Blog Page 124

Powerful Websites for Fundamental Analysis of Stocks

Where to Invest in the stock market? What is the process for conducting stock fundamental analysis? Do you have readymade tools or websites for fundamental analysis of stocks? Let’s try to get answers!

Well, Investing in the stock market can feel like navigating a maze, especially if you’re new to the game. Once you invest it is like a roller coaster ride. But here is a good news. There are tools and websites that can help you in evaluating stock performance quickly. You can get all data in the visual form which will help you in making informed investment decisions. So, let’s dive into the three powerful websites for fundamental analysis of stocks that every investor should have bookmarked.

fundamental analysis of stocks

Why Fundamental Analysis?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of these websites, let’s quickly brush up on what is fundamental analysis? why we should perform fundamental analysis of the stock before investing?

Fundamental analysis is the process of evaluating a company’s financial health and performance by analyzing key metrics such as earnings, revenue, profit margins, future growth management, and more.

Fundamental analysis is focused on the foundational factors that impact a company’s performance, whether positively or negatively. Doing a fundamental analysis of the stock is extremely important. Unlike technical analysis, which focuses on price movements and market trends, fundamental analysis digs deep into a company’s financial health, competitive position, and future prospects. It is like doing a complete checkup on a business to see if it’s worth your hard-earned money.

Powerful Websites for Fundamental Analysis of Stocks

#1 Simply Wall St

Simply Wall St is one of the best tools for doing a fundamental stock analysis. Simply Wall St offers a comprehensive analysis of all publicly listed stocks around the globe right at your disposal. At Simply Wall St you can save valuable time by going through readymade reports to reduce investment risk.

Key Features of Simply Wall St

  • Portfolio – You can build and manage multiple watchlists and portfolios effortlessly on this tool.
  • Visual Analytics – Visual Analytics, user-friendly charts and graphs to present intricate financial information, allowing users to easily understand and assess stock and portfolio performance.
  • Investment Research – Detailed analysis of specific stocks, providing important statistics, past trends, and visual forecasts to assist users in making informed choices when it comes to investing.
  • Stock Screener – Stock Screener facility with readymade screens for stock filtering.

How to Use Simply Wall St?

The steps to use Simply Wall St are given below.

Visit the https://simplywall.st website. Create a free account or use Gmail, Facebook, or Apple ID to log in. On first-time login, you need to select market and industry. Now you will be able to see various menu items such as portfolio, watchlist, discover, screener, and market.

Portfolio

Under the portfolio tab, you will be able to create or see your portfolio. The portfolio can be created manually by clicking on the button “Create Portfolio” and adding stock names, quantities, and purchase prices. Continue adding stocks till your portfolio gets created. Once your portfolio is ready you will be able to see stock holding, portfolio Snowflake chart, stock analysis, and dividend tab with visuals and details.

Watchlist

In the watchlist tab, you can create your watchlist. You need to click on the Add Stock button and add the stock which you want to track. The best part of this watchlist is that based on data points it will tell you that added stock is undervalued or overvalued. It will also display the fair value of the stock.

Discover & Screener

The Discover tab is given to find out new investment ideas. You will get readymade screens such as Gem Stocks with Strong Fundamentals, Fast Growing Stocks, Dividend Powerhouse stocks, AI Stocks, Energy stocks, etc. On the Screener you will get the facility to screen the stock based on various filters. In case you find filters useful you can save the screener also.

Stock Report

From the search tab, you can search for any stock and get a stock report on the screen. The stock report shows a detailed fundamental analysis of the stock including Snowflake analysis. You will get Financial Health, Valuation, Future Growth, Past Performance, Dividend, Management, Ownership details and other information. The information given in the report is very useful to make investment decisions.

Simply Wall St Fundamental Analysis of Stocks

Price

The free Plan of this tool gives you the following facilities.

  • Global Markets Access: Explore insights from worldwide financial markets.
  • Company Reports: Receive detailed reports for up to 5 companies monthly.
  • Portfolio and Holdings: Manage one portfolio with up to 5 holdings.
  • Watchlist: Keep track of your favorite companies effortlessly.

The premium plan comes with a yearly price of $120. It gives you the following facilities.

