A Cryptocurrency ETF is a type of exchange-traded fund that has a little bit of exposure in the asset segment. And like a coin, you can also purchase it on a major stock exchange.

Sounds pretty attractive, right?

Well, it is, to some extent. 

On paper, an ETF can be a good option for people who’re considering investing in the market at a lower sort of investment. But, when it comes to Crypto, your options in this aspect will be a bit limited due to the infancy of the investment genre. If you are interested to know more about it, read more here.

But, if you still want to explore this genre, you will have three alternatives on your hand. Here is what you need to know about them.

Types of Cryptocurrency ETFs

Investing in a Crypto ETF can be quite tricky, especially for a first-time investor. Therefore, it is always better to learn as much as possible before putting your money into it. Hopefully, we can help you out in this aspect through this article.

1: Crypto Stock ETF.

A Crypto Stock ETF is created or made up of one or more companies that own Crypto. But an organization, that has a part of its business in the arena of Cryptocurrency, can be added to the same category too. The BITO (ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF) is an example of it.

2: Actual Crypto Fund.

An actual Crypto fund is a type of ETF that’s been sold previously to an accredited investor. It has now been released by them and is currently available on an OTC exchange. However, the ETF is not sold on a conventional marketplace, like the New York Stock Exchange.

3: Bitcoin ETF.

As the name implies, a Bitcoin ETF is based on BTC. Therefore, you can purchase them on public markets. But, here’s the thing. A Bitcoin ETF doesn’t hold BTC. Instead, they tend to have or contain a derivative, such as a future contract or something as such.

Why Would You Want a Crypto ETF?

Investing in an ETF can be an excellent option for people who don’t have the time to research anything but want to create a diversified profile nonetheless. When it comes to investment, Cryptocurrency should be a single part of your diversified portfolio. But, if you still want to diversify your money, even more, it’s best to opt for an ETF.

Nonetheless, if you want, you can also diversify your Crypto portfolio without investing in an ETF. For example, if you want to go straight up into it, it might be best to do some research or invest directly in the Cryptocurrency market. You can also cooperate with an investment expert to learn more about the market and invest your money accordingly.

Benefits of Crypto ETF

Although Crypto ETFs have been here for quite some time, it’s still not being accepted as a form of payment in many countries. In any case, if you own something as such, you will be benefiting from the following -

• An ETF provider will be responsible for the fund’s safety and so on. Thus, the overall security will be quite high in this aspect. There’s no need to worry about anything.
• An ETF is much more affordable than a Cryptocoin, like BTC or Ether. However, it’ll be quite volatile, as it’s directly associated with Cryptocurrency.
• The learning curve of investing in an ETF may seem a little difficult at first. But, it’s a much better and easier option once you get a hang of it. 
• Owning Crypto ETFs can save an investor from various expenses like network fees or transaction charges. The less you have to pay, the better.

The Final Say!

Cryptocurrency ETFs are, indeed, safer than you may have guessed. 

However, again, the market is volatile, after all. So, it’s better to learn more about how you’re going to invest there properly. If it’s your first time, I would ask you to talk to someone who’s an expert in this aspect. The better people you talk to, the higher your chance of getting more and more money will be. Also, if you are confused about something, make sure to ask about it in the comment section below. I will try my best to help you out in any way I can.

As war and corrections plague the market, stocks left invested could lose significantly. As a result, many investors are looking for ways to increase their investments’ security by placing their money in safe havens to hedge their bets against a market downturn. Discover these 6 safe havens to invest your funds in during market downturns this year. 

1. A high-yield savings account

Maybe you like to play it safe when investing in safe havens. That’s good news since safe havens are low-risk places to stash your funds. 

If you’re interested in a low-risk haven, consider placing your money in a high-yield account at Discover, Synchrony, Citi Bank, or Marcus by Goldman Sachs. 

• These offer high-yield savings accounts at 50% APY and charge zero fees (some terms and conditions may apply). 

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), your money is insured for up to “250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category.” This guarantee also applies to any initial funds that you deposit and any accrued interest. 

The FDIC, which started in 1933 at the end of the Great Depression, was designed to stabilise the nation’s financial banking system. 

Keep in mind that while safe havens have many pros, there are also some cons attached to investing in these areas. 

The first con is inflation. Inflation rises at an average of 3.10% in the U.S. each year. Over the past year, inflation has soared in almost every area, from fuel to utilities, to grocery bills. The second con is slow growth. 

