To get the right balance between risk and return, you need the right mix of investments for your portfolio. Then, as your financial goals change, it can help to regularly review and adjust the mix from time to time.

Most investment portfolios are a mixture of cash, shares, bonds and/or property. The best blend of these will depend on your investment goals, whether you are looking for an income and whether you need to be able to cash in your investments quickly. Itll also depend on how long youre planning to invest for (your time horizon ) and on your attitude to risk .

As an investor, you will want to choose investments with the potential to meet your financial goals. Mixing different kinds of investment (diversifying ) helps to lower risk, but theres always the chance that they will fall in value so its important to feel comfortable with the risks youre taking.

Some types of investment pay a regular income. while others focus on trying to grow your original investment. The highest risk investments tend to have the potential for the greatest long-term rewards, but there is also more chance of things going wrong. So whats right for you?

Theres no such thing as a one size fits all investment portfolio, so as your financial situation changes over the years its worth taking the time for a review. Does your portfolio still meet your needs, or do you have new priorities now that require a different approach to investing?

Re-evaluating your goals

Perhaps youve just bought that house you always wanted and you now want to save for your childrens education, a dream holiday, or some home improvements. If so, it could be time to rebalance your portfolio. This simply involves reviewing each of your investments so that your portfolio is brought into line with your priorities and goals.

Its particularly important to review your mix of investments when theres a change in your circumstances. For example, people who are approaching retirement often want to boost their income through their investments, or simply want to take less risk and protect what theyve got.

On the other hand, if youve recently had a promotion at work or an unexpected windfall, you might want to take some extra risk with that spare cash, in the hope of better returns over the long term.

Whatever your investment goals, you should consider ISA and unit trust investments to be medium to long term, ideally of five years or more.

Switching is easy

If you decide you need to rebalance your portfolio, switching between our funds is easy. There are no extra charges and, if youre switching funds held in an ISA. your tax-efficient ISA allowance is not affected. If you want to move your investments to be under one roof, you can transfer (PDF:522KB) investments to us from another provider we wont charge you for that either, although your current provider might, so its worth checking in advance.