  • Global Markets Access: Insights from diverse financial markets worldwide.
  • Company Reports: Receive 30 comprehensive reports each month.
  • Portfolios, Holdings: Manage 3 portfolios with 30 holdings each.
  • Watchlists: Simultaneously monitor 3 watchlists for market updates.
  • Stock Screener: Leverage our robust tool for effective stock screening.

You can also purchase an unlimited plan with a yearly price of $240.

In short, Simply Wall St is a very good tool for doing fundamental analysis. It provides a user-friendly interface and effective tools for navigating the intricacies of the stock market. However, you will not get real-time data on the price of this tool it is delayed by 1 day for the Indian stock market.

Chartink Screener – Fundamental and Technical Scanner

#2 Trendlyne

Trendlyne is a smart stock performance screening website. Trendlyne is useful for doing fundamental analysis as well as technical analysis of the stocks. Trendlyne offers distinctive features such as DVM, SWOT analysis, performance graph, comparative performance analysis, and others.

Key Features of Trendlyne

  • Portfolio – You can add your stocks view holding and manage accounts.
  • Research ReportsTrendlyne offers readymade research reports as well as a forecaster dashboard.
  • Stock Report Trendlyne offers stock reports that include durability, valuation, and momentum details.
  • Stock Screener – You will get a readymade stock screener as well as you can create your own stock screener in Trendlyne.

How to Use Trendlyne?

The steps to use Trendlyne are given below.

Visit the https://trendlyne.com/ website. Create a new account or use Gmail or Apple ID to log in. On logging on you will be able to see the dashboard view with menu items such as Reports, Screeners, Superstars, Portfolio, and many more.

Stock Research Reports

Under the reports section, you will be able to see various research reports & buy-sell calls. To search for any stock-specific report, you need to enter a stock name in the search tab. Now, you will be able to see the stock report, containing information such as durability score, valuation score, momentum score, and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for the stock.

Screeners

Under the Screeners section, you can create a new screener. Click on the Create New Screener button and follow the on-screen instructions to create your own screener. Under this section, you can also find the most popular expert stock screeners for usage. These fundamental and technical stock screeners are also sorted by various categories – highest returns, DVM, live results, volume, and more.

Superstars

Superstars is a unique section that contains Superstar Shareholder Portfolios – Ownership stakes held by prominent investors. In this section you can find out which companies the biggest superstar shareholders like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Dolly Khanna, Ramesh Damani, Goldman Sachs etc are investing in.

Trendlyne Fundamental Analysis of Stocks

Portfolio

Under the portfolio section, you can create your own stock portfolio and track your investments. To do that, click on your portfolio and add stock, quantity, price, and transaction date. You can also import your portfolio by syncing from leading stock brokers.

Price

Trendlyne offers two different plans GURUQ and STARTQ. The price of GURUQ is ₹ 1890 per year. The price of STARTQ is ₹ 4950 per year.

#3 Tijori Finance

Tijori Finance is one of the best tools for Investment research and tracking. You can get unique insights about companies, news & markets in this tool. You can also get a performance tracking facility in this tool.

Key Features of Tijori Finance

  • Research Tools – Tijori Finance offers an in-depth analysis of the fundamentals and technical data of the company. Additionally, it gives forensic analysis which is very useful while making investment decisions.
  • Tracking Tools – Tijori Finance also offers tracking tools which include a company timeline, portfolio, watchlist, and alerts.

How to Use Tijori Finance?

The steps to use Tijori Finance are given below.

Visit the https://www.tijorifinance.com/ website. Sign up using your E-mail id or using the Zerodha Kite Account. On login, you will be able to see the dashboard view.

Timeline

Timeline is a personalized feed with updates about your companies. You can add your companies and get the latest information and financial news about these companies on your feed.

Portfolio

The stock portfolio section of Tijori Finance allows you to add investment data or pull your investment data by connecting to brokers. It is a premium feature and you need to pay money to avail this facility.

Company Research

The company research facility allows you to search and get data for any sector or stock. It gives the complete analysis of the stock in visual form. You can get financial, forensic, market share, revenue mix, peer comparison, cash flow analysis, shareholding, and many other details.

Price

Tijori Finance Free version offers limited information and features. For a premium account on Tijori Finance, you need to spend ₹ 330 per month or ₹ 3500 per year.

#4 Finology Ticker

As an investor, you must have surely come across insufficient or unreliable data while trying to analyse stocks. 

Well, Finology Ticker was created as a solution to this problem. 