If you place your cash in an account with no interest, your stash can only grow as you add to it. So, even though a high-yield savings account will give you maximum interest, it doesn’t have the potential to grow as fast or at as high rates as other (riskier) types of investments. At the same time, a high-yield, FDIC-insured savings account is one of the safest havens during a market downturn. 

2. Index funds, Federal Treasury ETFs, and government bonds

One of the top safe havens to nest your money during a downturn lies with the U. S. government. Whether you believe that Fort Knox is stocked with gold or secretly empty, there are few more stable places to keep your funds. 

Index funds differ from market ETFs in one significant way: they are not exchange-traded funds. Unlike ETFs, you can only buy or sell index funds at the price that the market sets at the end of each trading day. This makes index funds generally less volatile than ETFs. 

If you’re interested in stock market investing but want to hedge your bets, do your research, and then discuss a balanced and risk-averse portfolio game plan with a reputable investment adviser to get started. You can invest in index funds that cover everything from robotics to gold mines, health care to real estate, pharmaceuticals to fintech, etc.

One of the most stable investments in safe havens involves federal ETFs or savings bonds. As debt securities issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, savings bonds sometimes garner low returns, but they are also fully backed by the U.S. government. 

Unlike mainstream bank accounts, be aware that the FDIC’s insurance doesn’t cover stocks and bonds. You can find several market ETFs that give investors access to a broad range of government bonds. Treasury ETFs rank high for reasonable interest rates and usually give more back to investors than other types of bonds available on the market. For instance, from November 2021 to April 2022, the typical U.S. Treasury bond offers investors a solid 7.12% interest rate. 

The good news is that you don’t have to pay a fund manager to perform an ETF investment for you. Instead, you can buy your own Treasury bonds. As a bonus, Treasury bonds are highly liquid. When you decide to sell your bonds, there will always be a buyer. 

3. Utilities stocks

Essential utilities such as water, electricity, and waste disposal services are so common that many investors don’t even know to invest in these types of safe havens. Even during market downturns and economic issues, most Americans will do whatever it takes to keep the lights on, the heat or AC running, and keep the minimum utility standard. 

• Because there is always a lot of demand for utility stocks, they are some of the safest investments you can make.

They’re the kind of defensive stock that grows during prosperity and stays above water during hard times. Utility stocks usually increase in value, but they also pay investors some of the highest dividend rewards in today’s market. These dividends offer a safe haven security option even when the stock dips or flatlines. 

4. Real estate

As Mark Twain once famously said, “Buy land. They’re not making it anymore.” While real estate comes with risks, it can also offer rewarding growth. Some risks to watch out for can include tenant problems, a high vacancy rate, rental property damage, or negative cash flow. If you’re looking for a safe haven investment, renting out land to farmers is a popular option. 

You don’t need to know anything about farming or even get your hands dirty to take advantage of this option. According to the USDA, almost half of the 911 million acres of American agricultural land is rented out to farmers by non-operator landlords.

Some of the world’s billionaires made their fortunes in real estate. Bill Gates owns the most privately invested farmland across 19 states. Need any further convincing? Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, doesn’t know about farming. Nevertheless, he’s owned a prosperous farm in his home state for 30 years. 

5. Precious metals

It’s no secret that precious metals are a stable and popular choice for safe havens in today’s market. 

Gold and silver remain two of the oldest currency forms. Global economies used to back their paper currency with gold, silver, or other precious metals. This offers continuous economic stability. 

When there is a downturn in the economy, people buy precious metals like gold bullion or precious metal ETFs, which stay or even rise in value.

6. Cold, hard cash

You probably knew that this one would make a list. As the king of financial safe havens, it’s hard to argue against storing at least some of your assets safe in purely liquid form. Moreover, it’s probably a smart thing to do. 

Since no investment is ever completely risk-free, cash offers a sense of security. Of course, you won’t earn any dividends or interest on your cash stash. But, likewise, you won’t gain potential growth if the cash isn’t invested in a bear market. 

If you don’t feel like stuffing cash in your mattress, another option is digital assets. At the same time, holding a cash reserve is the most stable safe haven of all. It can give investors peace of mind, but it means that you have the money you need to secure your future in case an economic downturn occurs. 

Do Your Research 

Research the company to find out how many employees they have, what their revenue is, and whether or not it's profitable. Investing in a company that has too much debt can be detrimental to your portfolio because their assets may become worth less than what you paid for them. On the other hand, investing in companies with better liquidity also means better protection against volatility.

