Economy
How to Build an Investment Portfolio
By FBNQuest
Every investor who desires to build and grow wealth should have an investment portfolio. Wealth creation efforts are less likely to succeed if they are approached haphazardly, so building an investment portfolio is a great way to add the necessary strategy and intention to these efforts.
An investment portfolio, simply defined, is a collection of all the assets an investor owns. It can be likened to a roof under which you house all your investments. A good investment portfolio will be diversified and contain a wide variety of assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, fine art, gold etc.
Types of Investment Portfolios
There are five major types of investment portfolios and they are built by taking the financial goals and risk appetite of the investor into consideration.
The Aggressive Portfolio – This type of portfolio is specially designed for investors with a high tolerance for risk. Investments that fall under this category are high risk but also have the potential to yield high returns. High beta stocks are an example of this kind of asset. They are more volatile and experience a greater fluctuation in price when compared to the overall market.
The Defensive Portfolio – This category is for people who have a low-risk appetite. Building a defensive portfolio usually involves investing in stocks of companies that will stay in business no matter what. These are companies that make products that are important for everyday survival.
The Income Portfolio – The goal of an income portfolio is to generate positive cash flow. This includes stocks that pay regular dividends and provide a steady source of income for the investor. An income portfolio can serve as a great supplement to an investor’s salary or retirement income.
The Speculative Portfolio – This portfolio is also tailored to an investor with a high-risk tolerance. It basically involves pre-empting which stocks are likely to do well. An example of speculative investment is an initial public offering (IPO) of a new tech company. Financial advisors usually advise investors against putting more than 10 per cent of their investment funds into such assets.
The Hybrid Portfolio – The hybrid portfolio, as the name implies, is a combination of different assets. This portfolio encourages diversification and provides the investor with a diversified portfolio which can include stocks, mutual funds, bonds, commodities, real estate, and even art. This portfolio category comes with the advantage of flexibility for the investor; it also reduces the negative impact of losses from one asset class.
How to start building an investment portfolio
Building an investment portfolio can seem like an uphill task, but it does not have to be. The first step is to identify your financial goals. As Bloomberg financial analyst and Chief Investment Officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC, Barry Ritholtz aptly points out: “When it comes to investing, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all portfolio.”
Identifying your unique goals will determine if your money should go into short-term or long-term investments. It will also predict what kind of portfolio would be best suited to your needs. A portfolio tailored towards retirement will be different from one that is intended to provide income within the next five years.
It is also important to assess your risk tolerance. If you are risk-averse, this means you are careful about putting your money at risk for promising rewards. Therefore, your money should be invested as safely and predictably as possible. However, if you have a high tolerance for risk, you are open to taking risks for the possibility of making greater returns.
Once this is completed, you would need to honestly examine your investing skills, to establish whether you can build a portfolio yourself or would require the support of a Financial Adviser.
The next step is to decide on asset allocation. How much of your money will go into each investment? How do you plan to balance your portfolio and continue to diversify as time goes on? These are all questions that must be answered and it’s advisable to seek the help of a professional for this stage of the process.
In conclusion, the major keys to keep in mind when building an investment portfolio are to identify your goals, assess your risk appetite and talk to an expert. Ready support is available to you, as FBNQuest offers a variety of investment products and is available to offer advice to investors based on their risk appetite.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bullish run seen lately in the Nigerian equities market continued on Wednesday after it closed the session with a 2.27 per cent growth.
This was influenced by renewed interest in domestic stocks by investors, who are locking funds in some shares with sound fundamentals like Airtel Africa, Aradel Holdings, Dangote Cement, and others.
Data showed that Airtel Africa and Trans-Nationwide Express gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N5,801.40 and N2.97, respectively. Fidelity Bank appreciated by 9.97 per cent to N19.85, Thomas Wyatt advanced by 9.89 per cent to N3.00, and UPDC REIT improved by 9.47 per cent to N10.40.
Conversely, Haldane McCall lost 9.95 per cent to trade at N3.53, McNichols declined by 8.89 per cent to N6.15, Transcorp slid by 5.65 per cent to N40.05, CWG went down by 5.24 per cent to N19.00, and VFD Group crashed by 5.19 per cent to N28.12.
The market breadth index remained positive after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended the day with 32 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks, indicating strong investor sentiment.
Business Post reports that the insurance sector was under pressure yesterday, resulting in a 0.20 per cent loss, which did not affect the outcome of the market.
