that have not yet proven they have a mineral deposit that can be mined at a profit). You’ll also want to buy few, if any, “concept stocks” — junior industrials that have a business plan but have not yet established a business, much less made a profit or paid any dividends. Stocks like these expose you to a serious risk of total loss.

In contrast, the companies you’ll find in our Successful Investor Stock Picker Fund have established a business and have at least some history of building revenue and cash flow. They are well beyond the risky start-up phase where so many companies fail.

4. Look for hidden value: Another key factor we look for is hidden assets. By hidden assets, we mean assets that are getting less investor attention than they deserve. When assets are wholly or partly hidden or ignored, a stock trades for less than it’s worth. So buyers get a bargain. These stocks are also more likely to attract takeover bids from corporate acquirers, who are usually looking to buy asset bargains, just like us.

Some assets stay hidden indefinitely. But most of our aggressive picks have other pluses that give them above-average value — rising sales, good balance sheets and a strong hold on a growing market.

Our Successful Investor pooled funds are just one way that we can manage your portfolio for you. Click here to learn more about how you can profit from our Successful Investor Wealth Management services.

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