A Detailed Guide to Portfolio Management

You must invest your money to ensure a stable financial future. You may choose from different types of financial instruments to put your money in. An investment portfolio is the collection of various products like stocks, mutual funds, bonds, fixed deposits, cash, and other assets. Read on to know everything about managing your investment portfolio.

What is portfolio management?

You may choose different financial instruments to add to your investment portfolio based on various factors such as the investible surplus, investment horizon, financial goal, risk appetite, and much more.

The process of selecting the right financial products to maximize returns while minimizing risks is known as portfolio management. It considers individual requirements to achieve an ideal portfolio mix.

Why is portfolio management required?

The portfolio management process helps you determine the most appropriate investment plan based on your income, capital, financial goals, age, and risk appetite.

With the right portfolio management services, you can build wealth over the long term. Portfolio managers offer customized solutions and recommend the most beneficial products based on your requirements and objectives.

What are the objectives of portfolio management?

The objectives of portfolio management are as follows:

• Creating wealth through capital appreciation
• Protecting your earnings from market volatility
• Maximizing returns on investment (ROI)
• Offering flexibility within your investment portfolio
• Improving the proficiency of your investments
• Allocating available resources optimally
• Optimizing the risk

Types of portfolio management

Portfolio management services can be classified under the following four types.

Active management

The primary objective of the portfolio manager is to maximize returns. Generally, a majority of the investible surplus is used to buy and sell securities for higher ROI.

Typically, the manager will buy stocks when they are undervalued and sell them for a profit when the price increases.

Passive management

Under passive management, the portfolio manager aligns the investments to match current market trends to earn fixed returns.

Generally, the investments are in index funds that deliver steady but relatively lower returns over the long term.

Discretionary management

When you opt for discretionary investment portfolio management, you authorize the manager to take care of your financial requirements. You provide a certain amount to the portfolio manager to invest on your behalf.

Additionally, the manager takes care of documentation, filing, and other paperwork. Based on your financial goals and risk appetite, the portfolio manager has complete authority to choose the financial instruments they deem the best.

Non-discretionary management

In this case, the portfolio manager will offer advice on the different investment options that suit your requirements. However, the decision to invest or not entirely lies with you.

Who should invest in portfolio management services (PMS)?

The following individuals are recommended to opt for professional investment analysis and portfolio management services.

• Those who are looking to invest in different asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, mutual funds, and others but do not have the required knowledge and expertise.
• Individuals who do not have the time to regularly monitor their investment portfolios and make the required modifications.
• Those who have limited knowledge about the investment markets and do not understand the influence of market movements on different asset classes.

Different ways to manage any portfolio

Portfolio managers may adopt various ways to manage investment portfolios. Some of these are as follows:

Asset allocation

Your money is invested in market-related and fixed-income securities to minimize risk while maximizing ROI. The asset allocation depends on your risk profile and financial objectives.

Diversification

The investment portfolio is diversified across various products and is revamped to achieve the ideal balance between risk and reward. It can deliver risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

Rebalancing

The investment portfolio is regularly monitored to rebalance the instruments to align with changing market conditions. It aims to include assets that deliver higher profits at minimal losses.

Portfolio Management Process

• Identify suitable goals, such as capital appreciation or stable ROI
• Estimate potential returns and related investment risks
• Asset allocation to achieve the optimal risk-reward ratio
• Determine investment strategies that align with your investment horizon and risk profile
• Conduct extensive research and analyze various financial instruments to make informed investment decisions
• Regularly monitor and evaluate the portfolio to maximize capital efficiency
• Rebalance the asset allocation to maximize returns

Tools and methods of portfolio management

Generally, scoring techniques are adopted to arrive at accurate financial decisions to increase ROI and make strategic decisions for investment project portfolio management. The two common scoring techniques are as follows:

Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) Method

It uses regular arithmetic operations like multiplication and addition. The attribute values are numerical and comparable.

Weight Product Method

The weights are exponents linked to each attribute value. The method assigns positive power for benefit attributes and negative power for cost attributes.

The steps to derive scores and weights are as follows:

• Identification of applicable non-monetary attributes
• Providing weight to the attributes based on their comparative importance
• Scoring the alternatives to reflect the performance of each option against every attribute
• Calculating the weighted scores
• Testing the results for accuracy
• Interpreting the results

Factors to consider before investing in PMS

One of the most important things to consider is understanding what portfolio management is before availing of such services. Some of the other factors to consider are as follows:

• Analyze risks like interest rates, inflation, market, and others.
• Such services come at a cost like performance fees, management charges, exit and entry loads, brokerage, and much more.
• To make an informed decision, evaluate the past performance of the portfolio manager to determine how much returns they have delivered.
• Ensure the chosen service provider offers transparent investment philosophy and decision-making procedure and gives regular updates on your portfolio.
• Understand the investment strategies adopted by the PMS to ensure it aligns with your financial goals and requirements.
• Determine the quality of the portfolio manager based on factors like experience, qualifications, and historical performance.
• Make sure the chosen PMS is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Efficiently managing your investment portfolio helps build an ideal asset mix based on your goals, risk profile, income, investment horizon, and age. With an experienced and expert portfolio manager, you may reduce the potential risks and maximize returns with customized solutions.

If you are looking for a mutual fund portfolio analysis tool, you can use our Mutual Fund Portfolio Analyzer for easy understanding about how your mutual fund investments are performing.