What does investment mean to you? The idea of ‘investment’ can mean different things to different people. For you, it may mean something like “making my money grow” or “getting a decent income from my capital”. Those may seem like simple ideas but, in a world of low interest rates, achieving an investment return that meets your expectations may prove challenging.

Regardless of the wider economic backdrop, generating good investment returns has never been a simple matter. Knowing what you want to do with your money is the key starting point for your investment plan. As with any journey, you can only plan your route map after you have decided upon your destination. Your goal might be to build up a capital sum that you can access at a pre-determined point in the future, or to produce a certain level of income after a set period of time. Thinking about your goals – there may be more than one – will influence your investment strategy.