“The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator.” – Ben Graham
Financial planning activities and investment decisions have emerged as significant sets of actions in the lives of individual citizens and corporate organizations alike. Arriving at portfolio planning decisions remains a central aspect of these activities. A portfolio plan is “an overall strategy that guides day-to-day decisions on investing for the long term. Portfolio planning takes into account the investor’s goals and tolerance for risk, among other factors.” Planning a financial portfolio may include participation in stock markets, the purchase of debt instruments, investing in various classes of assets, buying government-backed securities, making short-term investments, etc. Corporate organizations may develop a portfolio “to include products or services, ongoing projects, properties, inventory, and everything in between.” It would thus be possible to embark on portfolio planning decisions through the agency of connected visual constructs – these are also known as flowcharts.
- Planning for the Short-Term
An individual investor may embark on short-term investments as part of undertaking portfolio planning decisions. These investments may include liquid mutual funds, fixed and recurring deposits, debt-based mutual funds, and equity-linked money market schemes. A flowchart can assist the individual investor to map these various types of investments in the visual domain; sections of these diagrams can also assist investors to evaluate the returns generated by these instruments. Subsequent versions of portfolio planning decisions may flow from a survey of these illustrations, enabling the average citizen to sharpen the short-term investment perspective. Flow-based renditions of portfolio planning decisions can serve as guidelines for new investors, and also serve to educate investors and participants in modern financial markets.
- Coping with Debt
Personal debts represent a fact of life in contemporary times. Thus, a clear assessment of debts incurred by an individual remains a central aspect of activities focused on developing portfolio planning decisions. Experts aver individuals must work to reduce the levels of personal debt – by making efforts to rank the interest rates that apply to credit cards, for instance. A flowchart can assist this enterprise by describing the various forms of debt and developing re-payment schedules that resonate with the abilities of each individual. Concurrently, the diagram may feature the build-up of assets that can bolster the scope of portfolio planning decisions. In essence, the flowchart takes shape as an interesting document that helps expand the financial profile of individual citizens. A survey of these diagrams can also spur new thinking that may infuse variety into acts of arriving at portfolio planning decisions.
- Managing Risk through Strategies
Market realities and the specific requirements of individuals may influence the course of actions that help reach portfolio planning decisions. In this context, an individual investor may consider a variety of risk management strategies, the impact of inflation and taxes, an effective diversification of asset categories, methods to preserve accumulated wealth, and more. It would serve well to examine each of these factors within visual spaces and establish connections between these factors and portfolio planning activities. For instance, the individual appetite for risk may govern the adoption of various risk management strategies; similarly, the quanta of income earned by an individual may influence his/her investments into diverse asset categories. These variations can emerge within the spaces of flowcharts, upgrade our awareness – thereby allowing the emergence of multiple representations of portfolio planning decisions.
- The Impact of Disruptions
Portfolio planners must consider the nature/impact of disruptive events when designing the contours of portfolio planning decisions. In this context, disruptions may emerge in the form of slowdowns in national economies, a reduced rate of return from investments deployed in financial markets, the prospect of trade wars among nations, new stances issued from market regulators, investor sentiments affecting the performance of markets, among others. Hence, it would become possible to re-balance the composition of portfolios given these factors. This activity must be planned within the spaces of flow-based diagrams, and assessed for viability before implementation. Disruptions can also be assessed through various perspectives, and therefore, re-balancing may also involve new modes of investment into hitherto unexplored categories of investment, thereby expanding the investment horizons of individual/institutional investors.
- Deploying Information to Negotiate Markets
Professional money managers may analyze multiple lines of information in pursuit of offering the best services to clients. Further to this, managers may perform an exacting gap analysis on behalf of clients, before arriving at portfolio planning decisions. Such enterprise may hinge on developing detailed recommendations in terms of managing cash flows of clients, buying insurance plans, conducting a survey of strategies to reduce the outflow of taxes, building a comprehensive savings plan, weighing the long-term benefits of planning a diverse financial portfolio, etc. The managers may utilize flowcharts to design the expanse of these activities, and arrive at prudent decisions; these connected diagrams can also empower managers to design outstanding multi-level portfolios that resonate with the requirements of clients.
- Primacy of Investment Strategy
Long-term investment strategies may emerge as an offshoot from the process of arriving at portfolio planning decisions. A coherent investment strategy is necessary to ensure the security of clients’ portfolios. Such strategy may comprise several components; these include building an emergency fund, working to reduce debts to minimal levels, investing in assets on a systematic basis, generating savings regularly, investing in high-grade asset classes, and other such approaches. It would be possible to enrich and expand investment strategies by encouraging clients to invest in overseas markets. Flowcharts can enable this enterprise by introducing transparency into these ventures. Such illustrations can also elevate the process of arriving at portfolio planning decisions by depicting multiple layers of investment targets appended to timelines.
- Using Flowcharts to Envisage the Future
Returns expectations, risk profile, and investment time horizons: implementing these primary considerations in building portfolio planning decisions would be a wise move. Planners may, therefore, create a detailed profile for each investor bearing these in mind; they may utilize flowcharts to explain/explore these factors to their clients and delineate how variations in these factors may potentially impact the performance of a financial portfolio. Investors, on their part, may participate in such activity bearing in mind their interests. Planners may use subsidiary versions of flowcharts to explore the returns expectations of different categories of investors, map their risk profiles, and the desired time horizon of each investor. Key decisions may flow from such actions, enabling individual investors to negotiate the complexities of modern financial markets.
- To Conclude
These explorations allow us to explore the various aspects ingrained in the headline topic. The creation of flowcharts is the construction of visual narratives that enable connections between financial markets and the average investor. Flow-based diagrams can also serve to educate investors and participants in markets, expand the possibilities of portfolio planning, and build intelligent traction in the master narrative. The outcomes of legacy planning initiatives can also be assessed within the spaces of connected diagrams, thereby creating faster connections between the operating components of such endeavors. Collaborations between planners may heighten the quality of outcomes, enabling smarter solutions to emerge in this landscape. Additionally, connected illustrations can elevate our awareness of complex financial services and domains. These diagrams can serve as hand-maidens to new ideas that can distinguish various lines of enterprise and endeavors.