It’s a stock screener for everyone that brings the best features of expensive stock screeners to you for free. 

Ticker’s goal is to make investing simple for retail investors. It is a tool that can help you with all your stock research and analysis needs. It offers some really amazing features that can help you analyse stocks, track market trends, and make educated investment decisions—a total one-stop solution for both new and seasoned investors.

finology ticker

Key Features of Ticker

Ticker is like your very own team of researchers, but free. You can access all the data you need to make investments and manage your investment strategy with its many features. Here are some major ones: 

Stock Screener  Users can filter and search over 5,000 listed companies with Ticker’s Stock Screener, and they can use more than 1,200 financial ratios as filters to do so. So, as an investor, you can easily find the stocks that fit your investment criteria, making the whole stock selection process easy and efficient. 

Super Investors  Want to know the net worth of investors like Radhakishan Damani, Vijay Kedia, etc.? Ticker’s got your back! 

It has a super investors section where you can look into the sock portfolios of stock market pros and get data of their holding values for free.

Initial Public Offers (IPO)  Ticker has all the data you need to stay updated on IPOs, including upcoming and newly listed IPOs, IPO-related news and in-depth IPO analysis. So, users never miss out on new investment opportunities.

Indices  Track the daily market movement and performance with Ticker. It provides real-time data to help investors make better investment decisions based on market trends and sentiments. More than 100 Indices of NSE and BSE are available with their top stocks for free. 

Sector  As an investor, you must want to know which industry sectors are performing well. With Ticker, you can see how many listed companies are present in a sector and how each one is performing. With this feature, users can diversify their portfolio by investing in multiple sectors that are performing well. 

Watchlist & Portfolio  With this feature, users can create personalised watchlists to monitor their favourite stocks and track their investment portfolios. It helps investors keep track of their investments’ performance and market changes.

Stock Analysis & Reports  Ticker provides detailed reports and analysis on various stocks, including historical performance, financial statements, Annual report, concalls, investor presentations, etc. This information is crucial for making data-driven investment decisions.

Now that you know some of Ticker’s many amazing features, let us move on to how you can use the platform.

How to Use Ticker

Ticker has so many different features it might get overwhelming to understand how to truly use them to your advantage. 

Not to worry, here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Ticker’s key features:

Getting Started with Ticker

  • Open ticker.finology.in 
  • Get what’s up with the market on the home page itself
  • Scroll below to check the Corporate News, Economy News, Market News, etc.
  • Search for any company or brand you like and analyse it with detailed financial statements and ratios. 

Using the Stock Screener

  • You can easily access the stock screener tool by clicking on the “Screener” button on the dashboard.  
  • Then, you can click on “Usage Guide” to understand how to set up screening criteria. 
  • If you are already familiar with the process, just choose the parameters such as sales or market cap to filter stocks. 
  • Click on “Run Screener”, and you will get a list of stocks that meet your desired criteria.

Creating a Watchlist

  • Just click on your profile and click on “Watchlist.” 
  • Search any company and add the stock to your watchlist. 
  • Now, you can easily track the performance of your watchlisted stocks daily.

Company Analysis

  • Search for any company name of choice in the search bar.
  • You will be redirected to the company page.
  • Now, you can explore all the financial information of the company and make educated investment decisions.

You can follow these steps and take the full advantage of Ticker’s many impressive features. It’s a search engine for all your investment needs.

Summary

If you are looking for an all-in-one tool that makes it easy for you to analyse stocks, then Finology Ticker should be your go-to tool. 

It’s hard to believe one platform can do all of this, but Ticker can do even more. You don’t have to choose between free, unreliable tools and expensive premium tools when you can have the best with Ticker.

FAQs

What is fundamental analysis?

Fundamental analysis involves evaluating a company’s financial statements, management, industry position, and economic factors to determine its intrinsic value.

Why should I use multiple websites for analysis?

Different websites offer unique tools and perspectives, providing a more comprehensive view of the stock you’re analyzing.

Are these websites free to use?

Most features on these websites are free, but some advanced tools may require a subscription.

How often should I perform the fundamental analysis?

Regular analysis is crucial. Quarterly reviews are a good practice to stay updated with the latest financial data.

Can fundamental analysis predict stock prices?

While it can provide valuable insights into a company’s potential, it cannot predict future stock prices with certainty.

