Aggressive Investment Strategy: Definition, Benefits, and Risks (2024)

What is an Aggressive Investment Strategy?

An aggressive investment strategy typically refers to a style of portfolio management that attempts to maximize returns by taking a relatively higher degree of risk. Strategies for achieving higher than average returns typically emphasize capital appreciation as a primary investment objective, rather than income or safety of principal. Such a strategy would therefore have an asset allocation with a substantial weighting in stocks and possibly little or no allocation to bonds or cash.

Aggressive investment strategies are typically thought to be suitable for young adults with smaller portfolio sizes. Because a lengthy investment horizon enables them to ride out market fluctuations, and losses early in one's career have less impact than later, investment advisors do not consider this strategy suitable for anyone else but young adults unless such a strategy is applied to only a small portion of one's nest-egg savings. Regardless of the investor’s age, however, a high tolerance for risk is an absolute prerequisite for an aggressive investment strategy.

Key Takeaway

  • Aggressive investing accepts more risk in pursuit of greater return.
  • Aggressive portfolio management may achieve its aims through one or more of many strategies including asset selection and asset allocation.
  • Investor trends after 2012 showed a preference away from aggressive strategies and active management and towards passive index investing.

Understanding Aggressive Investment Strategy

The aggressiveness of an investment strategy depends on the relative weight of high-reward, high-risk asset classes, such as equities and commodities, within the portfolio.

For example, Portfolio A which has an asset allocation of 75% equities, 15% fixed income, and 10% commodities would be considered quite aggressive, since 85% of the portfolio is weighted to equities and commodities. However, it would still be less aggressive than Portfolio B, which has an asset allocation of 85% equities and 15% commodities.

Even within the equity component of an aggressive portfolio, the composition of stocks can have a significant bearing on its risk profile. For instance, if the equity component only consists of blue-chip stocks, it would be considered less risky than if the portfolio only held small-capitalization stocks. If this is the case in the earlier example, Portfolio B could arguably be considered less aggressive than Portfolio A, even though it has 100% of its weight in aggressive assets.

Yet another aspect of an aggressive investment strategy has to do with allocation. A strategy that simply divided all available money equally into 20 different stocks could be a very aggressive strategy, but dividing all money equally into just 5 different stocks would be more aggressive still.

Aggressive Investment strategies may also include a high turnover strategy, seeking to chase stocks that show high relative performance in a short time period. The high turnover may create higher returns, but could also drive higher transaction costs, thus increasing the risk of poor performance.

Aggressive Investment Strategy and Active Management

An aggressive strategy needs more active management than a conservative “buy-and-hold” strategy, since it is likely to be much more volatile and could require frequent adjustments, depending on market conditions. Morerebalancing would also be required to bring portfolio allocations back to their target levels.Volatility of the assets could lead allocations to deviate significantly from their original weights. This extra work also drives higher fees as the portfolio manager may require more staff to manage all such positions.

Recent years have seen significant pushback against active investing strategies. Many investors have pulled their assets out of hedge funds, for example, due to those managers'underperformance. Instead, some havechosen to place their money withpassive managers. These managers adhere to investing styles that often employ managing index funds for strategic rotation. In these cases, portfolios often mirror a market index, such as the S&P 500.

Aggressive Investment Strategy: Definition, Benefits, and Risks (2024)

FAQs

Aggressive Investment Strategy: Definition, Benefits, and Risks? ›

An aggressive investment strategy is a high-risk, high-reward approach to investing. Such a kind of strategy is appropriate for younger investors or those with higher risk tolerance. The focus of aggressive investing is capital appreciation instead of capital preservation or generating regular cash flows.

What is an aggressive investment strategy? ›

What is an Aggressive Investment Strategy? An aggressive investment strategy typically refers to a style of portfolio management that attempts to maximize returns by taking a relatively higher degree of risk.

What are the benefits of aggressive investing? ›

The main advantage of an aggressive investor is the potential for substantial returns, especially in rapidly growing markets. Conversely, a significant disadvantage is the high risk of losses due to the inherent volatility of aggressive investment choices.

What is an aggressive growth strategy? ›

The Aggressive Growth Strategy follows a focused, high-conviction approach, emphasizing stocks across market capitalizations with sustainable earnings and cash flow growth. As long-term business owners, the portfolio managers expect to hold companies for many years to allow for compounding of earnings and cash flows.

