when you use a portfolio for investment purposes you expect that the stock bond or another financial asset will earn a return or grow in value over time or both a portfolio investment may be either strategic where you buy financial assets with the intention of holding onto those assets for a long time or tactical where you actively buy and sell the asset hoping to achieve short term gains 
aggressive equities focused portfoliothe underlying assets in an aggressive portfolio generally would assume great risks in search of great returns aggressive investors seek out companies that are in the early stages of their growth and have a unique value proposition most of them are not yet common household names defensive equities focused portfolioa portfolio that is defensive would tend to focus on consumer staples that are impervious to downturns defensive stocks do well in bad times as well as good times no matter how bad the economy is at a given time companies that make products that are essential to everyday life will survive income focused equities portfoliothis type of portfolio makes money from dividend paying stocks or other types of distributions to stakeholders some of the stocks in the income portfolio could also fit in the defensive portfolio but here they are selected primarily for their high yields an income portfolio should generate positive cash flow real estate investment trusts reits are examples of income producing investments speculative equities focused portfolioa speculative portfolio is best for investors who have a high level of tolerance for risk speculative plays could include initial public offerings ipos or stocks that are rumored to be takeover targets technology or healthcare firms in the process of developing a single breakthrough product also would fall into this category although a financial advisor can create a generic portfolio model for an individual an investor s risk tolerance should significantly reflect the portfolio s content time horizon and portfolio allocationsimilar to risk tolerance investors should consider how long they have to invest when building a portfolio in general investors should move toward a conservative asset allocation as their goal date approaches to protect the portfolio s earnings up to that point for example a conservative investor might favor a portfolio with large cap value stocks broad based market index funds investment grade bonds and a position in liquid high grade cash equivalents for example take an investor saving for retirement who s planning to leave the workforce in five years even if that investor is comfortable investing in stocks and riskier securities they might want to invest a larger portion of the portfolio in more conservative assets such as bonds and cash to help protect what has already been saved conversely an individual just entering the workforce may want to invest their entire portfolio in stocks as they may have decades to invest and the ability to ride out some of the market s short term volatility 