Explore the differences between top-down and bottom-up investing strategies and learn which approach may be the best fit for your investment portfolio.
Top-down investing and bottom-up investing are two approaches that investment managers use to construct their portfolios. While both approaches can be effective, they are distinctly different strategies that can result in very different looking portfolios. At Instrumental Wealth, when we research potential managers to use in our client portfolios, we pay close attention to which of these approaches potential managers use and evaluate how well they employ the strategy. Our portfolio investments include a mix of managers using each of these strategies.
One of the main advantages of top-down investing is that it allows investors to take a broad view of the market and identify trends that may not be visible at the individual company level. This can be particularly useful in times of economic uncertainty when individual companies may be more vulnerable to market volatility.
Bottom-up investing, on the other hand, is a strategy that involves analyzing individual companies and their fundamental characteristics to identify investment opportunities. Investment managers who use this approach will typically focus on factors such as a company's financial statements, management team, growth curve, partnerships, innovations and any other competitive advantage to determine its place as a potential investment.
One of the main advantages of bottom-up investing is that it allows financial advisors to identify undervalued companies that may not be reflected in the overall market. By focusing on the specific characteristics of individual companies, financial advisors can potentially identify hidden gems that are overlooked by the broader market.
One important difference is how each of these strategies allocate portfolios among different regions and sectors. With a top-down strategy, the allocations are selected first based on the manager’s views of the macroeconomic environment with security selection used to fill in those allocations. In a Bottom-up strategy, managers believe that they should be focused only on finding the best companies no matter where they are located or what sector they are in. The allocations to regions and sectors are not decided upon, but instead are a result of the stocks they have selected.
In practice, many managers use a combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies to make investment decisions. By considering both macroeconomic trends and the fundamentals of individual companies, they can create a more diversified and balanced portfolio comprised of higher convictions stocks.
At Instrumental Wealth we let our experienced team of financial advisors build an investment strategy that is anchored by your specific financial goals and orchestrated by our ability to professionally navigate the complexities of the markets and determine which instruments fit your investing profile.
Schedule an appointment with one of our knowledgeable investment specialists, and we’ll review your investments to determine if Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Investing or other strategies might be right for your individual situation.
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Instrumental Wealth | Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Investing