Throughout the financial crisis, one phrase could be heard echoing between analysts, commentators and investors; “Cash is King”. This sentiment led to many individuals and businesses throwing on the spending breaks and looking for secure environments to hold their money whilst markets dropped and asset prices fell.

Now, with confidence growing each day and with it the appearances of economic stability, the echoes begin to fade and are overthrown by the boisterous demand of “buy, buy, buy”. Many industry experts, however, warn against blindly grabbing at opportunities and advise a cautious and strategic approach to investing.

It may not be glamorous, and they will probably never make a movie about someone who carried out a financial needs analysis and employed risk management techniques within their investment portfolio, but strategically planning your savings and investment plans is by far the best way of ensuring the greatest performance.

Today, more and more people are contacting independent brokers and financial planners that offer free consultations and are taking the time to investigate and compare market opportunities so that they can put in place a range of savings and investments that reflect their financial circumstances and work towards their long term objectives.

Whilst nobody can guarantee 100% success, the inclusion of risk management techniques such as diversification, dollar cost averaging and time as a risk moderator are tried and tested ways of stabilizing an investment portfolio and should be at the forefront of any prudent strategy. Financial advisors should discuss these openly and provide their clients with a free financial analysis so that the chosen savings or investment plan works towards their goals and does not bring with it the burden of concern.