I am not a cricket buff, but I know them because they are in the news. Virat Kohli is in the news and though he is setting new records each passing month, I feel his teammates are not getting the necessary adulation and credit that they all deserve. After all, cricket unlike chess, is a team game. There are 11 players and a few in the reserves and each one of them comes with multiple sets of skills that when collectively deployed can win them games, laurels and money.

The same cricketing lesson can be taken to investments to make sure your money grows and you build wealth. Just the way there is a team of players; your investments should have a mix of asset classes. Asset classes are nothing but traits that certain type of financial instruments possess, which when combined results in wealth creation. So, just the way you have opening batsmen or bowlers who set the way the match would head, you have equities which though risky have the potential to earn you higher returns as an asset class.

Then you have the fielders who are all trying to save runs and catch every ball, you have debt instruments that are not as risky as equities, but have the potential to earn you stable returns. The analogy goes on, with say the wicketkeeper acting like real estate in your portfolio, which brings in stability. In the first of the videos on asset allocation, you will realise why it is important and how you could use this technique to manage your money.

olmdesk@outlookindia.com