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One Product vs. Many: The Difference Shows
Why Spreading Risk Across Multiple Asset Types Can Matter for Investors
For many investors, investing often starts with a single product type. We tend to invest in things we already know, and for many people, that will be stocks. That’s a natural place to begin. But over time, market ups and downs can highlight an important question: What happens when everything you own moves in the same direction at the same time?
One way investors try to manage this challenge is by spreading risk across multiple asset types. This concept is often referred to as multi-asset or multi-product investing. Recent data from Saxo’s own client base offers useful insight into how this approach has played out in practice.
What Saxo’s Client Data Shows
You have most likely already heard about diversification and the importance of a diversified portfolio, so let’s compare the performance of single-asset vs. multi-asset portfolios. Looking at five years of data from Saxo’s clients, a clear pattern emerges:
Clients who invested across multiple product types tended, on average, to experience more stable and often stronger outcomes than those who focused on a single product type.
In this context:
- Single-product investors are clients who invest in just one type of product within their portfolio (for example, only stocks).
- Multi-product investors, also referred to as multi-asset investors, are clients who invest across multiple product types (for example, a combination of stocks, ETFs, or other instruments).
Performance is measured as profit or loss over the year relative to the investor’s average total assets, providing a consistent basis for comparison.
A Smoother Ride Through Different Market Conditions
The differences become particularly visible during challenging market periods. In 2022, markets were difficult across the globe. Saxo’s data shows that:
- Single-asset investors experienced a deeper average decline.
- Multi-asset investors also faced losses, but the drawdown was meaningfully smaller.
This highlights an important point for less experienced investors:
when markets fall sharply, having exposure to more than one type of asset can help reduce the impact of extreme movements.
Participation When Markets Recover
In more positive market years, the data shows that multi-asset investors did not “miss out” on recovery phases.
- In 2023, 2024, and 2025, multi-product investors, on average, achieved higher annual performance figures than single-product investors.
- This suggests that diversification doesn’t necessarily mean giving up growth. A diversified portfolio can still allow participation when markets move upward, while helping manage downside risk.
Why This Matters for Investors
For investors who are not monitoring markets every day or adjusting positions frequently, diversification can play an important role in risk management rather than return maximisation.
Based on Saxo’s client data, spreading investments across different product types may help:
- Reduce the severity of losses in difficult market environments
- Smooth overall portfolio performance from year to year
- Lower the emotional stress that can come from large swings in portfolio value
This can be especially relevant for retail investors with limited market experience, where sharp losses may lead to emotional decision-making at the wrong time.
What multi-asset investing is - and isn’t
It’s important to be clear about what this data does not imply.
- Diversification does not eliminate risk
- Losses can still occur, even in diversified portfolios
- Past outcomes do not guarantee future results
What the data does show is that, historically, Saxo clients who spread their investments across multiple product types tended to experience more resilient outcomes over time, compared to those concentrated in a single product.
In Summary
Saxo’s client data over the past five years suggests that:
- Investing across multiple product types has historically been associated with more stable and often stronger outcomes
- Diversification may help soften the impact of difficult market years
- A multi-asset approach can support long-term investing by managing risk rather than relying on a single market outcome
For retail investors, understanding how different assets behave — and why spreading risk can matter — is a key step toward building confidence in navigating financial markets.
This content is marketing content and should not be considered investment advice. Trading financial instruments carries risks and historic performance is not a guarantee for future performance.
The instrument(s) mentioned in this content may be issued by a partner, from which Saxo receives promotion, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo receives compensation from these partnerships, all content is conducted with the intention of providing clients with valuable options and information.