Conclusion

Investing in the stock market doesn’t have to feel like a gamble. By leveraging the power of fundamental analysis, you can make informed decisions that align with your financial goals. These tools provide essential resources to assist you in navigating the intricate world of investing.

By following the advice and utilizing the tools from these powerful websites, you’ll be well on your way to mastering fundamental analysis and achieving your financial goals. Remember, knowledge is power, especially in the world of investing!

Future Trends in Media Strategy for the Financial Sector

Recently, the financial sector’s media use has changed a lot. Fast tech growth and the rise of digital platforms mean financial institutions must adapt quickly to stay in the game.

Keeping up with media trends is crucial for these institutions to connect with their audiences and meet marketing goals. Going digital and using data-driven methods is essential in today’s media world.

future trends financial sector

Optimizing Media Buying

Media buying is key for the financial sector to reach its target audience. This means picking the right spots for ads to get noticed. In this situation, partnering with a media buying agency has big benefits. These agencies have the skills, plans, and tools needed. They know market trends and audience behavior, helping financial firms pick the best places for ads.

Plus, media buying agencies can score better deals, finding cheaper ad spaces than businesses can on their own. With their media connections and industry know-how, these agencies help financial firms get the most bang for their buck.

Embracing Data-Driven Marketing

Using data in marketing is now key to success in finance. By collecting and analyzing data, financial firms get a clear picture of what customers want and how they act. This helps them make targeted campaigns that hit the mark.

By studying customer data, these firms can fine-tune their messages and offers. This grabs customers’ attention and builds trust and loyalty. Using data-driven methods means using smart tools to get insights, group audiences, and check how campaigns are doing. Financial institutions that use data-driven marketing can quickly adjust to market changes and send more relevant messages to their audiences.

Leveraging Social Media Platforms

With over 5.07 billion users around the world, social media is essential for financial institutions to reach people. Social media is big in finance. Sites like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Instagram help financial firms connect with customers, share useful info, and get noticed.

To succeed on social media, financial institutions need a solid plan. They should post content that is useful and interesting. Tools that track social media can show what people think about the market and the brand, so firms can respond quickly and correctly. Social media also provides useful data to improve marketing. By using social media well, financial institutions can strengthen their online presence, build customer relationships, and grow their business.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is key for gaining trust and authority in finance. Generating useful and informative content helps financial firms establish themselves as experts and reliable sources. Blogs, whitepapers, webinars, and podcasts are good ways to share knowledge.

To make great content, understand what your audience needs and likes. Financial firms should answer common questions, solve problems, and provide expert advice. Distribute this content widely to reach a larger audience. Expert content builds trust, improves reputation, and attracts new customers. By focusing on content marketing, financial firms can stand out and build lasting client relationships.

Exploring Video Marketing

Video marketing is now a key tool for banks and financial companies to connect with people. Videos are popular on many platforms, and these firms are using them to share their messages. Good examples include explainer videos, customer stories, and live streams.

Creating good videos needs careful planning. Banks and financial firms should focus on creating videos that are clear, visually attractive, and easy to share. Adjusting videos for platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn ensures they reach the right people. Videos grab attention, explain complex topics, and get people engaged. By using video marketing, financial firms can improve how they talk to and connect with their customers.

Adopting Artificial Intelligence and Automation

Artificial intelligence and automation are revolutionizing media strategies within the financial industry. AI tools like chatbots, programmatic advertising and predictive analytics bring great advantages to financial institutions by streamlining marketing processes while increasing efficiency and enriching customer experiences. Chatbots offer instantaneous customer support and personalized interactions, improving satisfaction and engagement among their users.

Programmatic advertising uses AI to automatically purchase and place ads before reaching their intended audiences; predictive analytics enable financial institutions to anticipate customer needs and behaviors and tailor marketing efforts accordingly; while AI-assisted automation helps firms optimize media strategies while decreasing costs for better results.

Final Thoughts

To stay ahead, financial institutions must keep updating their media strategies to match shifting market needs and customer preferences. They should invest in the right tools and build strong partnerships with media buying agencies and tech experts. By keeping up with new trends and being proactive, these firms can successfully manage the evolving media environment and reach their marketing goals.

LIC Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life – Features Benefits & Options

LIC Yuva Credit Life & LIC Digi Credit Life are Non-Par, Non-Linked, Life, Individual, and Pure Risk Plans. These plans offer protection to the insured’s family by covering any outstanding loan repayments in the event of the insured’s death during the policy’s duration.

