He will tell you that the long term matters, fluctuations in the market, though worrying at the time can actually work to your benefit. The time horizon may be as long as ten years, but this will depend on what the individuals aims are.

Diversification is key to investment management, looking to offset risks in different areas of the market to allow for checks and balances to your portfolio.

It’s well known that Markets react to sentiment, so stocks can fall if a company reports worse than expected results, or sometimes the whole market can fall at once on negative economic news. Trading stocks and shares also costs money, so moving in and out of positions quickly will seriously eat into your returns over time.

The use of a Financial Adviser is important as most DIY investors tend to stumble from one idea to the next with no clear strategy. As long as you trust the manager and what they are trying to achieve, you will make your initial choices very carefully, advised by them and then stick with those investments for the long term.