How individual investors make investment decisions in practice rather than in theory

This assignment is concerned with your understanding of the key issues relative to portfolio analysis and investment. In completing this assignment you are to limit your scope to the US stock markets only. Use the Library, the Internet, and course resources to write a 2-page essay which you will use with new clients of your financial planning business; the essay should address the following issues and/or practices:

How individual investors make investment decisions in practice rather than in theory; and

How investors manage their funds/savings/ investments in light of current stock markets.

In your response, build upon extant portfolio theory and make sure to talk about different types of risks that investors might face and how they go about managing such risks. This means you need to consider topics such as efficient frontier and optimal portfolios; as well their relevance to investment theory. Furthermore, given the nature of the assignment, avoid bringing the brokerage industry into your discussion. In other words, assume you can invest directly in the stock market and do not need any financial intermediaries like brokerage houses.