LIC Yuva Credit Life Plan can be purchased Offline through Licensed agents, Corporate Agents, Brokers, and Insurance Marketing Firms. LIC Digi Credit Life plan shall be available Online only and can be purchased directly through the LIC’s website www.licindia.in.

LIC Yuva Credit Life Digi Credit Life Policies

LIC Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life

LIC’s Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life are purely decreasing Term Assurance plans wherein the death benefit will be reduced over the term of the policy. In both policies, the policyholder must select the Basic Sum Assured, duration of the policy, and interest rate based on the loan’s terms and conditions. Based on the Policyholder’s choice of Basic Sum Assured, Policy Term, and Interest rate, a Risk Cover Schedule will be created. The Risk Cover Schedule offers interest rates of 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, and 12%, regardless of the loan provider’s interest rate on the policyholder’s loan. The Risk Cover Schedule will display the Death Benefit (Sum Assured on Death) for each Policy Year, calculated using the selected annual interest rate and paid yearly, regardless of loan repayments.

At the inception, the Sum Assured on Death shall be equal to the Basic Sum Assured, and subsequently, at each Policy Year, the Sum Assured on Death shall be as mentioned in the Risk Cover Schedule. Therefore, the death benefit as specified in the Risk Cover Schedule may be higher or lower than the actual outstanding Loan.

Key Features

• Flexibility to Select from Single Premium and Limited Premium Payment

• Policy Holder can select the Policy Term/Premium Paying Term

• Special rates for women

• Benefit of attractive High Sum Assured Rebate

• Two categories of premium rates namely (1) Non-Smoker rates and (2) Smoker rates. The application of Non-Smoker rates shall be based on the findings of the Urinary Cotinine test. In all other cases, the Smoker rates will be applicable

• Choice of loan interest rate as appropriate to the policyholder at the inception of the policy

Eligibility

  • Minimum Age at entry: 18 years (Last Birthday)
  • Maximum Age at entry: 45 years (Last Birthday)
  • Minimum Age at Maturity: 23 years (Last Birthday)
  • Maximum age at Maturity: 75 years (Last Birthday)
  • Minimum Basic Sum Assured – ₹ 50 Lakh
  • Maximum Basic Sum Assured – ₹ 5 Cr (Based on Approval)

The basic sum assured shall be in multiples of the amount specified below –

Basic Sum Assured range Sum Assured Multiple
From  ₹ 50,00,000/- to ₹ 75,00,000/- ₹ 1,00,000/-
Above ₹ 75,00,000/- to ₹ 1,50,00,000/- ₹ 25,00,000/-
Above ₹ 1,50,00,000/- to ₹ 4,00,00,000/- ₹ 50,00,000/-
Above ₹ 4,00,00,000/- ₹ 1,00,00,000/-

Policy Term & Premium Paying Term

Policy Term Premium Paying Term
5 Years to 30 Years Single
10 Years to 30 Years 5 Years
15 Years to 30 Years 10 Years
25 Years to 30 Years 15 Years

LIC Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life Benefits

Death Benefit

Death benefit, payable on the death of the Life Assured during the policy term after the date of commencement of risk but before the stipulated Date of Maturity, provided the policy is in force and the claim is admissible shall be “Sum Assured on Death”.

For the Limited premium payment policy, “Sum Assured on Death” is defined as the higher of – 

• 105% of “Total Premiums Paid” up to the date of death; or

• Absolute amount assured to be paid on death 

Where “Total Premiums Paid” means the total of all premiums paid under the base product, excluding any extra premium and taxes, if collected explicitly. 

For a Single premium policy, “Sum Assured on Death” is defined as 

• Absolute amount assured to be paid on death 

Where a Single Premium shall be the premium amount payable excluding taxes and underwriting extra premiums. 

The Absolute amount assured to be paid on death shall be as specified in the Risk Cover Schedule. The Risk Cover Schedule shall show the Sum Assured on Death for each Policy Year and shall be based on the chosen interest rate p.a. effective on an equated yearly repayment basis, irrespective of the actual loan repayment. At the inception, the Sum Assured on Death shall be equal to the Basic Sum Assured, and subsequently at each Policy Year, the Sum Assured on Death shall be as mentioned in the Risk Cover Schedule. Death Benefit as specified in the Risk Cover Schedule may be higher or lower than the actual outstanding loan.

