When clients ask if their investment is safe with InvestSMART there are two main categories they are referring to; investment risk and the security of their investment.
Investment risk:
When you invest in anything other than a term deposit, you are taking risk. Investing is not about avoiding risk; it is about balancing risk with return and having an understanding of the risks associated with each asset class.
The InvestSMART team build investment portfolios designed around different risk profiles from conservative through to high growth. These portfolios hold the same asset classes and ETFs, but the weighting allocated to each asset class varies depending on the risk profile. The portfolios are designed to wear the bumps of the market.
Additionally, we recommend this article on how ETFs can help you manage risk.
Security of your investments:
We take the security of our investors accounts seriously and have built our service around this:
All client's investments are CHESS sponsored. They are held on a HIN in the client's name. This means the client is the legal owner of the shares and not a beneficial owner.
Clients are able to transfer out their holdings.
Investors can enable two-factor authentication for account login.
Two-factor authentication is required for all account changes.
Bank level web security keeps client information safe and secure (that's our 256-bit SSL/TLS certificate).
What can investors do?
Investors can give their investments the best possible chance by selecting a portfolio in line with the same timeframe as their goal and risk appetite. Additionally, the best defense against volatility is time. Sit tight and allow your portfolio to recover. All investing comes with volatility and occasional uncertainty but, as the famous investor Charlie Munger says, never interrupt your compounding unnecessarily.