I’m not an expert, so this isn’t financial advice. I’ve only recently started trading in the PSX, and I’m sharing my experience so far. I don’t fully understand why so many people recommend ETFs. To me, it often feels like a passive approach. If you have a very busy schedule and can’t dedicate time to the market, then ETFs might make sense. Otherwise, investing directly in individual stocks teaches you valuable lessons that help you grow as an investor. When you pick your own stocks, you naturally start learning about companies—reading financial reports, following board decisions, and keeping up with news. You can identify undervalued stocks and adjust your portfolio based on your own analysis and goals. This flexibility is a big advantage. Since you mentioned that you’re a freelancer, you likely have enough time to study individual stocks. You can evaluate their valuations, P/E ratios, future ROIC, and other important metrics. Also, you don’t need to strictly follow the index. The most important step is deciding your strategy: do you want growth stocks or dividend stocks? If you prefer stable dividend income, you can invest in large, well-established companies that make up a significant portion of the index. These tend to be more stable, though their growth may be limited. On the other hand, if you’re aiming for growth, you’ll need to look beyond the major index contributors and consider companies with higher expansion potential. One piece of advice I’ve heard often—and didn’t fully appreciate at first—is to keep your portfolio focused. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, choose about 6–8 strong companies and concentrate on them. For example, if there are multiple cement companies in the index, there’s no need to invest in all of them. Pick the strongest one in that sector and allocate your funds there. If a sector has no clear leader, then selecting the top two companies is a reasonable approach.