Financial Investment

Financial Investment Definition

People, with more than enough bank balance, often look for luculent profitable opportunities to invest and make the most out of their money. Feasible options of financial investments which come with a risk-free guarantee, are hard to find in the market these days. Corporate internationals and individual entrepreneurs are always in search for such adaptable financial investments of varied proportions which will multiply their funds and amplify their company’s growth eventually. Considered as the perfect way of utilizing unused bank balance, financial investments can simply be defined as the money which is spend in any renowned and listed financial investment organization. Such monetary investments are availed by both public and private organizations irrespective of their corporate value in the market.

Features of Financial Investments

Such investments find its utility in different approaches. Different entities have distinctive set of purpose for their each and every financial endeavor. For instance, private multinational organizations confer with financial investment consultants for better opportunities to augment their source of income. Retired people save funds for their old age and uncertainties. Few experienced and well established corporations put money in various emerging organizations to multiply their investment and gain largely. Even government organizations, who wish to expand their base, invest in various projects and achieve social and political advantage. Irrespective of the purpose of financial investment, the money should be spent in a presumed and developed company whose reputations precede all. Though, 10 out of 8 companies promise to offer outstanding financial return on every investment, only a few keep up to their word. The creditability of any financial organization depends on its background and past performance.  So it is always recommended to look before you leap and conduct a proper market survey before investing in any financial organization.

Financial Investment Advisor

According to the definition of financial investment, a financial investment advisor is an adroit and skilled consultant aimed at offering effective and poignant financial investment advice to individual investors or corporation houses. By offering expert financial advice after properly allocating all the assets, an advisor assists a prospective investor to maintain a straight line between investment income and capital gains

Such advisors prefer to utilize mutual funds, stocks, real estate investment trusts, bonds, options, insurance products, futures etc to appease their clients. The funds of the investors are channeled via such modes. Most of the financial advisors are offered money for their services and are entitled to commission only. Out of others, fee based advisory plan is gaining huge recognition in the current period.

(a) Fee-only advisors

Fee-only financial advisors are the principal choice of major financial investment companies. Such advisors are given compensation only by their respective clients. Such financial advisors attain their compensation by an amalgamation of hourly fees, asset management money and financial planning charge. An advisor may get affiliates, rebates, commissions, awards, bonuses, finder’s fees along with different types of compensations due to the proper implementation of the recommendations given to the client. Advisors should never ever receive such compensations and should not accept them in any case. By doing so, an advisor maintains the code of conduct as formulated by financial investment companies and removes the chances of any kind of conflict with their client. By following the code of conduct a financial advisor signifies that he/she is not indebted to any insurance or any other financial company.

A fee only advisor may minimize disagreements of interests such as:

Proposing a client to purchase products and invest in situations when holding cash along with other liquid assets would have been a better advice at that time

Proposing a client to purchase products and issue commissions via unwanted buying and selling of certain securities.

A commission to change real estate, collectibles and other such non-cash assets into hard cash which will enable a financial investment advisor to charge incentives.

A commission to make proposals which offers better sales commissions to any advisor when there a cheaper option is available in the market.

(b) Commission-based Advisors

A number of financial investment advisors receive payment for there services in the form of commission. Such advisors provide effective and productive financial investment advice to their respective clients in exchange of a certain percentage of commission, which is charged on the profit earned after recommendation.

Financial Investment Planning

Financial investment planning is done by investment advisors for better outcomes. Financial advisors assist their customers make profitable and high-earning long term and short term investments. The primary duty of financial advisors is to guide their clients towards the right investment scheme and upgrade them about the risk involved in particular investments. A good financial advisor recommends volatile investment schemes to its clients. It may involve bigger risks but the rewards are worthy. Direct investments in stocks or collective investment products namely unit investment trusts, mutual funds, unit trusts etc are few examples of such money making schemes.

For instance, if any particular client has short term goals for such investors and advisors should recommend financial investment schemes which are less volatile in nature of shorter time period. Cash deposits, certificates of deposit along with short term bonds are few examples which help to explain what the exact meaning of volatile investments is. One of the major drawbacks of such investments is that the return is relatively low since the risk involved is less. Due to the zero possibility of losing the principal amount, people find it safe to invest in such schemes to protect their capital.

