what is a portfolio manager 
the term portfolio manager refers to a financial professional who makes investment decisions for individual and or institutional investors portfolio managers develop and implement investment strategies and manage the day to day trading of a portfolio these professionals may be responsible for managing an individual investor s assets or those of an institutional fund such as a mutual fund investors should consider the track record of portfolio managers when investing in funds duties and responsibilitiesas noted above a portfolio manager is responsible for making investment decisions about the assets of individual investors and of various funds including mutual funds exchange traded funds etfs and closed end funds to name a few managers do this by creating and implementing various investment strategies including buy and hold value investing indexing diversification income investing small cap contrarian investing active investing and passive investing portfolio managers construct and manage investment or financial portfolios based on their investment style the goal is to minimize losses while maximizing returns this requires conducting research making adjustments to these portfolios through rebalancing at regular intervals and communicating with investors a portfolio manager holds great influence on a fund whether it s a closed or open ended fund hedge fund venture capital fund or etf decisions made by the portfolio manager will directly affect the fund s returns portfolio managers are or should usually be experienced investors brokers or traders with strong backgrounds in financial management and track records of sustained success portfolio managers may find themselves doing research as associates directing investment teams at the mid senior level or working with individual clients for private wealth management firms senior managers commonly work with the chief investment officers cios of their funds 1 depending on where they work portfolio managers may be compensated with a base salary commissions and bonuses portfolio management can be active or passive and historical performance records indicate that only a minority of active fund managers consistently beat the market 2types of portfolio managersregardless of their educational or professional background portfolio managers generally fall into one of two categories active or passive portfolio managers we highlight the difference between the two belowmost portfolio managers have at least an undergraduate degree in finance or another related field they may also hold additional certifications such as the chartered financial analyst cfa and or the certified financial planner cfp designations many managers also get licensed by the financial industry regulatory authority finra 