Five steps to spring clean your investment portfolio

Spring is almost here! After what seems like an eternity of dark mornings and miserable weather, the birds will soon be singing and the flowers in bloom. But it’s not just our environment that can enjoy such a re-awakening. It’s also the perfect time to carry out a spring clean of your finances. Your priority should be assessing the performance of your Individual Savings Account (ISA) and gauging whether you’re still on track to hit your goals.

Here we look at six key steps you should take before the curtain falls on the current tax year at midnight on April 5, 2025.

Please remember that the value of investments will fluctuate and returns may be less than the amount originally invested. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and the ISA and tax rules can change. Chelsea does not offer advice and so you must manage your ISA yourself.

Step one: Review existing investments

It can be easy to lose track of your savings and investments, so see what you have in place. Where has your money been invested – and has it made a profit? Are the performances what you expected? If your portfolio has lost money, are there reasons why this has happened? Conversely, if it’s risen in value, are the increases sustainable? Many factors influence the level of returns generated – or depth of losses suffered – such as the economic backdrop, political instability and company valuations.

Step two: Revisit your investment goals

What are your financial objectives and have they changed? You may have recently started a family, received a pay rise, or decided to retire earlier than planned. Look at how these new aims affect your monetary needs. For example, will they change how much income you require or the amount you’ll eventually need in your pension pot? Linked to this is your attitude to risk and ability to cope with stock market fluctuations. This will dictate which type of investments are most suitable.

Step three: Decide your asset allocation

The third stage is setting your broad asset allocation, based on your situation. If you are just starting your investment journey then you may accept more risk in the hope of enhanced returns. Conversely, if you only have a few years before retirement, your preferred option could be to put most of your ISA allocation in less risky fixed income funds. One popular option is the core-satellite approach. This is where you have the bulk of your money in a ‘core’ portfolio, with smaller positions in more exciting ‘satellite’ funds.

Step four: Refresh your portfolio

The next step is to dig down into your individual holdings. How have fund managers performed and have their investment objectives changed? If there’s been a fundamental difference in a fund’s approach – or if its manager has been replaced over the past year – you’ll need to decide whether it still meets your needs. Are rival funds looking more attractive? Is the new manager at the helm still focused on the areas of the world to which you want exposure?

Step five: Future overhaul

The final step is putting a date in the diary for the next potential overhaul. An annual check will help ensure you’re still on track with your investment goals. Of course, it’s worth keeping a constant eye on your portfolio. For example, if a manager of one of your funds suddenly departs, that should trigger a reassessment of your positioning. Why did they leave? Has a replacement been named and what is their previous track record? Taking time to research as early as possible could help you avoid financial misery a few years down the line.

Four fund suggestions to refresh your portfolio

There are hundreds of funds available, but to help kick off your spring clean-inspired portfolio overhaul we have picked a few worth considering.

Our first contender is the IFSL Evenlode Global Equity fund. This is a concentrated portfolio of quality companies from around the world that’s run by two impressive managers. The fund’s success has also been driven by the clear and proven investment process used by the team across its strategies, as well as the in-house software system called ‘Eddie’, which helps the team find these high-quality cash-generative companies that have provided consistent outperformance.

Next up is a potential core UK holding: Carl Stick’s Rathbone Income fund. This is a multi-cap UK equity income portfolio that invests in high-quality companies with visible earnings. It has an emphasis on risk management and boasts one of the best track records in the sector for raising dividends annually over a period of more than 20 years.

If you already have core positions sorted out then here are a couple of satellite holdings that could be worth considering.

The first is Invesco Emerging Markets ex China. This is an active fund that consists of around 35-45 of the best ideas across a number of emerging areas of the world. These countries include South Korea, Taiwan, India, Brazil and South Africa, to name a few*. This fund is an excellent alternative for investors who want emerging markets exposure but want to diversify their portfolios and reduce country concentration risk around China. 

There are also sector-specific portfolios and one that we like is TFT ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income, run by a four-strong team of infrastructure specialists. This is a high-yielding listed infrastructure fund that combines regulated utilities with demand-based infrastructure such as railways and roads. We see this as an alternative method of playing the global equity market with a thematic bias. The fund is first quartile year-to-date* and has a current yield of 4.44%**. 

*Source: fund factsheet, 31 January 2025
**Source: FE Analytics, 7 March 2025

Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time. The views expressed are those of the author and fund managers and do not constitute financial advice.