This article is for information only. It is not personal financial advice, and all investments carry risk, including the risk of loss. Readers should consider their own circumstances and, where appropriate, seek independent professional advice before investing.
Consider a household that put everything into one asset in 2026. If that asset was Dhaka equities, it endured a soft, range-bound market: the DSEX closed at 5,399.54 on 26 October, below 5,400, after broad-based selling. If it was a single flat, it faced high borrowing costs and a slow resale market for large units. If it was cash in a low-rate account, inflation above 8 per cent quietly reduced its purchasing power.
Diversification does not promise the highest return in any single year. It aims to avoid the worst outcome in a bad year. A mix — for example, a home for living in (not counted as an investment), a liquid emergency reserve, and, for those who can accept risk, a spread of listed equities, government savings instruments and, over time, property — spreads the risks that no single forecast can remove.
Three questions before any investment
First, when will you need the money? Money needed within a year should not be in volatile assets. Second, what loss could you tolerate without changing your life plans? Third, what are the total costs — fees, tax, borrowing costs and the cost of exiting?
Property deserves special caution. It is illiquid, costly to buy and sell, and concentrated in one location and one building. That concentration is fine for a home. As an investment, it should be weighed against assets that can be sold in parts, at short notice, without a broker, a lawyer and a registration office.
Diversification will not make every year a good year. It is designed to make a bad year survivable.
The discipline is the same whatever the asset: invest regularly where appropriate, review costs annually, and resist the temptation to chase last year's best performer. In investing, as in housing, the steady plan usually outlasts the exciting one.