Financial Investment Organization

The creditability of any financial investment company depends on its past reputation and its performance till date while making financial transactions. The main and sole objective of such organizations is to do business by buying securities of other well established renowned companies only for investing. An investment company operates by putting money in the shares and bonds of other companies on behalf of other shareholders with there consent. These shareholders then share the profit or loss earned via the investment approach.

An investment company can be of any form, depending on the intention of its directors. However, there are primarily three basic forms of financial investment organizations, namely:

(a) Open-End Management Investment companies

These are also called as mutual funds. Mutual funds are popular through out the world for their surety of return on investment. It is a type of collective investment scheme which is dealt with professionally. It draws out the funds from different investors and purchases securities. Such collective investment schemes are open-ended, regulated and are available to the general people who are not regular investors.

(b) Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Also called close-end funds, these are listed on well-known stock exchange boards and can be brought and sold. The market determines the cost of each share which is dissimilar from NAV-Net Asset Value per share. The price that is fixed is called as premium or discount to the Net Asset Value.

(c) UITs

Unit Investment Trusts is another type of exchange traded mutual fund. The essence of such funds is that they offer portfolio of securities which have a fixed period. The authenticity of UTI is guaranteed by Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Unit investment trusts are put together by any specific sponsor and then sold to investors via brokers.

Financial investment is an important term. People can become wealthy if they understand the pros and cons of this term. If used wisely, appropriate financial investment can be one of the best money making schemes you have ever imagined.

How to Invest in Gold

Gold is protection, insurance against inflation, currency debasement, and global uncertainty. Here are four ways you can invest.

1. Gold Bullion

Buy physical gold at various prices: coins, bars and jewelry. Some of the most popular gold coins are American Buffalo, American Eagle and St. Gauden's. You can store gold in bank safety deposit boxes or in your home. You can also buy and sell gold at your local jewelers. Other companies like Kitco.com allow you to store gold with them as well as trade the metal.

When you buy gold coins or bullion, avoid big premiums. You want to buy gold as close to the spot price as possible, or a 10% premium at most. The higher the premium, the higher the gold price will have to rise in order for you to profit.

Coins typically come from the national mint, where they are made and sold at a 4% mark up -- the retailer's margin is 1% to 3%.

To calculate the premium of a gold product, subtract the spot price from the price you are being quoted, divide that number by the spot price and multiply by 100.

Had you purchased a one ounce gold bar at Kitco.com for $1,225.90 -- using a spot price of $1,200 -- the bar has a 2.1% mark-up. This means that the gold price only has to rise 2.1% from spot price levels for you to break even on your investment.

Premiums, though, can mount as high as 75% or more based on the gold item.

To avoid getting ripped off you must establish why you want to buy gold bullion. If you want to own gold as a long term investment, then buy gold as close to the spot price as possible.

If you want to own gold to use as money, if you are a "survivalist" you want to buy a tank of gas with gold as Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco.com says, then you need smaller gold coins like one tenth an ounce and will have to pay the premium.

Nadler's take is that an individual investor shouldn't spend more than a 10% mark up when buying gold, but acknowledges that "everyone has their own threshold."

Where investors also tend to go astray is by buying semi-numismatic or numismatic coins, otherwise known as rare coins, which come with huge premiums that seldom recoup their value.

A good rule of thumb is to leave rare coin buying to rare coin dealers. Nadler advises that consumers interested in rare coins go professional auctioneers like Bowers & Merena orChristie's who have experts on staff and can objectively grade the coins the same way an antique dealer would appraise goods.

If a broker tries to sell you a story with the coin like it's from the "old world and there are only a few thousand in existence" experts advise to go elsewhere.

"Don't confuse investing in gold with the things being sold as gold investments," cautions Nadler. "You want something that tracks the price of gold as close to dollar to dollar as possible."

2. Gold ETFs

Gold exchange-traded funds are a popular way to have gold exposure in your portfolio without the hassle of storing the physical metal. First, you can invest in one of three physically backed ETFs, which track gold's spot price.