Evaluate the company's management team and make sure that they are competent in their field of expertise. If you're investing in a technology-based company then you might want to research whether or not they have patents on their products. It will also be better if they have patent licensing agreements because it means that other companies will distribute their products. 

Don't invest in a company if you don't understand the industry or its competitors better than they do themselves. No matter how tempting it is to invest in stocks with high potential, make sure that your investment portfolio has a good balance of risk and reward so that you're diversified across different sectors. Not only will your risk be better spread out, but you will also have a better chance at higher returns.

You should also explore online sources for you to have a good idea of whether the platform you are interested in will foster revenue. This is where you may come across Capitalist Exploits reviews that will allow you to assess its viability as well as reviews of other broker platforms that you can also potentially use. Investing in the market can be a profitable venture, but only if you know what you are doing.

Be Patient - The Market Will Go Up And Down

You should also be patient, as the market will go up and down. This means that even if you are sure that the market will go down, don't sell your investments right away. Wait for a better opportunity to do so. This could prevent losses and make it easier to collect profits later on. Remember that it's better to be patient and take advantage of opportunities than it is to get caught up in any kind of market hype. This approach will help you make better decisions for your investments that have better overall results.

You should keep an eye on trends as they happen, but you should never blindly follow them. If an investment looks better than the others to you, then it might make sense to invest in it for that reason alone - don't give in to any kind of hype from other investors or influencers.

After you've made a trade, don't dwell on it - instead focus on the next one and think about how to do better next time. You should also work out your strategy so that you know what moves to make in every situation. Also, be sure not to take any unnecessary risks with your money.

Create Goals For Yourself 

You should know what you are investing for or how much risk you can take for you to be able to create goals for yourself. You should also take the time to better understand the markets. A better understanding of what you are investing in is essential to your success as a trader because it can help cut your losses and increase your gains. The best way to go about this is with research and knowledge. Take some time to learn all you can about how these investments work so that when financial news arises, you are better equipped for it.

It can also be helpful to better understand the personality traits of an investor; many people think that they don't need a lot of risk in their life because they're not comfortable with taking chances and investing is risky enough but what these investors fail to realise is this: research shows that those who invest with a higher level of risk will better their chances at making money.

You should also take the time to consider your personality, as an investor and what you want out of life; for example, if you like risks in small amounts or think that they provide some fun and excitement into your day then this is something to keep in mind when investing

Diversify Your Portfolio With Different Types Of Investments, Including Stocks, Bonds, And Mutual Funds

A better strategy would be to invest in a diverse range of stocks or funds so that no one decline affects you too severely. You could also choose ETFs which are better at managing risk. If you're not confident in an investment's return, don't go all out with it. Rather, diversify by holding other assets. The better trader will diversify by holding other assets. So, for example, if you have a lot of investments in the stock market but are not confident that they'll be successful, then it might make sense to invest some money elsewhere - like bonds or real estate.

Don't Panic - If You Think A Stock Is Too Risky For An Investment, Don't Invest In It

Don't panic when the market declines. Rather, have faith that it'll eventually bounce back to what you paid for your shares. Don't let your emotions dictate how much risk is too much for you. If there's a particular investment that scares you, then it might not be worth holding onto in the first place.

It is important to be mindful of how you invest and what your goals are to make the most out of your money. When investing, it's always a good idea to research before you buy anything, diversify with different investment types (stocks, bonds, mutual funds), set up alerts so that if there is any news about the company you're invested in and don't panic! All these are geared towards ensuring that you make the most out of your investment and become a better trader.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Thursday that it will commit $2.5 trillion towards sustainability and development initiatives over the next decade.

$1 trillion of the pledged funding has been earmarked solely for investment in green projects, including renewable energy and clean technologies.

The $2.5 trillion target for investment, which begins in 2021 and will run through to the end of 2030, will also be concerned with facilitating transactions to support socioeconomic progress in developing nations.

In 2020, the bank said it facilitated $220 billion worth of transactions that it designated as supporting sustainable development, which included $55 billion in green initiatives. The total exceeded its $200 billion target for the year.

Last week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon issued a letter to shareholders naming climate change as one of the world’s biggest issues alongside poverty, economic development and racial inequality, which he said the bank was engaged in trying to solve.

“Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — the main cause of climate change — requires collective ambition and cooperation across the public and private sectors,” he wrote.

ESG investment rose to greater prominence in 2020, with many asset managers launching funds to capitalise on the wave of interest. JPMorgan launched its first green ETF in December 2020 and in February it revealed that global sales of “green bonds” might hit $150 billion this year.