The energy space gained 3.85 per cent, the industrial goods segment chalked up 1.89 per cent, the banking index rose by 1.07 per cent, and the consumer goods counter soared by 0.31 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) added 5,378.70 points to finish at 242,459.98 points compared with the previous day’s 237,083.28 points, and the market capitalisation went up by N3.450 trillion to N155.586 trillion from N152.136 trillion.
The busiest equity during the trading session was Lasaco Assurance, with a turnover of 56.6 million units valued at N104.8 million. Fidelity Bank traded 47.5 million units worth N911.9 million, Linkage Assurance transacted 33.9 million units for N51.2 million, Zenith Bank sold 32.0 million units valued at N3.4 billion, and Sterling Holdings exchanged 30.5 million units worth N233.3 million.
At the close of transactions, 518.4 million shares worth N22.8 billion exchanged hands in 48,495 deals versus the 493.7 million shares valued at N28.0 billion traded in 49,969 deals a day earlier. This implied that the trading volume was up by 5.00 per cent, the trading value was down by 18.57 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 2.95 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices surged over 5 per cent to a two-week high on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump declared that the interim ceasefire agreement with Iran is officially.
Brent futures rose $4.40 or 5.9 per cent to settle at $78.02 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $3.64 or 5.2 per cent to $73.52 per barrel.
The American President said an interim deal signed last month to end the war with Iran was “over” and that the US was likely to launch new strikes on Wednesday night following Iranian attacks on US bases in the Gulf and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked before a NATO summit in Turkey whether the memorandum of understanding was over, President Trump said: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them.”
He later ruled out the restart of full-fledged war with Iran, which pulled oil benchmarks lower from the session’s highest gains of as much as 9 per cent.
A fifth of global oil supplies moved through the Strait before the Iran war began on February 28 after US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran, which led to retaliation that forced Middle Eastern oil producers to cut millions of barrels of oil production.
Iran on Tuesday attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting retaliatory attacks by the US. A Saudi-flagged LNG tanker was struck on its port side, causing an engine room fire, while the supertanker suffered minor damage off the coast of Oman.
In response, US Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted massive offensive airstrikes hitting more than 80 military targets inside Iran while the Trump administration also revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that allowed Iran to sell oil and petrochemicals, cutting off a key revenue stream for the oil producer.
Freight rates for tankers operating in the Gulf have surged as shipowners demand higher risk premiums, while refiners in Asia are scrambling to secure alternative cargoes from West Africa, the US, and Latin America in case Hormuz remains closed.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its 2026 global economic growth forecast to 3 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent posted in 2025, with the impact of the Iran war expected to negate gains made by the ongoing AI boom.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) is pushing for a harmonised tax regime for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, citing the burden of more than 270 different taxes, fees and statutory levies imposed on operators.
The Chairman of IPPG, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated this in his keynote address at the opening of the 2026 NOG Energy Week in Abuja.
He said a situation where oil firms pay as many as 270 different types of taxes and levies discourages investment and threatens the viability of many projects.
Mr Falade said while recent government reforms have improved investor confidence, the multiplicity of charges imposed by different government agencies risks undermining those gains.
“Today, the Nigerian oil and gas industry remains the most taxed and levied in the country, and perhaps globally, with over 270 separate fees, taxes and levies,” he said.
According to him, the cumulative burden of these charges has begun to outweigh the incentives introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), particularly for smaller indigenous operators managing mature oil assets.
He warned that the situation could force some operators to abandon projects, urging the federal government to harmonise the various charges into a transparent and globally competitive fiscal framework.
“We therefore urge the government to undertake a comprehensive harmonisation of all fees and levies across all agencies to eliminate duplication, ensure transparency in how these charges are computed and applied, and align the overall fiscal burden with the incentive-driven spirit of the PIA,” he said.
Beyond fiscal reforms, the IPPG chairman identified an emerging manpower crisis as another major threat to the industry, noting that the retirement of experienced professionals and recent international oil company divestments have created significant skills gaps that require urgent investment in workforce development.
Mr Falade also called for a comprehensive review of the PIA five years after its enactment, to address implementation challenges and incorporate presidential directives that have improved investment conditions.
He stressed that Nigeria must shift its focus from simply increasing crude oil production to creating greater value through refining, gas processing, power generation, fertiliser production and petrochemicals.
According to him, the country’s vast hydrocarbon resources should serve as a catalyst for industrialisation rather than continued exports of raw crude and gas.
While commending the administration’s reforms that have helped secure more than $8 billion in upstream final investment decisions since 2023 and boosted oil production to about 1.6 million barrels per day, Mr Falade maintained that sustainable growth would depend on creating a more competitive operating environment for investors.