The most heavily traded ETF is SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), which saw record inflows as fears ballooned over Europe sovereign debt fears and a struggling U.S. economy. Big guns like George Soros and John Paulson own the stock.

iShares Comex Gold Trust (IAU) is the cheapest ETF with a 0.25% fee.

The newest gold ETF is ETFS Gold Trust (SGOL), which launched in September 2009. This gold ETF actually stores its gold bullion in Switzerland and gives investors access to different types of gold.

For each share of these ETFs you buy, you generally own the equivalent 1/10 an ounce of gold. If investor demand outpaces available shares then the issuer must buy more physical gold to convert it into stock. Conversely, when investors sell, if there are no buyers, then gold is redeemed and the company must then sell the gold equivalent.

Gold is a tool for investors and for traders looking for gold exposure or as a way to hedge other gold positions. The result can be rough violent price action.

Expense ratios can range from 0.25% to 0.50% and your value erodes the longer you hold the shares. The fund must sell gold, for example, periodically to pay for expenses which decreases the amount of gold allocated to each share.

There are also two types of gold stored in the ETFs, allocated and unallocated. Allocated gold is the bullion held by the custodian, big banks. Custodians provide a bar list of all the individual allocated bars daily and are typically audited twice a year, paid for by the sponsor, by an independent party like Inspectorate International.

Unallocated gold relates to authorized participants like JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs who trade gold futures. Futures contracts are often bought if the trustee needs to create new shares fast and doesn't have the time to buy and deliver the bullion. Typically allocated gold far outweighs the unallocated gold and the amounts are tallied each day by the custodian. The ETF also has a set amount of time when it must deliver the physical gold into the vault.

Because you own shares and not the physical metal, precious metal ETFs may be sold short, so two people can own the same "gold" -- the original owner and the investor who is borrowing the shares. Although baskets of shares are allocated to specific gold bars, which can be found in the ETF's prospectus, an investor must share ownership.

Profits made on investments in physically backed ETFs are also taxed like collectibles, at around 28% -- an investor gets taxed as if he owned bullion, when in reality he just owns paper.

There is the possibility of redeeming shares for physical gold, but that arrangement is conducted with brokers and is typically more difficult. Investors have to redeem in huge lots, like 500,000 shares, not really viable for the retail investor.

ETFs are also very controversial. Many complain that investors can't know if their gold really exists. Also, if a bank storing the gold fails, the ETF, aka investor, becomes a creditor.

There are other types of ETFs.

If you want the opportunity of redeeming your shares for gold, another option is Sprott Physical Gold Trust ETV (PHYS), which is a closed-end mutual fund that gives investors the option of trading in their shares for 400-ounce gold bars.

The fund can trade at a huge premium or discount to its net asset value at any time and has higher fees, making it more expensive to invest in. An investor can obtain physical gold on the 15th of every month, although the holder has to make transportation and storage arrangements.

There are also two other ETFs to consider. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX), a basket of large-cap mining stocks. and Market Vectors Junior (GDXJ), a group of development-stage miners. They both have market caps of $150 million or more and have traded at least 250,000 shares per month for six months.

3. Gold ETNs

If you want more risk, try exchange-traded notes, debt instruments that track an index. You give a bank money for an allotted amount of time and, upon maturity, the bank pays you a return based on the performance of what the ETN is based on, in this case the gold futures market. Some of the more popular ones are UBS Bloomberg CMCI Gold ETN (UBG), DB Gold Double Short ETN (DZZ_), DB Gold Short ETN (DGZ) and DB Gold Double Long ETN (DGP).

ETNs are like playing the futures market without buying contracts on the Comex. ETNs are flexible, and an investor can trade them long or short, but there is no principal protection. You can lose all your money.

4. Gold Miner Stocks

A riskier way to invest in gold is through gold-mining stocks. Mining stocks can have as much as a 3-to-1 leverage to gold's spot price to the upside and downside.

Gold miners are risky because they trade with the broader equity market. Some tips to consider when picking gold stocks are to find companies with strong production and reserve growth. Make sure they have good management and inventory supported by either buying smaller-cap companies or by maintaining consistent production.