[ymal]

However, some climate organisations remain concerned that JPMorgan is not doing as much as it could to support climate action. In 2020, the company’s total fossil fuel financing came to $317 billion, greater than any other major US bank.

The good news is that it's now easier than ever to join the ranks of the world's millions of active traders in a number of different ways.

For instance, you can hire a broker and purchase shares directly, use a trading app, buy CFDs (contracts for difference), join a DRIP (dividend reinvestment program), sign up with your employer's stock purchase plan, and get in on the action in other ways. Here's a short list of how people from all walks of life are getting involved in the securities markets. Note that you aren't limited to only one way because it's legal and common to use two or more methods at the same time.

Traditional Stocks

You can always take the traditional route and call a brokerage firm to place an order for shares of your favorite corporation's stock. This method has been around for more than 100 years, and people still use it. However, with all the speedy technology available today, and the ability to bypass traditional brokers, this way of getting involved in securities trading is not as popular as it once was.

CFDs: Contracts for Difference

If you prefer to use an online broker, as millions of people do every day, CFDs offer a fast, inexpensive way to take part in the action of the global securities exchanges, either as a buyer or a seller. CFDs are unique instruments that let you go long or short, with no commission, by purchasing a contract rather than directly buying shares. That contract is essentially a prediction that you make about whether the underlying stock will rise or fall in value. They're one of the simplest ways for new and experienced traders to get involved in today's fast-moving markets.

CFDs are unique instruments that let you go long or short, with no commission, by purchasing a contract rather than directly buying shares.

Trading Apps

Some investors prefer to do everything on their mobile devices, which is why some of the trading apps have become wildly popular. It's easy enough to follow multiple prices and securities, make instant buys, sell just as quickly, and do it all from your handheld device, tablet, laptop, or virtually any computer that's connected to the internet. Keep in mind that you can combine just about any of the popular apps with your own brokerage account. Most of the better online brokers offer site-based apps, programs, and platforms that can do just about any kind of analysis you need. Plus, you can use nearly all of them on your mobile device as long as you download the software from your brokerage site.

ETFs and Mutual Funds

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds are two of the common ways for investing enthusiasts to gain exposure to a broad range of companies or sectors at the same time. They behave much the way index funds to but with a narrower focus. For example, you might select an ETF that tracks the entire healthcare industry and is made up of 20 or more stocks in that particular niche. When healthcare, as a whole, does well, so does your ETF. Mutual funds work pretty much the same way but tend to come with more fees and not offer as direct a connection to specific market segments.

DRIPS

Dividend reinvestment programs have been around a long time but are enjoying a new surge of popularity among first-time and experienced investors. When you join a DRIP, there's usually a small fee, but after that all your purchases are commission-free. When one of your holdings pays a dividend, the amount is automatically reinvested into the portfolio in the form of a fractional share. If your DRIP doesn't offer fractionals, then the money is simply held in your account until the amount is sufficient to buy another whole share. DRIPs are an effective way for account holders to magnify the power of their dividends by plowing the money directly back into the portfolio.

[ymal]

Employer-Based Funds

If you're lucky enough to work for an exchange-listed company, it's possible to buy a set number of shares at reduced prices on a set time schedule. Many companies allow workers to purchase five shares, for example, every month for slightly less than market value. Most of these employer-designed programs forbid buyers from selling for a certain amount of time, like one year or six months.

US markets are bracing for a shaky run-up to Election Day on 3 November, with fears of an unfavourable outcome in Washington compounding already existing fears of the COVID-19 pandemic and the halting of negotiations over further economic stimulus.

Stocks fell sharply on Monday on the back of two record days for recorded coronavirus cases in the US. The S&P 500 fell a full 1.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq slumped 2.3% and 1.6% respectively. Overall, the markets experienced their worst day in a month.

Signs of caution were also seen elsewhere as Treasury yields pulled back from last week’s high and remained steady at 0.8% through to Tuesday. The Cboe Volatility Index, often referred to as the market’s “fear gauge”, rose to 32.46, the highest closing level seen since 3 September.

Worries were further compounded by news that the Senate would adjourn from Monday until 9 November, effectively ending hopes of passing a COVID-19 stimulus package before the election.

At the moment, investors appear to be banking on a victory for Joe Biden, with many buying stocks in cannabis and alternative energy on the expectation that they will benefit from his proposed policies. Bond yields have also climbed, in part due to expectations of greater stimulus under a Biden presidency.

