The "Golden” Rules for Building an eToro Portfolio

Reporter: What were your first steps to becoming an investor?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: It started with my dad. He invested mainly in real estate and tought me the importance of not sitting in one position, the importance of always being on the lookout for new opportunities, and to adapt your portfolio according to market conditions.

When I started to invest, I knew it was important to be critical of your own ideas and constantly challenge them. Many investors fall in love with their own ideas and forget to look at how the market and instruments are changing.

Reporter: What has been your evolution as an eToro Investor?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: In October it will be 8 years for me investing on eToro. I started investing mainly in ETFs and commodities. With time, I started to look for new products. I invested in some interesting stocks and I also tapped into Offshore Wind. Over time, I added bonds (through ETFs) and indices to construct a well-balanced portfolio.

Reporter: What are your investment goals for the future?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: Keep growing my investments for me and my copiers in a responsible, steady and low risk manner. In the future, want to add some new assets that I have been testing as I always try to bring new elements that can be interesting based on changing market conditions.

Reporter: To what extent has the experience you had in your field before you started investing contributed to the evolution of your investments?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: Quite a lot. I have worked in many different companies like Siemens, AB InBev, Mastercard, Donaldson, Lubrizol and Parkwind as a Finance Business Partner of sales and marketing teams and also in Business Development. This has helped me to learn how businesses operate and the risks and upsides they face on a day-to-day basis.

Reporter: What is your investment strategy?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: My strategy is active management of financial instruments to achieve attractive returns with low risk. I am constantly exploring low-risk products and I readjust my portfolio according to ongoing changes in the market.

Reporter: What advice do you have for first-time investors? Is there anything investors should pay particular attention to?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: It would be 3 things: Learn, Act and Be Mindful of Drawdowns.

Warren Buffet said it very well, the best investment you can do is in yourself. So take the time to learn the basics of investing and also make sure you have a good grip on macroeconomics.

Then, take action. You need to invest to make money. So even if it is just a little bit, get started.

And please, keep drawdowns in mind, as they are often forgotten by investors, and might even be more important than the rate of return.

Reporter: How do you approach the risks associated with investing?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: This is a very important and dear aspect to me.

You need to look both at the asset and the investor investing in it. An asset can be managed in different ways by different people. When investing, you need to look beyond returns. You also need to look at the person that is managing your money.

As for me, I don't trade on hunches. I have a system that is based on historical information, market seasonality, psychology of markets, macro aspects (CPI, Fed Rates, Unemployment) and technical indicators. My system provides signals that allow me to make decisions that are rational and risk adjusted.

Also, very important, I aim to avoid big drawdowns, a metric that is critical in money management.

Reporter: What do you think about crypto investments compared to other assets in the market?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: I think they are very interesting instruments, but most of its trading is done on a speculative basis, so these are products that bring a high level of risk.

Reporter: In which segment do you think a businessman should invest, in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions (tariffs, high inflation, energy crisis, border war)?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: The most important thing a person should do in these current conditions is to keep a portion of their portfolio invested in low-risk assets, as these will safeguard part of your capital.

Some sectors that I find interesting are Technology due to the AI boom and Consumer Staples, as this is a sector that performs well. No matter what happens, people will always need food.

I also really like bonds, but they need to be actively managed.

Reporter: Is there a perfect time to invest?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: There is no such thing as a perfect time to invest, so more than waiting for the perfect time, make the current time perfect for you.

Reporter: What should investors consider when choosing an online investment platform?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: Trust, variety, and alignment with who you are.

It is very important you can trust the institution where you keep your money.

You also need variety, a platform with a wide array of products and options to trade.

I love that on eToro, there is such a strong social component, which is very important to me, as I am a big advocate of the importance of community.

Reporter: Reporter: Is there an investor's decalogue? What are the top three rules?

Catalina Norena Valderrama: What a great question, at least for me. Yes, I do have a personal decalogue.

The most critical rule is respecting other people's hard-earned money.

The second, is not taking rush or emotional decisions, trading decisions need to be rational.

Third, scout the market. You always need to be on the lookout for new market opportunities.

Reporter: Thank you!