(the street) -- Most financial advisors are currently in agreement that then way to be invested in the stock market in 2019 is to use active fund management.
Broad-based index funds and ETFs, like an S&P 500 ETF or a sector ETF (semiconductor ETF) are now more risky because global economic uncertainty could drag major indices and sectors down.
But exactly how should one go about buying actively managed funds? After all, it's almost impossible for the majority of active managers to outperform the market, making picking the best stock pickers challenging.
"We like active management at this point in the economic and capital market cycles, particularly here in the United States as we're in the tenth year of an economic expansion in the bull market -- there are more opportunities for success through active management," said Albert Brenner, Head of Asset Allocation at People's United Advisory.
Here's the catch:
"Retail investors may be challenged to find an active manager that they feel confident in," Brenner said.
So don't fall into this trap:
"Too much investor behavior is buying the latest high-performing fund, and that's not usually the best strategy to follow, so I would caution investors about just buying last year's winners, and if you have no better way to make a determination, then buy the ETF that's going to give you the broader exposure," said Brenner.
