There are two controllable factors which lead to successful investing in unit trust, investment linked policy and exchange traded funds.

The first is correct holding period for the investment. For equity portfolios this means around 10 years and for high yielding fixed income 5 years.

The other is topping up the portfolio when it is down. If equity markets fall a lot and you don’t top up the portfolio the long term return can be very weak. Topping up is nothing but the ‘buy low’ part of buy low and sell high. And of course markets can fall further after you ‘buy low’. That’s why you must be willing to hold the top up investment for the long-term too.

Financial Advisors have to continuously remind their customers of these two important factors which lead to successful investing outcomes.