If you are thinking of investing some of your spare money, then you would not be alone. The 60 major global stock markets are worth a staggering $69tn between them. They see a high volume of trade each day from people investing their money into shares. When you factor in the other major financial markets that are open to trade on, such as the foreign exchange market, it is clear that investing is something that a lot of people do now.

Before you jump in though, you need to know the key factors that will help you succeed. Chief among these is how to build a powerful investment portfolio that is structured to handle what the markets may throw at it.

How to build a powerful investment portfolio

If you need a few tips on building a robust portfolio, then the below advice should help:

• Set clear goals – whatever individual assets you have in your portfolio, you need to have clear objectives around them. You should always know how you expect each investment to perform, what the risks are, and when it is time to get out. This will protect your portfolio over time and make it easier to track if everything is working as planned.

• Do not overpay – price is one key thing to understand when building up a strong portfolio. One thing to really think about is the price at which you buy any stocks or shares. If you overpay, then even a well-performing stock will not provide the returns that it should. Always try to buy stocks that give value as well as future returns.

• Diversify – a great tip from the investment professionals is that you should always have a mixture of assets in different sectors. This protects your whole portfolio and makes it more powerful to stand up to any one investment tanking. You are in effect not making the mistake of putting all your eggs in one basket.

• Choose your sectors wisely – when thinking of what individual assets or stocks to put into your diverse portfolio, you should do your research. This should not only be into the individual company that you may invest in but also what overall sectors are doing well or about to explode. Technology, for example, is a hot sector now, and this kind of thinking will help you build a strong portfolio.

Keeping up with news is essential

The real power behind a successful portfolio is having access to the latest news and figures. This will help you take action if needed on your investments and always be up to date with what is happening in the markets. Most investors will do this on a daily basis but also with a more long-term weekly approach for the week coming. For everything you need to know about stocks this week, the internet has all the latest stories to check out.

Make your portfolio truly powerful

Many people will trade but not all will trade successfully. Make sure that you do win out in the long term by building a powerful portfolio that is strong enough to ride any market fluctuations. By doing this, you are giving yourself the best chance of trading success overall.