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Do-it-yourself (DIY) investing, self-directed
investing
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
or self-managed investing is an investment approach where the investor chooses to build and manage his or her own investment portfolio instead of hiring an agent, such as a
stockbroker, investment adviser, private banker, or
financial planner
A financial planner or personal financial planner is a qualified financial advisor. Practicing in full service personal finance, they advise clients on investments, insurance, tax, retirement and estate planning.
As a general rule, a financial p ...
.
Overview
The
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
approach has pervaded many activities that were traditionally performed exclusively by institutions or trained professionals. A common approach to investing, for many investors, is to hire investment representation to build and manage their portfolios. The main duties of investment representatives are to provide ongoing advice, allocate money to asset classes and investment products, and to make
portfolio
Portfolio may refer to:
Objects
* Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase
Collections
* Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual
* Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...
management decisions.
Individual investors will often choose to manage their own investments rather than hiring outside representation. Common reasons for doing so include the avoidance of agency fees, dissatisfaction with the quality of service or the investment returns, distrust of the financial industry in general, or a desire to take control of the investing process.
In addition, the advent of discount brokerages, proliferation of free financial resources on the Internet, and the availability of online research tools have also contributed to a large increase in DIY investing in recent years. There has also been empirical evidence that spam e-mail aims to manipulate stock pricing by influencing would-be investors.
DIY Investor Types
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A common misconception regarding DIY investing is that it mainly involves the ongoing research, selection and management of individual securities such as stocks or bonds. However, a managed fund, a group of securities packaged together as one investment product or “fund” and managed by a portfolio manager is available to simplify the investing process.
Mutual funds
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...
,
exchange-traded funds
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund and exchange-traded product, i.e. they are traded on stock exchanges. ETFs are similar in many ways to mutual funds, except that ETFs are bought and sold from other owners throughout the ...
(ETFs),
fund of funds
A "fund of funds" (FOF) is an investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in stocks, bonds or other securities. This type of investing is often referred to as multi-manager investment. A ...
(FoFs) and
target date funds (TDFs) are examples of managed funds. Therefore, given the generous investment product landscape, DIY investors have various portfolio management options ranging from simple to complex.
DIY Investor Types
* Fund investor: an investor who builds and manages a portfolio consisting of one or more managed fund. This approach puts the onus on a portfolio manager to manage the individual securities within a fund.
*
* Individual
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
investor: an investor who builds and manages a portfolio consisting of individual securities. The portfolio management activities relating to this approach are very similar to that of a registered portfolio manager.
*
* Trader: a trader isn't an investor per se since they don’t look to hold securities for an extended period of time. However, under the DIY moniker this investor seeks to generate returns by continuously buying and selling securities. They may use an array of investment strategies and securities to build and manage their portfolios.
*
* Hybrid: an investor who uses a combination of the above investing approaches.
Process
The DIY investing process is similar to many other DIY processes and it mirrors steps found in the financial planning process used by the Certified Financial Planning Board. Whether a DIY investor or a certified professional, investing in the stock market involves risk and unpredictable fluctuations. It has been said, "a blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a newspaper’s financial pages could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by experts."
# Develop financial and investment literacy.
# Outline objectives, desires, needs and priorities.
# Gather, analyze and consider relevant information.
# Develop strategies, plans and ideas.
# Construct an investment management plan.
# Implement plan.
# Monitor the plan and make changes accordingly.
Considerations
Without the use of investment representatives, DIY investors must concern themselves with various investment management activities and factors that relate to building and managing their portfolios.
''Building''
* Financial Information Ecosystem
* Discount Brokerage Selection
* Investor Documentation
''Managing''
* Portfolio Documentation
* Asset Allocation
* Investment Strategy
* Investment Products
* Fees and Investment Expenses
* Investment Accounts
''Taxes''
A stock trade is considered a capital gain or loss and is subjected to a tax rate based on whether the stock was held for less or more than one year. Typically, the
tax rate is lower for holding a stock for a year or longer. If held for a short-term, the tax rate is treated the same as ordinary income and is typically higher, with some exceptions such as property acquired by gift, property acquired from a decedent, patent property, or commodity futures. Tax rates are subject to change each year and with new administrations.
Advantages
Fees
The main negative effect of advisory and management fees is that they are generally applied regardless of the performance of an investment portfolio. This can substantially reduce an individual's wealth over time and is one of the primary reasons that many DIY Investors prefer do take control of their own investment funds. "Typical characteristics of the Do It Yourself (DIY) investor include contrarian points of view and modest budgets that can't afford professional advisors."
The use of investment advisory services attracts fees that are paid indirectly or directly to the various stakeholders who facilitate the investment management process. This may include investment representatives, portfolio managers, brokerages, operating expenses, trading costs and miscellaneous items.
A DIY investor has the potential to reduce fees by eliminating the various middlemen located throughout the advised-client model by accessing investment products and securities through a discount brokerage.
Returns
As a result of reducing fees, DIY investors have the potential to increase their returns by retaining the expenses they would have otherwise paid to investment representatives, middlemen and financial intermediaries.
Qualitative
DIY investors may experience qualitative advantages when compared to advised-clients such as empowerment, independence and confidence.
Disadvantages
Depending on the DIY investor type, time demands will vary. Either way, some DIY investors will value the time they spend managing their own investments, but others will not. As a result, some DIY investors will consider the demands on their own time to be a disadvantage in the DIY-investing experience.
The stock market does not have to follow fundamental or technical indicators. The individual decision-making process can be psychological and cause overreaction. Overreaction is when information is processed by the investor/market and acted upon in an unreasonable, illogical response. This causes unpredictability and will foil most conventional stock market predictions.
A DIY investor may not have the time or ability to appropriately respond to market overreactions thus suffering significant loss.
See also
*
FIRE movement
The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is a lifestyle movement with the goal of gaining financial independence and retiring early. The model became particularly popular among millennials in the 2010s, gaining traction through onl ...
*
Self-Directed IRA
A self-directed individual retirement account is an individual retirement account (IRA) which allows alternative investments for retirement savings. Some examples of these alternative investments are real estate, private mortgages, private compan ...
References
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