Pitfalls of market timing

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Don’t become distracted by short-term volatility

Trying to navigate the ups and downs of market returns, investors seem to naturally want to jump in at the lows and cash out at the highs. But no one can predict when those will occur. Fortunately, there are a number of time-tested strategies that may help you deal with market volatility. Two of the most prevalent are: invest for the long term, and maintain realistic performance expectations when it comes to returns.

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Pound cost averaging

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Instilling a sense of investment discipline

Pound cost averaging is an investing strategy that can help to smooth out the effects of market volatility and reduce your overall risk. Investing at regular intervals can be a good idea to help smooth out the ups and downs of the market.

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Investment funds

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Influencing your investment choices

There are many reasons to invest through a fund, rather than buying assets on your own. At a basic level, investing in a fund means having a fund manager make investment decisions on behalf of the investor.

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Unit trusts and open-ended investment companies

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Sharing many traits, but also having important differences

Pooled investment funds are usually large funds built by aggregating relatively small investments from individuals. A professional fund manager (or a team of fund managers) determines which assets to invest in and then purchases accordingly. They are also known as ‘collective investment schemes’.

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Investment trusts

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Seeking value everywhere

An investment trust is a public company that raises money by selling shares to investors, and then pools that money to buy and sell a wide range of shares and assets. Different investment trusts will have different aims and different mixes of investments.

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Individual Savings Accounts

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Minimising the amount of tax you pay on your investment returns

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are a ‘tax-efficient wrapper’ enabling you to minimise the amount of tax you pay on your investment returns. Some ISAs give you instant access to your money and can be used to plan your finances for the short term.

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