Setting Investment Objectives to Reach Your Goals

We all need to create an investment plan and set realistic investment objectives. This course shows you how to do that.

Created byHOWLING WOLF LEARNING NETWORK

Last updated 8/2012

English

What you'll learn

Learn the 5-step process for setting investment objectives.
Understand the correlation between risk and return and how they impact your investments.
Implement manager selection.
Establish an ongoing evaluation methodology.

Course content

4 sections • 14 lectures • 37m total length

Introduction to the Investment Process4:24
Investing is not haphazard. Beating the market is not a science and timing matters. Learnthe importance of having an investment process.
Introduction To The Investment Process 2:00
A successful investment plan does not evolve from thin air. Nor does it come to you from the come-on ads on any one of a thousand news sites. Least of all, you canʼt ﬁnd it by reading last weekʼs winners in USA Today. It requires a process. A well-deﬁned process that follows a methodology to itʼs logical conclusion. Thatʼs what we develop in this session: the steps and components to a logical methodology to develop a successful investment plan. The methodology helps you come to realistic expectations about your future, and will help you create a plan to get there. Think of the process as a GPS for your ﬁnancial future.
Determining Investment Objectives2:48
The place to start to determine your investment objectives is by examining your current financial circumstances.
Setting Objectives5:30
Once you know where you currently stand you need to examine your goals and needs to establish specific objectives for each pool of your assets.
Setting Objectives2:00
The identiﬁcation of investment objectives which reﬂect your needs and goals is in itself a process. The ﬁrst step in the process is to collect sufﬁcient ﬁnancial and demographic information, your needs and goals, and current expectations in order to clearly articulate investment policy appropriate for you.
Sample Investment Questionnaire6:00
This document has a series of questions that helps you determine your investment objectives.

Risk5:39
You need to think of risk in your own terms. For many the greatest risk is running out of money.
Understanding Risk 3:00
There are risks you can't control. Like something called systemic risk, for instance. If you learn to accept risk as a normal part of investing, you can develop asset allocation and diversiﬁcation strategies to help ease the impact of these situations. Knowing how to tolerate risk and avoid panic selling is part of a smart investment plan.
Return Vs. Risk9:51
Risk is often compared to returns as a way to evaluate it. It is called "risk-adjusted return". We will look at the risk/return relationship.
Understanding Return4:00
The return on your investment portfolio helps you evaluate the progress youʼre making toward your ﬁnancial goals. For example, if your long-term projections require that you achieve an 8% annual return, you may have to reallocate your assets if your return falls below that mark over a period of time. What complicates the picture is that inﬂation reduces the buying power of your investment return, as well as your investment income. If the inﬂation rate is 3% in a year that your investment provides an 8% return, your real return, or return after correcting for inﬂation, is 5%. The greater your real return, the larger your account value grows.

Implementation - Manager Selection5:42
The last step in building a portfolio is selecting a manager(s), fund(s) or other vehicles that can fit your strategy and objectives.
Implementation Manager Selection 4:00
Implementation: Manager Selection. To create an investment strategy to match your investment objectives, the ﬁrst step is to consider an asset allocation among stocks, bonds and cash with some limitations on each such as listed below.

Ongoing Evaluation3:43
Investing doesn't stop with building a portfolio. It requires continual evaluation and monitoring to assure your objectives are being followed.
Ongoing Evaluation 2:00
Ongoing Evaluation. At this stage, with the asset allocation and investment analysis portion of the investing process complete, an uninformed or inexperienced party may think that the art and science of investing had run its course, and a ﬁnancial advisor (if you have one), need do nothing but send quarterly monitors, and collect their fees; however this perception could not be more incorrect. After your money is invested, the art and science of ﬁnancial advice has only begun. To be successful, your helper must stay actively involved in the management of client assets.

Description

We all need to create an investment plan and set realistic investment objectives. We will show you the pieces.

Successful Investing: Risk, Return, Diversification and the Investment Process. This crucial first step is essential for creating a sound investment plan. Investing is not haphazard. Beating the market is not a science and timing matters. This course details the one step you have to take to set successful investment strategies in motion.

Core Topics:

Intro to Investment Process

Determining Investment Objectives

Setting your Objectives

Risk

Return vs. Risk

Setting Investment Objectives to Reach Your Goals

What you'll learn

Course content

The Investment Process6 lectures • 23min

Understanding Risk vs. Return4 lectures • 23min

Implementation - Manager Selection2 lectures • 10min

Ongoing Evaluation2 lectures • 6min

Description