Should I set my 401k to aggressive? ›

While having a more aggressive 401(k) can make a lot of sense if you have a long time until retirement, it can really sink you financially if you need the money in less than five years. To reduce risk, investors can add more bond funds to their portfolio or even hold some CDs.

What is the aggressive approach strategy? ›

This type of strategy involves taking bold and decisive actions , often with a high level of risk , in order to gain a competitive advantage and increase market share . It can include tactics such as aggressive marketing campaigns , price cutting , and rapid expansion into new markets .

What is aggressive risk? ›

Aggressive risk investors are well versed with the market and take huge risks. Such types of investors are used to seeing large upward and downward movements in their portfolio. Aggressive investors are known to be wealthy, experienced, and usually have a broad portfolio.

What are the benefits of aggressiveness strategy? ›

Benefits of an aggressive market penetration strategy

This can help the company establish a strong brand and reputation, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and higher profits.

What are the benefits and risks of investing? ›

Bottom Line. Investing in stocks offers the potential for substantial returns, income through dividends and portfolio diversification. However, it also comes with risks, including market volatility, tax bills as well as the need for time and expertise.

What are the benefits of an aggressive funding strategy? ›

In terms of cost aggressive funding strategy, the company takes short term debts for temporary requirements. The advantage of this strategy is that short-term borrowing is cheaper than long-term funding; it requires lower interest expenses. This strategy has the lowest risk and profit.

Is aggressive growth risky? ›

Investments held in these funds are companies that demonstrate high growth potential, but also carry greater risk. As such, aggressive growth funds seek to provide above-average market returns; however, their underlying investments are often volatile causing high share price volatility.

What is the average return on an aggressive portfolio? ›

While quite a few personal finance pundits have suggested that a stock investor can expect a 12% annual return, when you incorporate the impact of volatility and inflation, 7% is a more accurate historical estimate for an aggressive investor (someone primarily invested in stocks), and 5% would be more appropriate for ...

What are the characteristics of an aggressive investor? ›

An aggressive investor wants to maximize returns by taking on a relatively high exposure to risk. As a result, an aggressive investor focuses on capital appreciation instead of creating a stream of income or a financial safety net.

At what age should you invest aggressively? ›

If you put off investing in your 20s due to paying off student loans or the fits and starts of establishing your career, your 30s are when you need to start putting money away. You're still young enough to reap the rewards of compound interest, but old enough to be investing 10% to 15% of your income.

How aggressive should my 401k be at $50? ›

Now, most financial advisors recommend that you have between five and six times your annual income in a 401(k) account or other retirement savings account by age 50. With continued growth over the rest of your working career, this amount should generally let you have enough in savings to retire comfortably by age 65.

Should I be aggressive with my 401k in a recession? ›

In a recession, stock prices are generally depressed because earnings are generally depressed. Stocks tend to correct in a recession by 15% – 35%. Over time, stocks return 8-10% a year. If you still have 10 years or more to go before retirement, you should absolutely continue to max out your 401(k) at the very least.

What type of investment is the most aggressive? ›

Five Types of Aggressive Investment Strategies
  • Small- and Micro-Cap Stock Investing. A portfolio's weight of high-risk asset classes such as stocks and equities tend to determine if it's an aggressive portfolio. ...
  • Options Trading. ...
  • Futures. ...
  • Foreign Stocks and Global Funds. ...
  • Private Equity Investments. ...
  • Aggressive Growth Funds.
Aug 23, 2023

What is the difference between passive and aggressive investment strategies? ›

The Bottom Line

Passive investing is buying and holding investments with minimal portfolio turnover. Active investing is buying and selling investments based on their short-term performance, attempting to beat average market returns.

What is the difference between conservative and aggressive investment strategies? ›

An investor can either adopt the conservative approach or aggressive approach to invest his money. The former involves investment in fixed income instruments and debt mutual funds while the latter includes investing in equity and equity oriented mutual funds.

What is the difference between conservative and aggressive strategy? ›

Conservative investing strategies generally have lower returns than more aggressive strategies, such as a growth portfolio. For example, a capital growth strategy seeks to maximize capital appreciation or the increase in a portfolio's value over the long term.

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