Investing in new is very profitable if you find the right one. But you invest in a bad project is the place where you will lose some money. I think it is better to invest within the top 200 coins in the market instead of withing top 500 altcoins. Top 500 are way too many.
If you want to invest in a new project, it's better to first research the project you want to invest in - Profit. However, the risk is also high if we invest in new coins, and I prefer to invest in a list of 1-10 coins in coin marketcap because I think those coins have the potential to increase in the future.