Global gold production has been declining since 2001, only recently experiencing more juice, and big miners keep their gold reserves flush by buying or partnering with small-cap companies, which are in the exploration or development stage.

Many investors make the mistake of buying small gold miners that are in the exploration phase with no cash flow. Picking among these stocks is like buying a lottery ticket, very few companies actually strike gold and become profitable. Even fewer become takeover targets.

With gold prices high, gold companies can make more for every ounce of gold they produce, but their net profits depend on their cash costs; how much it costs them to produce an ounce of gold. Those factors vary from company to company and are subject to currency issues, energy costs and geopolitical factors.

Adam Graf, director of emerging miners for Dahlman Rose & Co., models 50 companies on a forward basis using forward curves. "On a theoretical basis, if gold moved up $100 an ounce, what does the change in the current value do based on what the forward looking cash flow should do."

Another factor to consider when picking gold stocks is how quickly the company will benefit from higher prices. Randgold Resources (GOLD_), a miner in Africa, is almost 100% correlated to gold prices. CEO Mark Bristow says that the company benefits from gold prices in almost two days.

You also have to buy the right amount of gold stocks. J.C. Doody, editor of goldstockanalyst.com, bets on 10 gold stocks because it allows him to take some risk with explorers or junior miners as well as get the safety from a major.

"Frankly there aren't 30-40 stocks in the gold space worth buying," says Doody who would rather be heavily invested in 10 than over invested in 2 and under invested in 40. "If you've got too many the best you're going to be is a mediocre mutual fund and if you have too few you're just taking on too [much] risk."

If you do go the gold stock route, you have to be prepared for the rollercoaster ride.

Leverage swings both ways so if the gold price drops 10%, gold stocks can plummet 20%-30%. Investors often get too spooked too fast and wind up selling out of gold stocks at the wrong time.

"It inhales and exhales 20-30% at least once or twice a year," says Pratik Sharma, managing director at Atyant Capital who urges investors to not get spooked by volatility. "Ultimately what you have to realize 5-6-7%... these things are meaningless when you have a sector that moves 20-30% several times a year on the downside."

There is always time to buy gold, you just have to know your ABCs before you start.

--Written by Alix Steel in New York.

Four Ways to Invest in Gold

Investing part of your portfolio in the yellow metal is one thing, deciding how is quite another. These are four popular options.

(a) Let's Get Physical

Pros: Buying bullion or gold coins is the most direct exposure to the physical asset an investor can get.

Cons: In anything but very small quantities, the need to store and insure physical gold, and the transaction fees associated with buying and selling it, represent hidden costs than can really add up, particularly for high net worth investors trying to put a portion of their portfolio in the metal.

(b) Crystal Ball Bets

Pros: No counterparty risk (The CME Group’s CME Clearing, for instance, matches and settles all metals trades on the exchange and guarantees the creditworthiness of every transaction in its markets), and huge liquidity.

Cons: Cost is once again a factor, and leverage can also be a concern. A $5,000 margin account gets the right to buy or sell futures on up to 100 oz. of gold (miNY and E-mini gold futures are other options that are smaller and require less margin) at 25 times leverage.

(c) Digging For Winners

Pros: Mining stocks are a way to leverage higher gold prices through corporate operations. The cost of extracting an ounce of gold from the Earth varies by country and company, but is generally well below the current trading prices.

Cons: Buying shares of a company rather than the metal itself, futures or ETFs, exposes an investor to operating risk and the possibility that management mistakes, an acquisition gone bad or some type of mining snafu will cause share prices to decline even while gold itself climbs.

(d) Exchange-Traded Treasure

Pros: GLD and its ilk are a less-expensive way to get gold exposure than holding the physical metal and more suitable for inexperienced investors than futures markets. Separately, funds like the Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) and Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) are a more diversified way to bet on miners than single stocks.

Cons: Skeptics have raised concerns GLD’s secrecy surrounding its hoard of gold in HSBC’s London vault, while the mining ETFs are just as subject to the whims of the broader equity market as they are to the price of gold.