Define your level of risk tolerance. Every investment comes with a level of risk. Ask yourself how much risk you are willing to take for each investment. The greater the potential for higher returns, the higher the level of risk.

Define and prioritise your goals. It is important to be focused on your investment objectives. Be specific and write down both long and short-term goals. Engage an investment professional to work out how much it might cost to attain each goal, and when you expect to achieve them.

Develop an action plan. Once you have defined your investment goals, you'll need to put together a plan. Review the various investment options available.

We know it's not an easy task, but this is where we can help.
Talk to our Personal Financial Consultants who can put together a sensible plan for you.

Relying on tidbits of information from someone else is a gamble. Make sure you make informed decisions by speaking to the experts.

Invest regularly to take advantage of movements in the markets. With Dollar Cost Averaging, you need not worry about where share prices or interest rates are heading.

The idea is that you buy less when the market is up and vice versa so that the market's ups and downs can be smoothed out.

The risk of investing in volatile markets can also be reduced.

When you make an investment, it is important to do your own research and analysis of any company/market/sector before you even consider investing your hard-earned money.

Check if the investment helps you get closer to achieving your goals. See how it compares with other kinds of investment.

Find out who will be managing the investment and how it will be managed.

These are just some questions you'll need to answer before you begin investing.

The key to a successful investment is to have the right balance of risk and return.

In simple terms, diversification means spreading your investments over assets that move in opposite directions (e.g. equities/bonds) so you can limit your exposure to any single source of risk.

This way, you will weather the ups and downs of economic cycles and market volatility. Investing in unit trusts is one simple way to spread your risk.

Short-term fluctuations are expected in any investments. As a long-term investor, you should not panic when your investments experience movements within the shorter term.

Look at the big picture, or the long-term when you are tracking your investments.

There are many ways to be successful and no one strategy is inherently better than the others. However, once you find your style, stick with it.

An investor who flounders between different investment strategies will probably experience the worst, rather than the best, of each.

The tough part about investing is making informed decisions based on events yet to happen. Although past data is often used as an indication of future performance, it is important to keep an eye on up-and-coming developments.

The only constant in the market is change. Monitor your investments regularly to capitalise on market changes and movements.