How to Review Your Investment Portfolio
A yearly portfolio review keeps your investments aligned with your goals. Here’s a simple checklist.
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Investing isn’t “set and forget forever” — a periodic review keeps your portfolio aligned with your goals. Once or twice a year is enough for most investors; more often invites tinkering.
A simple review checklist
- Check asset allocation — has your equity/debt/gold mix drifted from target? If so, rebalance.
- Measure real returns — use XIRR for a true, cash-flow-aware figure, not just absolute gains.
- Review each holding’s role — does it still fit a goal? Are you holding overlapping or duplicate funds?
- Check costs — are you in direct plans? High expense ratios quietly erode returns.
- Assess underperformers in context — compare a fund with its benchmark and category over 3–5 years, not one bad quarter.
What NOT to do in a review
- Don’t sell everything after a bad patch — judge over full cycles.
- Don’t chase recent winners.
- Don’t churn for its own sake; each change can trigger capital gains tax and exit loads.
Tie it back to goals
The real question is: “Am I on track for my goals?” If yes, mostly leave things alone. If a goal or your situation changed, adjust deliberately. Education only, not advice.
