As the managing director and chief investment officer at Fragasso Financial Advisors, I have spent 20 years in the investment advisory business, helping clients with their financial decisions through nearly every stage of life.
In my experience, one of the most exciting and prudent times in life to think about investing is the first time. Investors under age 30 have been in the workforce nearly 10 years and have accumulated enough assets to begin thinking about investing—and planning for the rest of their life.
A few weeks ago, Pittsburgh Business Times senior reporter Patty Tascarella interviewed me. She spoke with dozens of financial professionals in our region to find out what individual investors could do in 2011 to get ahead.
In this issue, I gave a few tips specifically geared toward new investors under 30:
One of the best pieces of advice I could give to this type of investor is to increase the allocation to emerging markets beyond the meager 5 percent suggested by the conventional wisdom of the past. The primary drivers of economic growth are demographics and productivity. Emerging markets benefit from favorable demographics and have been significantly closing the gap in productivity with the developed world. One additional advantage to this approach – emerging markets have switched from being debtor nations to being creditor nations.
Business Times subscribers can read Patty’s complete feature article “Managing Your Money: Advice from the pros” in the Jan. 21 issue. In this article, more than three dozen financial professionals weigh in on how to get ahead in 2011 as an individual investor.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. International and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors.
Andrei Voicu is a Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Fragasso Financial Advisors, a Pittsburgh-based investment and financial planning firm. He is also a registered representative with LPL Financial. Due to industry regulations, comments are not permitted on this blog. If you would like to contact the author, please email us at blog@fragassoadvisors.com. Andrei can also be reached for comment at 412-227-3200 Fee-based investment management and securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC.