Wealth Management

Is it Time To Re-evaluate Your Investment Portfolio?

by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. February 8, 2019

As life brings about unexpected changes, your investment goals and portfolio should change accordingly.

The key to a prosperous financial future is ensuring your saving and investing goals always align with your short- and long-term financial needs. While this can often be achieved by working with your Financial Advisor regularly to monitor and optimize your portfolio, every-so-often it makes sense to wholly re-evaluate your investment strategy. Knowing when to do that is not an exact science and there are a myriad of market-level conditions and personal life changes that can disrupt even the soundest portfolios.

Below are a few ways to consider how and when it makes sense to re-evaluate your investment portfolio.

Three simple steps

1. Evaluate overall performance

This one is a no-brainer: if your investment portfolio is underperforming or not aligned with your financial goals, it’s time to re-evaluate. It can be tempting to simply look at overall performance as the deciding factor, but in reality having a portfolio with outsized gains in one asset class and underperformance in another won’t lead to long-term wealth. Additionally, resist the urge to chase (or time) short-term gains in the market and instead focus on a long-term strategy.
2. Plan for life's big milestones

There are some things in life we can’t control; but to the extent you can forecast major life events, it’s important to consider their impact on your investment portfolio. For instance, an upcoming major asset purchase like a house might incentivize you to liquidate some of the gains from your equities portfolio. Knowing how and when to do this can have considerable impact on your time horizon as well as your tax bill. Making sound investment decisions is sometimes less about what assets you choose and more about timing and discipline.
3. Find new opportunities to mix it up

Even if your current portfolio is the “perfect” mix of stocks, bond and alternative assets, there’s always an opportunity cost worth considering. How far you feel like exploring is a matter of risk appetite. The important thing is to always ensure your core portfolio is sound and to leverage the expertise of your Financial Advisor when assessing any new investment type.

There truly isn’t a limit to how often you should consider re-evaluating your portfolio, whether it’s a quick checkup or a full diagnosis. Ensuring your investment portfolio is meeting your financial goals requires time, patience, and a firm understanding of your strategy and market dynamics. That is where an Oppenheimer Financial Advisor can help.