However, these options slid somewhat on Monday, with bond yields dipping and the Invesco Solar ETF falling 2.1%.

[ymal]

Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel, said that the precipitous drop in the stock market on Monday was “to do with the lack of a stimulus package and concerns about the pending election”. “There’s nervousness on both those issues,” he noted.

We’ve witnessed the quickest, most turbulent bear market, followed by an equally speedy recovery. Over the past six months, the S&P 500 index has gone up by 47%. Throughout this time one thing has remained constant — heightened levels of volatility, and an ever-increasing lack of liquidity. There’s some strong evidence that leads us to believe that those two factors are not a product of the post-crisis market structure - on the contrary, it seems that they led to a large part of the recent rally. For the past few months, the S&P volatility index managed to stay above 25, except for a few trading days. When we look back a couple of years, this level is concerningly high.

Why are we seeing these volatility levels?

Some believe that this has been caused by the crazy speculative trades initiated by Robinhood traders who can be found bragging about their losses over at r/wallstreetbets[1].

While that is definitely a part of the equation, we don’t believe that bored college students have the financial capacity to actually move the market, no matter how bold their levered trades are.

A lot of factors suggest that the new high volatility environment stems from a structural change in the markets — the move to passive investing.

The underlying factor — demographics

Different surveys have demonstrated the tendency of younger investors (people aged 18–35) to invest the majority of their capital in index-tracking ETFs. Older investors, on the other hand, are still reluctant to ride on the passive wave and keep their holdings in actively managed funds. With every year passing, however, some of them reach retirement and start liquidating their investments. The redemptions are always a drag on active fund performance, since they force the managers to sell their favourite stocks, and cover shorts at inconvenient times, and that only exacerbates the problem. This feedback loop led to unprecedented outflows out of active managers. The migration from active to passive has only been accelerating in the past five years and it has led to the total dominance of passive investing.

In 2019 alone, actively managed equity funds had outflows of $41 billion, while passive equity funds saw an inflow of $162 billion.

According to a paper[2] released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, passive funds now make up 48% of AUM in equity funds, up from 14% in 2005.

“So what…”, you may think, passive investing leads to a better risk-adjusted return, right? Well yes, but actually no. At least not for too long. To cite the favourite sentence of the SEC:

Past performance is not indicative of future results

Like every other strategy out there, popularity might also cause the demise of passive ETFs. The underlying theory behind passive investing is the efficient market hypothesis. The case can be made that if every market participant is actively trying to take advantage of mispriced equities, prices start reflecting all available information. That can never be achieved to 100%, but it can definitely get close. In order for the theory to hold up, there has to be a competitive active management field, constantly trying to squeeze every decimal of alpha that exists in the market.

If, however, 50% of all investors are passive and do not care about valuation, arbitrage, and all of those “useless methods”, the efficient market hypothesis begins to crack. We’re seeing this exact thing right now, with large-cap US equities, which are priced way above any reasonable model or expectation.

The fact that when fewer market participants are involved in active price discovery, markets tend to behave in strange ways tells only half the story.

The biggest concern caused by the massive influx of capital into passive investments is the constant level of high volatility, and the reduction in liquidity, especially in the stocks with the highest market capitalisations.

While everyone is commenting on how the Fed is flooding the market with liquidity, perhaps that’s just not reaching the equity markets. Considering that we are at the same level on the S&P500 as in February, now the liquidity is nowhere to be found.

We believe that the reason for the unprecedented V-shape recovery that we witnessed in US equities is mainly caused by the lack of liquidity caused by the growing share of passive investors on the market. When thinking about passive ETFs, we realise that they are not actually passive. They are just like active managers, but with crazier rules. For instance, most passive investors just hold onto their shares while the market is down, and sometimes even purchase more. This means that the index-tracking funds are almost always in a position of net capital inflows and they have to keep buying shares. One question quickly arises — if no one is selling, who are they going to buy from? That’s exactly how prices explode. When the available order book for the biggest company — Apple was at $2.5 million, in a day in late August, and considering that on a good day, $1 billion could flow into the iShares SPDR S&P 500 ETF, that means that the asset managers of the ETF are obligated to buy 60 million dollars of Apple in a single day. Well, what happens when there is $2.5 million worth of shares for sale at the current price, and you need to buy $60 million? Easy — you just raise the price to entice more sellers.

This correlation between the discontinuous fashion in which the market operates and the rise of passive investing has also been discovered in a couple of studies[3].

