An investment portfolio is a collection of assets owned by an individual or by an institution.
An investor’s portfolio can include real estate and so-called “hard” assets, such as gold bars. But most investment portfolios, particularly portfolios that are assembled to pay for a retirement, are made up mainly of securities, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds and exchange traded funds.
The best retirement portfolios diversify the mix of investments — which can range from the caution of US Treasury bonds to the risky zip of small-company stocks — in an effort to dampen market losses and maximize potential gains.