In June 2017, a private individual opened a brokerage account and, having listened to recommendations online along with his own intuition, bought shares in the American companies General Electric, Ford Motor and United Continental.

Some analysts predicted solid growth for these companies in the coming months, so the investor’s calculation was uncomplicated: wait for the stock price 10-12% higher than the purchase price and sell.

However, neither after a quarter or two the expected growth did not happen. After 10 months, General Electric shares showed minus 46%, United Continental minus 6%, and Ford Motor minus 3%. Gradually, an investment originally planned as short-term and profitable turned into a long-term and unprofitable investment.

The investor does not agree to sell securities with losses, so he can only wait for the quotes to recover at least to the level at which the shares were bought. Why did this situation happen and how not to become its hostage?

Подобных историй фондовая биржа знает тысячи. Почти каждый новичок на рынке считает, что ему удастся заработать, причем быстро и много.

По статистике, 80% инвесторов получают убыток за первый год самостоятельной работы на рынке акций

После этого многие разочаровываются не только в ценных бумагах, но и в инвестициях вообще.

Трейдерство, то есть активная торговля ценными бумагами</a> на бирже, не является чем-то сверхъестественно сложным или малопостижимым процессом, однако требует значительного времени на освоение и выработку стратегии. Прежде чем стать трейдером, полезно задать себе и честно ответить на вопрос: «готов ли я уделить месяц-другой на получение базовых знаний и потом еще столько же, чтобы освоить требуемые навыки?» Let us remind you that trading stocks does not guarantee income neither for short-term nor long-term investments, but discipline, concentration and free time, on the contrary, are guaranteed to be needed.

Alternative to stocks for long-term investments

If there is no desire or opportunity to follow companies and the stock market, you can use ready-made investment solutions as tools for long-term financial investments. These can be mutual funds that manage a large amount of funds and take on the task of generating income for investors by increasing the value of the units. The management company takes a commission for its services and a certain percentage of the result, but the shareholders do not need to perform any actions, only to sell the units that have increased in value in a timely manner. Mutual funds can be based on stocks, bonds, indices or have a mixed, diversified by asset class structure.

Another option is structured products – ready-made financial products that essentially represent a whole investment portfolio, balanced depending on the tasks set by the investor. A structured product has a basic, protective part, which is responsible for the safety of the initial capital, and a profitable part, which actually earns. The protective part includes deposits or bonds, and the income part includes any assets of stock, futures and commodity exchanges. The variety of structured products is great, so they are suitable for both beginners and experienced investors. It is possible to choose a solution for both long-term and short-term financial investments. Profitability of structured products starts from 12-15% per annum (for conservative investors) and has an unlimited upper limit (for those who are ready to take risks for the sake of profit).

As you can see, there is no unambiguous answer to the question of whether it is more profitable to be an investor or a trader. Everything depends on your goals and opportunities. If you need to make a balanced decision on the most rational use of the accumulated capital, seek advice from a professional – a financial advisor.