If you’re new to investing, you probably have loads of questions about where to begin and the pros and cons of different strategies. Whether it’s better to trade in individual stocks or indices is commonly debated amongst traders, and there are a number of reasons why some people have a preference for one over the other.
Regardless of how you choose to start your investment journey, there are so many professional and useful learning resources available, and it’s imperative that you do plenty of research before you start.
You will first need to understand how the markets and trading work. Then, you’ll need to define your investor profile according to your risk tolerance, capital, financial objectives, and availability. Finally, you’ll need to work on your trading plan with money and risk management rules to follow.
Let’s briefly compare the options, so you can decide whether to invest in individual stocks, indices, or a combination of both.
Trading Individual Stocks
Picking stocks to make up a balanced and diversified portfolio can seem daunting. There are literally thousands to choose from. You’re tasked with identifying what interests you, researching the companies in question, and then purchasing the individual shares in companies that hopefully have strong balance sheets, no issues with cash flow, distribute dividends, and are poised to do well in the future.
Once you’ve made the trade through your broker, you own the asset, and you can hold onto it for its dividend income or sell it if you want to make a capital gain if/when it appreciates in value.
You can also use different derivatives to bet on the price movements of individual stocks, which can allow you to use leverage to potentially boost your profits or provide a type of hedge against your
other stock purchases, but as noted by Forbes – and agreed on by most experts – this might not be the best move for beginner traders.
Trading Indices
Stock market indices track the performance of a particular grouping or basket of stocks, like the popular S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Index, and the Nasdaq Composite.
You don’t own any underlying assets when you trade these indices. You can purchase index funds containing the same stocks, use different financial products to bet on the price movements like CFD or ETF, or purchase the individual stocks yourself. By doing so, you get exposure to entire industries, economies, or sectors in one trade, so it can be a great and cost-effective way to diversify your portfolio.
The most popular indices, like those listed above from the US, are followed worldwide, giving a powerful insight into the economy as a whole. On the downside, depending on the weighting given to the stocks in the index, one stock can have a huge impact on the whole value, as covered here by Reuters.
Final word
Deciding what to invest in comes down to your individual goals and your appetite for risk. For a balanced portfolio, think about holding a few ETFs that track some of the major indices and then a few individual stocks that interest you. Always remember never to invest more than you’re comfortable with losing.
