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So you’re curious about investing? That’s great. Curiosity has been linked with many potential benefits: psychological, emotional, social, and in this case, financial[@rsa-article-reference].
Before you invest your money, it's important to invest some time into learning the basics and understanding the downsides. With that in mind, we’ve unpicked the details to bring you a guide that can help you navigate this exciting new financial world. Read more about:
What could an investment do for me?
Can I access my money if I need to?
Is now a good time for me to invest?
Investing is a way of setting aside some of your money for the future by putting it to work for you. Investors buy something they believe will increase in value over time. The main thing you need to remember is there are no guarantees. The value can and will jump around so you could get back less than you put in.
What can you invest in? There are lots of different options, but here’s a brief explanation of 2 of the most common types: shares and funds.
When you invest in shares, otherwise known as stocks, you’re buying a tiny stake in a company. If the company performs well, you earn a profit. If the company does badly, your investment may not grow, and you could even lose the money you put in. Share prices can also be affected by other factors, such as supply and demand, interest rates and the wider economy.
When you invest in funds, you’re buying into a ready-made basket of investments. Some are even managed for you by a professional. Funds include many different investments, which makes them a good place to start.
For investors, there are many different products on offer. The diversity is what gives your money the potential to generate a better return than cash in the long run.
So one of the first decisions you’ll need make is how you want to receive this potential return – whether via an income, capital growth or a combination of both.
If you’re nearing or in retirement, focusing on income could be a good shorter-term financial strategy. By choosing stocks or funds that pay dividends or bonds that pay interest, you can receive regular payments to boost your existing income or pension.
Putting money aside for growth could be good if you have more time on your side. Growth investments aim to increase the value of what you put in – known as capital gain. The objective of a growth fund would be to grow the original sum invested. For a growth share, it would be to increase the value of the share.
Some people are naturally more cautious than others. The first thing you need to understand is that no investment is risk-free. You’re putting your money into something you believe will go up in value, but nothing is certain.
You’ll be exposed to the fluctuations of the markets, which means the value of your investment could go up and down. Your expected returns can also vary. This is all normal and to be expected. With investing, risk and reward go hand in hand.
What’s important is to ask yourself: how do I feel about taking a chance with my money? Taking a small amount of risk could be a good way to dip your toe in the water. Then you can watch what happens to your investment – and increase your level of risk later if you want to.
And if you’re not sure about how much risk is right for you, you might want to consider getting personalised investment advice.
Our investment advice doesn’t just tell you how much risk you’d be comfortable with. It also tells you whether you should be investing at all right now – and if so, you how much you can afford to invest. This service involves a one-off fee and financial eligibility criteria apply.
Big things in life can, and do, happen out of the blue. We understand that. With any HSBC investment, you have peace of mind knowing that you can access your money quickly if you need to – usually within 2 to 3 days of selling your investments. However, depending on the market value of your investments at that time, you could get back less than you’d put in.
Investments have a better chance of producing favourable returns the longer they are left to grow. That’s why you should think of investing as a long-term commitment and aim to invest for at least 5 years.
That’s a great question to ask yourself. To help you work out if you can afford to leave your money to grow, it can help to create your own financial action plan.
One thing to think about is whether you have any short-term, interest-bearing debts such as loans and credit cards. If so, it’s usually best to pay off your debts first to work out how much you can afford to save.
And we always recommend that you've built up a rainy day fund of between 3 and 6 months’ worth of expenses saved up. This gives you a financial cushion in case there’s an emergency so you should be able to leave your investment untouched and give it the time it needs to grow.
Again, if you’re really not sure, an advisor could help you make up your mind. We’ll ask you about your finances so we can advise you on whether now’s a good time for you to invest. That way you’ll be in a great position to decide.
8 out of 10 affluent investors seek advice from experts when making investment and wealth management decisions, preferring tailored and innovative recommendations. – HSBC Affluent Investor Snapshot 2025
So you’ve carefully assessed your situation and decided investing might be right for you. Now what?
Depending on how confident you’re feeling, you can either choose your own investments or start your journey by asking a professional financial advisor.
To invest with HSBC, you need to be a current account customer. See which of our 5 options suits you best:
If you’re happy making your own financial decisions, our online trading platform puts you in control. You’ve done your research and know what individual stocks you’re interested in, so HSBC WorldTrader could be for you. WorldTrader lets you diversify your portfolio with equities, ETFs, bonds and mutual funds.
Access more asset classes, in up to 25 markets and 77 exchanges, with competitive transaction fees.
You can buy and sell equities (stocks or shares) in leading companies around the world, including the US, UK and Hong Kong. Equities give you the potential of high long-term returns.
Explore: How to invest in stocks and shares
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) aim to match the performance of specific industries or markets, so you can effectively invest in tens, or hundreds, of companies through a single trade. There are ETFs to cover equity and bond markets, and all industries, worldwide, making it easy to create a globally diversified portfolio.
Read more: What are ETFs?
Due to their relatively low volatility compared to equities, fixed income products such as bonds can add stability to your investment portfolio. They may also provide a regular stream of fixed income returns and potentially grow your capital in the long term. However, as with all investments, it’s possible that you could get back less than you invested.
Explore: Investing in bonds
Mutual funds allow you to diversify and choose from a variety of ready-made portfolios from a range of regions. Funds may be actively managed by managers, who research, and buy and sell, stocks.
Find out more: Bonds vs mutual funds
If you’d prefer a more human touch, you can request a call back to discuss your options or come to speak to us by visiting your nearest branch.
A round up of 5 key things to remember about investing:
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In the United Arab Emirates, this article is published by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited (“HBME”) - UAE Branch, P.O. Box 66, Dubai, UAE, which is regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE and lead regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. In respect of certain financial services and activities offered by HBME, it is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority in the UAE under licence number 602004.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to purchase any specific investment product. Any views or opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Before making an investment decision, you should seek advice from your HSBC relationship manager or another professional adviser taking into account your individual financial circumstances and objectives. HBME is not responsible for any loss, damage or other consequences of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of, arising from or relating to your use of or reliance on this article.