The results show that arbitrage activity between ETFs and the underlying securities leads to an increase in stock volatility. Moreover, consistent with a deterioration of pricing efficiency, ETF ownership and flows appear to make prices diverge from random walks, both intraday and daily. These findings lend support to the conjecture that liquidity shocks in the ETF market are propagated, adding a new layer of non-fundamental volatility.

Long story short, the ever-increasing share of passive investors leads to an increase in market fragility, both to the upside, and the downside.

The solution

In this new market environment, when daily price moves are exacerbated by a lack of liquidity and the huge buy/sell orders from passive asset managers, the only way we see to reduce portfolio risk and drive a positive alpha return is to be long volatility. Unfortunately, long volatility strategies are not as easily applicable to a retail portfolio as in a professional setting, but we need to see at least some tail-hedging applied by retail investors, or the risk of a go-to-zero event is just too high. If we see the share of passive investors increase even more to above 50%, the levels of volatility that we might experience could change our perceptions of risk and break a lot of the existing models in the space. In the post-2020 world, we’ll be sailing in uncharted territory as, evidently, there’s a new market structure, and when it comes to market shocks — we’ve seen nothing yet.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/

[2] Working Paper | SRA 18–04 | August 27, 2018. Last Revised: May 15, 2020 The Shift from Active to Passive Investing: Risks to Financial Stability? Kenechukwu Anadu, Mathias Kruttli, Patrick McCabe, and Emilio Osambela

[3] Working Paper | Do ETFs increase volatility? Itzhak Ben-David, Francesco Franzioni, Rabih Moussawi

Hamzah Almasyabi, co-founder and CEO of the gold-buying platform Minted, outlines the benefits and drawbacks of adopting an investor trading app.

Some of the best-known investment apps, such as Freetrade, Trading 212, Plum and Moneybox, have reported a strong uptick in customer numbers since the start of March, when the UK Government’s lockdown restrictions were imposed. However, in truth, consumers had become more interested in managing their own finances online well before the pandemic. Some platforms have noticed more interest, particularly from younger online investors, who are attracted by the familiarity and gamified nature of the latest investment platforms across a range of asset classes. Equally, older people or more experienced online investors have been exploring ways to make their money go further, sometimes with a view to bringing forward their retirement.

The convenience and simplicity of many new generation investor trading apps is helping to democratise the world of investor trading. It is allowing people to invest in stocks and shares, or precious metals and other commodities, using their mobile phone, while sitting at their own kitchen table. Of course, there are risks but there are also incredible opportunities for people who want to get involved.

When considering investing online for the first time, it makes sense to try out various platforms before starting to invest actual cash. Some platforms offer newcomers a chance to spend virtual money, just to see how their investments might have fared in the real world. Such ‘try-before-you-buy’ services also allow users to test the app’s functionality and make sure it suits their preferences. However, convenience and user-friendly architecture shouldn’t be the main criteria when deciding where to invest for the first time. It makes sense to download a number of options, try them out and compare the terms and conditions of their offer carefully.

When considering investing online for the first time, it makes sense to try out various platforms before starting to invest actual cash.

In some cases, the precise nature of the investment opportunity may not be clear, particularly to the novice online investor. For example, some platforms may appear to be offering a chance to buy stocks and shares, when in fact they are just giving the investor exposure to any movement in the value of the shares. If the investor wants to own shares, this may not be the right option for them.

In a climate of significant stock market volatility, interest in ‘safe haven’ assets such as gold has increased significantly. While there are fewer gold-buying platforms to choose from, there are still some important differences to be aware of. Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are popular with some individuals because they provide an easy way of gaining exposure to any increases in the value of gold, whilst still having easy access to the funds if they are needed. On the other hand, gold investors looking to the longer term may prefer to own a physical asset, which has intrinsic value in countries around the world. Buying physical gold can now be achieved without incurring excessive entry and exit costs, making it possible for people with modest amounts of cash to invest incrementally in this luxury asset for the first time.

Before becoming an online investor, individuals should take a step back and consider their personal and financial objectives, taking into account the amount of money they can afford to invest and their risk appetite. These factors will not only influence their choice of asset class, but the features they look for when considering different investment platforms. If any platforms appear to be downplaying risk, over promising returns, or pushing the investor to spend money within a certain timeframe, they should be treated with caution.

[ymal]

As long as investors have taken the right steps to prepare themselves and understand the potential risks and rewards, online investing can be an empowering and enjoyable experience. What started as a new habit during the pandemic, could have a positive effect on financial wellbeing.