You do not need to pick individual stocks to build real wealth over time. In fact, most people are better off not doing so. Statistics show that around 90% of retail investors underperform the market over a 10 to 15 year period. On top of that, stock picking requires significant time for research, and the emotional stress of watching individual positions swing up and down leads many investors to panic sell at the worst possible moments.
The good news is that there are several ways to invest your money effectively without having to decide which companies to buy. Here are five methods, ranging from fully passive to lightly hands-on, that can help you grow your wealth with minimal effort.
1. ETFs and Index Funds
This is the simplest and most popular option for passive investors. An ETF (exchange-traded fund) tracks an index like the S&P 500, giving you exposure to hundreds of companies in a single purchase. Major ETF providers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street offer funds with extremely low management fees, often as low as 0.03%.
The beauty of index investing is that you never need to worry about which stocks to hold. If Nvidia is the most valuable company in the S&P 500 today, your ETF will reflect that weighting. If Google overtakes it in five years, the ETF provider automatically adjusts the allocation. You do not have to make any changes yourself.
You can even automate the process by setting up recurring buys in your broker. If you use Trading 212, I have a detailed guide on how to invest on Trading 212 that covers this. Send money into your account on a regular schedule, and the broker purchases the ETF for you every week or month. It is truly set-and-forget investing.
The trade-off is that you should not expect to outperform the market with this approach. You are investing in the market, so your returns will match the index minus fees. For most people, that is a perfectly good outcome.
Who is this best for?
Investors who want zero effort, are happy with market-level returns, and prefer the lowest possible fees.
2. Stock Picking Services
If you want the potential to outperform the market but do not have the time or expertise to research stocks yourself, a stock picking service is worth considering. These are companies that employ teams of analysts to identify high-potential investments and share their recommendations with subscribers.
One service I use daily for stock research is Seeking Alpha. Beyond their excellent analysis tools, they offer several stock picking products with strong track records.
Their Top Stocks picks have historically outperformed the S&P 500 significantly. The 2023 picks returned 73% versus 26% for the S&P. The 2024 selections returned 125% versus 25%, and the 2025 picks returned 45% versus 18%. Their Alpha Picks subscription, which started in July 2022, has returned 284% compared to the S&P's 82% over the same period.
What I appreciate about Seeking Alpha's approach is that it is primarily quant-driven. The recommendations are based on data, valuations, and competitive analysis rather than one person's gut feeling. You receive two new picks each month, along with a full thesis explaining the rationale behind each recommendation.
This method is more hands-on than ETFs because you still need to execute the trades yourself in your broker. But you gain a deeper understanding of why you are investing in each company, which can be valuable as you grow as an investor.
Past performance does not guarantee future results, but the track record speaks for itself. If you want to explore Seeking Alpha, I have links below with discounts, and some of their subscriptions offer free trials.
Who is this best for?
Investors who want potential market outperformance and are willing to spend a small amount of time executing trades. Also a good fit for those who want to learn the reasoning behind investment decisions.
3. Robo-Advisors
A robo-advisor builds a personalised portfolio for you based on your risk tolerance, investment goals, and time horizon. You answer a series of questions, and the platform constructs a diversified portfolio of ETFs tailored to your preferences. It also handles rebalancing automatically over time.
Several brokers now offer this feature. Revolut, for example, has a robo-advisor built into their investing section. After answering a few questions about your savings goals, monthly expenses, and risk appetite, it proposes a portfolio. A medium-risk profile might result in something like 88% stocks, 10% bonds, and 2% cash.
The advantage over a plain ETF is customisation. Instead of putting everything into one index fund, the robo-advisor diversifies across multiple asset classes and geographies. If one segment grows disproportionately, it rebalances automatically so your portfolio stays aligned with your original risk profile.
The downside is cost. On top of the underlying ETF fees, the robo-advisor charges its own management fee. This extra layer of cost can eat into returns over time, especially compared to a simple low-cost ETF strategy. Historical returns from robo-advisors have generally been decent but not spectacular, as the conservative diversification tends to limit both upside and downside.
Who is this best for?
Investors who want a hands-off experience with more personalisation than a single ETF, and who are comfortable paying a small management fee for automated rebalancing.
4. Copy Trading
Copy trading allows you to automatically replicate the trades of experienced investors. When they buy a stock, you buy it too. When they sell, you sell. The entire process is automated once you choose who to follow.
eToro is the platform best known for this feature. Their "Popular Investors" are licensed traders who share their portfolios transparently and provide regular updates on their strategy. Some of them have delivered impressive results over multiple years.
For example, some of the top-performing Popular Investors on eToro have achieved returns of nearly 100% over two years, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. You can view their full history, see exactly what they hold, and assess their risk metrics before deciding to copy them.
The copy trading feature itself is free, with no additional fees beyond eToro's standard trading costs. However, some of the top investors require a minimum investment of $20,000 or more to copy, which may be out of reach for newer investors.
One nice touch is that Popular Investors are required to post regular updates explaining their decisions. So even though the process is automated, you still get insight into why certain trades are being made.
Who is this best for?
Investors who want a fully automated approach with the potential for market outperformance, and who have enough capital to meet the minimum copy amounts for top-performing traders.
5. Portfolio Pies (Trading 212)
Trading 212 pioneered the concept of "Pies," which are custom portfolios that you can set up and automate. The feature is completely free to use.
You have three options when creating a Pie:
- Professional Pies are curated by established ETF managers like WisdomTree. These are pre-built, diversified portfolios designed by professionals.
- Community Pies are created by other Trading 212 users. There are over 10,000 to choose from. The most popular one, "Almost Daily Dividends," has over 210,000 investors following it.
- Custom Pies let you build your own mix of stocks and ETFs with specific weightings.
Once you select or build a Pie, you can enable auto-invest. Choose how much to invest and how often (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly), and Trading 212 handles the rest. If one holding grows faster than others, future contributions are directed to maintain your target weightings, keeping the portfolio balanced without any manual intervention.
Community Pies are particularly interesting because you can see the creator's updates, the full list of holdings, and historical performance before committing any money. It is a hybrid model, somewhere between a robo-advisor and copy trading, but without the extra fees.
Who is this best for?
Investors who want a free, automated solution with the flexibility to choose between professional, community-driven, or fully custom portfolios.
Which Method Should You Choose?
There is no single right answer. The best approach depends on how much time you want to spend, whether you care about potential outperformance, and your budget. Here is a simple decision framework.
If you want zero effort and are happy with market returns, ETFs are the way to go. Set up a recurring buy on your favourite S&P 500 or global ETF and forget about it.
If you want zero effort but with a bit more customisation, a robo-advisor will build a tailored portfolio based on your risk preferences and handle rebalancing for you.
If you want to be somewhat involved and learn the reasoning behind investments, a stock picking service like Seeking Alpha is a strong option. You still execute the trades yourself, but the research is done for you.
If you want full automation with potential outperformance, copy trading on eToro or community Pies on Trading 212 let you follow proven investors without lifting a finger.
And of course, you can combine multiple methods. Many investors hold a core ETF position for stability and allocate a smaller portion to copy trading, stock picking services, or even P2P lending platforms like Bondora for potential upside. There is nothing wrong with mixing approaches to find what works best for you.
Disclaimer: When investing, your capital is at risk. You may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. This article contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you sign up through them, at no additional cost to you.
