PLAYING IT SAFE

cautious investing

Professional Adviser
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Clients seeking to avoid risk need to look beyond the label 'cautious'. Split caps, precipice bonds and with-profits funds have all been tagged as 'safe' in recent years and all have lost investors significant amounts of money. Cherry Reynard investigates just what makes a cautious investment

Some of the riskiest investments of recent years have been tagged 'cautious'. From split caps to precipice bonds, income-generating products have repeatedly been mistaken for safe investments. With-profits - also badged as safe investments - have too often seen poor returns and high charges. It is often those products demonstrating significant volatility, such as some of the top-performing UK equity funds, that have genuinely protected investors against downturns in the market. So what should investors be looking for when selecting a cautious investment? Debunking myths Initially, it is...

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