Investment management is the discipline that deals with the management of funds, including stockholdings, bonds, shares, and any other financial assets, like property, real estate and so on, to meet certain investment objectives for the advantage of the investors. The objective may be to make money, or to achieve specific financial targets like the accumulation of wealth or income, as the case may be. Investment management also deals with matters concerning the security of funds, as they are usually invested in fixed interest entities, such as government bonds, corporate bonds, bank loans, mortgage investments and so on. This also includes insurance products, which may be bought or sold according to the preference of the investors.
The professionals who perform the task of investment management are known as investment managers, and they meet the clients in order to discuss the investment goals. Based on the goals, they recommend the way to achieve them, by planning and organizing the strategies and making plans for implementation, as well as for monitoring and measuring the performance of the capital. This ensures that objectives are properly defined and understood by both the clients and the managers. They also offer their expertise when it comes to advising their clients on certain issues concerning their portfolio, like whether they should buy or sell certain securities and so on. They also ensure that individual investors are able to meet their investment goals by planning their portfolios and their savings schemes in a proper manner. In addition, they offer professional services to financial institutions, large and small, either as part of their offering of financial products or by themselves, depending on their needs.
The main responsibility of these managers is to earn profit from the sale or purchase of the portfolio of assets that have been chosen by their clients. The asset classes include common stock market, bond funds, money market funds, treasury bills and so on. While managers are supposed to pick the best investment options for their clients, they may not always succeed in doing so. Therefore, they need to have strong interpersonal skills and a knack for marketing to get the job done.
