The i-invest app allows you to pay for utilities like Never run out of airtime or internet data with i-invest. You can buy airtime with ease on the i-invest app, just make sure you have updated your BVN App and you can pay with your wallet.

Warren Buffet, regarded as one of the world’s most influential investor, once said, “If you aren’t thinking about owning a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes.” While this might seem like an extreme recommendation, many financial experts have asserted that the goal for stock investments should be to hold them for as long as possible.
The possibility of making money from stocks is hinged on two factors: buying at the right time and selling at the right time. For profit, it is important to execute both decisions correctly. Compared to selling, which is a difficult decision to make, buying of stocks is relatively easy.
The reason for this is because, if investor sell too early and the stock goes higher, they risk making inadequate profit. If they sell too late and the stock plunges, they miss out on opportunities to make more profit.
Market downturns are great buying opportunities. On days when the stock market takes a beating, rather than mope about the loss, investors are encouraged to focus on what they could be buying. A market plunge or creates room for stocks to become cheaper.
The market is resilient. In the words of Tenpao Lee, a professor of economics at Niagara University, “In the short term, the stock market could fluctuate up and down, but in the long term, the stock market will always move up.”
When deciding to sell your stock, it is important to weigh the decision within two lenses: the intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Intrinsic reasons are reasons that are related to the stock itself and/or the markets while the extrinsic reasons are related to the investor’s finances or lifestyle. Sometimes, however, the decision to sell may be triggered by a combination of the two factors.
When a stock reaches your price target. Once a stock reaches a level that an investor had projected as their point to sell, then it is advisable to consider selling part, or all their position.
When a stock trades at a technical inflection point. When a stock trades near, and then breaks below a multiyear low, it often means additional losses in the horizon. In this case, it is encouraged to sell the stock as soon as the technical level is breached.
When a company’s fundamentals deteriorate. It is possible for a stock’s fundamentals to deteriorate for any number of reasons like slow earnings or revenue growth, increased competition, or reduction in valuation. In such cases, because it is difficult for the investor to determine whether the deterioration is temporary or permanent, it is advisable to sell and exit the position first, before re-evaluation.
Financial reasons. One justifiable reason for an investor to sell their stocks is if they need cash to for a competing investment, such as real estate. Additionally, an investor might wish to sell a stock to book a loss for tax purposes. These financial reasons are potent ones to justify selling a stock.
Lifestyle reasons. Lifestyle changes also provide good reasons to sell a stock. For instance, a younger investor might sell part of or all their portfolio to put a down payment on a house, while parent investors may also sell stocks to finance their children’s education.
Tip
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Commercial Papers (“CPs”) are short-term debt instruments issued by corporates to get funds from the public (private individuals, institutional investors, non-governmental organisations, religious bodies etc.) to meet short-term obligations. These large corporations are the main issuers of Commercial Papers because they have high credit ratings.
A CP pays a fixed interest rate to the investor. Also, it is generally sold at a discount to its face value due to the somewhat risky nature of the unsecured security. Typically, maturities on Commercial Papers rarely last longer than 270 days.
The minimum investment amount for Commercial Papers on i-invest is N50,000.
Commercial Papers are sold at a discount, meaning the investor pays less than the face value of the security, and the rate of return is the difference between the purchase price and face value. Companies typically write commercial paper in minimum denominations of thousands with terms ranging from 15 to 270 days, though the average maturity on commercial paper is around 30 days.
While commercial papers in Nigeria are typically issued by corporates with remarkable credit ratings, this does not eliminate credit risk. However, commercial paper offers investors the opportunity to purchase better yielding instruments than available on risk-free instruments, especially investors who can take calculated risk.
Fixed deposit Notes sometimes known as a term deposits are investment instruments which are provided by financial institutions, which allows you to invest a certain sum of money for a fixed period at a predetermined interest rate until the specified maturity date.
Fixed Deposits offer higher interest rates than the regular savings accounts. This is an ideal investment option for you and/or your business, if you have a lump-sum amount that is not required for immediate use and you are averse to taking high risks, as the returns are not subject to market risks and offer a fixed rate of interest throughout the tenure.
Minimum investment is N100,000, and withholding tax is deductible from accrued interest.
Fixed deposits have several advantages, some of which are:
When you invest in Fixed deposits, the financial institution guarantees to return the invested sum at the end of the tenure, known as the maturity period, and pays you interest for it.
The interest offered depends on the tenure or maturity period of the Fixed deposits. A 30-day fixed deposit will have a lower annual interest rate compared to a one-year tenure. This is to compensate for the time value of money.
An equity investment is money that is invested in a company by purchasing shares of that company in the stock market. These shares are typically traded on the stock exchange. The equities product on the i-invest app allows you to buy and sell shares in publicly listed companies on the Nigerian stock exchange directly from your phone.
Equity investors purchase shares of a company with the expectation that they’ll rise in value in the form of capital gains, and/or generate capital dividends. If an equity investment rises in value, the investor would receive the monetary difference if they sold their shares, or if the company’s assets are liquidated and all its obligations are met. Equities can strengthen a portfolio’s asset allocation by adding diversification.