What is offensive investing, and how does this investment strategy work?

Offensive investing is a strategy where you take risk and choose stocks and other investment products that have high returns. As an offensive investor, you may consider investing in options, futures and leveraged products, for example. The risk of offensive investing is that, in addition to quick gains, you can also suffer quick losses. In general, offensive investing is not suitable for unexperienced investors.

Is offensive investing for me?

Offensive investing can be risky because it involves a lot of volatility with ups and downs. If you cannot withstand the risks associated with this, offensive investing is probably not for you. In any case, make sure you have a plan before embarking on this investment strategy. In doing so, you should also be clear on when you close positions and when you limit your exposure to losses.

Ways to limit risk with offensive investing

Like any other strategy, diversification can help limit your risk with an offensive investment portfolio. It’s wise to put your money into different investment products from different market segments. And make sure that you distribute your investments proportionally. In addition, with risky options and leveraged products, you can consider using stop loss orders. This will ensure that your losses don’t spiral out of control.

Offensive investment products

Options

When you buy an option, you are buying the right to buy or sell an investment product at a certain price in the future. Options work with a leverage effect that often increases the profit or loss.

Futures

Futures are contracts where you agree to buy or sell a certain underlying asset at a predetermined price at a specific time in the future. There are many types of futures, such as index futures, equity futures, commodity futures and fixed income futures.

Margin trading

With margin trading, you borrow money to invest, using your portfolio as collateral. Buying on margin allows you to open a larger investment position than you could normally do with your own money alone. This creates a leverage effect that carries through in both gains and losses.

Going short

When you go short, you are betting on the fall in share prices. You sell stocks that you do not own and borrow from someone else with the goal to buy them back at a lower price, profiting the difference. This allows you to potentially make a profit, even when the stock market is falling.

Speculative stocks

Another form of offensive investing is buying speculative stocks. These are of companies with high growth potential but are often not yet profitable. Generally, these companies are in a market where there is strong competition, or they’re developing a new product, and it’s still doubtful if introducing the product will be a success.

Crypto currencies

Buying crypto currencies can also be labeled offensive investing in many cases. Many crypto currencies are very volatile, making it possible to make a lot of money quickly. On the other hand, the price of many crypto coins can also go down fast.

Alternatively, you can consider investing in crypto ETFs. These ETFs track the underlying value of certain crypto currencies.

Investing via DEGIRO

We want to make investing accessible to everyone. If you use an offensive investment strategy, we offer many investment products that can help you achieve this.

After you open an account, you can get started right away. Check out our Fees page to see what the fees are for the different investment products.

The information in this article is not written for advisory purposes, nor is it intended to recommend investments. Please keep in mind that data may have changed after the writing of this article. Investing involves risk. You may lose (part of) your investment. We advise you to invest only in financial instruments that match your knowledge and experience.