Maturity Benefit

On survival of the life assured to the end of the policy term, no maturity benefit is payable.

Options In case of Early Prepayment of Loan

If Life Assured repays the outstanding loan before the end of the policy term, he/she shall have the following two options 

• To surrender his/her insurance cover.

On such cancellation, an amount equal to the Unexpired Risk Premium Value, if any, shall be payable.

• To continue the policy till the end of the Policy Term.

In case of death of the Life Assured during the policy term, the death benefit shall be payable to the nominee as per the Risk Cover Schedule.

LIC Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life Premium illustration

The sample illustrative premiums for Males, Non-Smoker, Policy Term 25 years, Basic Sum Assured of ₹ 50 Lakh for a loan interest rate of 8% are as follows

Age (Last
Birthday in
years)
Single
Premium
(in ₹)
Annual Premium
for Limited
Premium
Paying Term of 5
years (in ₹)
Annual
Premium
for Limited
Premium
Paying Term
of 10 years
(in ₹)
Annual
Premium
for Limited
Premium
Paying Term
of 15 years
(in ₹)
20 40,900 10,100 6,100 4,850
30 53,550 13,150 7,900 6,200
40 1,03,450 25,100 14,900 11,650

The above premiums are exclusive of taxes.

The sample Risk Cover Schedule for a Policy Term of 25 years and loan interest rate of 8% is as follows

Policy Year Sum Assured
on Death for
the respective
policy year
Policy Year Sum Assured
on Death for
the respective
policy year
Policy Year Sum Assured
on Death for
the respective
policy year
1 1000 11 801.84 21 374.03
2 986.32 12 772.31 22 310.28
3 971.55 13 740.42 23 241.42
4 955.59 14 705.97 24 167.05
5 938.36 15 668.77 25 86.74
6 919.75 16 628.59
7 899.65 17 585.2
8 877.95 18 538.34
9 854.5 19 487.73
10 829.19 20 433.07

Conclusion

LIC Yuva Credit Life & Digi Credit Life are good risk cover plans for loans. You can safeguard your assets against loan liabilities by purchasing these plans. You must evaluate these plans thoroughly before buying.

GICs are a great way to start investing

When you start hitting the big milestones of adulthood – like starting your first job, paying off your student loan debt, purchasing your first car and home, starting a family and establishing your savings – it might be the perfect time to start investing to have funds saved up for security and retirement. And while the world of investing may seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. There are some easy options to start investing that are low-risk and still give you a good return.

GIC Investment

The basics of investing 

Investing starts when you can put money away each month that you don’t need for expenses. You then commit that money to a fund, stock or bond to be able to get a return. However, it can be scary to put your money in stocks or mutual funds that are at the mercy of market fluctuations – especially when you’re just starting to dip your toes in the investment waters  

Here are some signs that you could be ready to start investing: 

  • You don’t have a heavy high-interest debt load, like credit card debt. For the most part, the return on your investment isn’t going to outpace the interest you must pay on your debt, so it’s normally a good idea to pay down debt before you think about investments.
  • You have access to emergency savings. The general rule of thumb is to have six months to one year of expenses saved in the event of an emergency. 
  • You have a savings goal in mind. If you are still saving up to make a down payment on a property or for a large purchase, you may wish to consider a less risky investment when you’re starting out.  

GICs are a good option for beginner investors 

GICs, or Guaranteed Investment Certificates, are issued by banks and other institutions for a variety of terms usually ranging from 30 days to several years. The principal you invest is guaranteed to be returned to you at the end of the investment term, making this one of the easiest and most secure ways to earn investment income. That said, while GICs don’t offer the highest possible investment returns by their very nature they are an excellent option for first-time investors who are starting on the journey of their investment strategy.  

While you may assume that online trading accounts are for savvy investors only, a lot of investors use them specifically to purchase GICs. Many online GIC options in fact offer higher interest rates than those available from your bank link.  

You have the option of choosing your GIC term, as well as the type of account you would like to have your GIC held in. For instance, you can choose to have your GIC held in a registered, tax-deferred account like a TFSA or RRSP, or you can opt for a non-registered account.  

As you move forward with your investment strategy throughout your life and make more income, you will want to diversify your portfolio. Regardless, you will likely always want to hold a portion of your investments in a secure option like a GIC.