Some people who are interested in our Investment Guidance Service want to know more about portfolio protection in falling markets. In this post, I’ll look at this in more detail.

Our secret weapon is ISACO’s lead investor. He’s a trend follower and market timer, whose aim is to get in sync with the market’s trend and direction. Rather than swimming against a current, he prefers to swim with it. A full economic cycle lasts about 5 years and consists of a bull market and bear market. A bull market is when the market forms an uptrend and a bear market is when the market forms a downtrend. 

Today, I’d like to talk more about the third of my top ten tips for successful ISA investing, which is ‘Buy Quality Investment Funds’ (for more on my other nine tips, please just download our Top 10 Tips for Successful ISA Investing).

My aim is to invest when the market is healthy. When it’s unhealthy I stay in a cash-based fund to protect potential downside losses. The Fidelity ISA Cash Park is one I personally use.

People who like ISACO’s Investment Guidance Service brochure normally ask ‘how’ we’ve helped our clients achieve market beating performance.

We have been successful in helping our clients achieve better ISA performance by offering investment guidance from an investor who has historically ‘beaten’ the stock market. Using a talented investor with a great track record has proved to be ISACO’s secret weapon.

Today I’d like to talk more about the second of my top ten tips for successful ISA investing which is ‘Be Active’ (for more on my other nine tips, please just download our Top 10 Tips for Successful ISA Investing).

Whenever I talk about timing the market, I normally mention my dislike for the ‘buy and hold’ strategy.  I prefer active ISA investment.

It’s a fact, the amount of capital growth you achieve each year will directly impact the time it takes to achieve your ISA and SIPP goals. 

When you look at the definition of capital growth, you’ll see that it’s the increase in the market price of an asset. This is also known as its ‘capital appreciation’. However to keep things simple, I’ll be referring to capital growth as the annual gains an investor makes each year in their ISA and SIPP portfolio.

When we help investors plan for the future, we take them through our Investment Appraisal process. This has many similarities to a portfolio analysis, but with the particular needs of ISA and SIPP investors in mind.