Academic finance has had a remarkable impact on many financial services. Yet long-term investors have received curiously little guidance from academic financial economists. Mean-variance analysis, developed almost fifty years ago, has provided a basic paradigm for portfolio choice. This approach usefully emphasizes the ability of diversification to reduce risk, but it ignores several critically important factors. Most notably, the analysis is static; it assumes that investors care only about risks to wealth one period ahead. However, many investors—-both individuals and institutions such as charitable foundations or universities—-seek to finance a stream of consumption over a long lifetime. In addition, mean-variance analysis treats financial wealth in isolation from income. Long-term investors typically receive a stream of income and use it, along with financial wealth, to support their consumption. At the theoretical level, it is well understood that the solution to a long-term portfolio choice problem can be very different from the solution to a short-term problem. Long-term investors care about intertemporal shocks to investment opportunities and labor income as well as shocks to wealth itself, and they may use financial assets to hedge their intertemporal risks. This should be important in practice because there is a great deal of empirical evidence that investment opportunities—-both interest rates and risk premia on bonds and stocks—-vary through time. Yet this insight has had little influence on investment practice because it is hard to solve for optimal portfolios in intertemporal models. This book seeks to develop the intertemporal approach into an empirical paradigm that can compete with the standard mean-variance analysis. The book shows that long-term inflation-indexed bonds are the riskless asset for long-term investors, it explains the conditions under which stocks are safer assets for long-term than for short-term investors, and it shows how labor income influences portfolio choice. These results shed new light on the rules of thumb used by financial planners. The book explains recent advances in both analytical and numerical methods, and shows how they can be used to understand the portfolio choice problems of long-term investors.

This book covers each step in the asset allocation process, addressing as many of the relevant questions as possible along the way. How can we formulate expectations about long-term returns? How relevant are valuations? What are the challenges to optimizing the portfolio? Can factor investing add value and, if so, how can it be implemented? Which are the key performance drivers for each asset class, and what determines how they are correlated? How can we apply insights about the business cycle to tactical asset allocation? The book is aimed at finance professionals and others looking for a coherent framework for decision-making in asset allocation, both at the strategic and tactical level. It stresses analysis rather than pre-conceived ideas about investments, and it draws on both empirical research and practical experience to give the reader as strong a background as possible.

With all of our focus on assets - and how much and when to allocate them - are we missing the bigger picture? Our book begins by reviewing the historical performance record of popular assets like stocks, bonds, and cash. We look at the impact inflation has on our money. We then start to examine how diversification through combining assets, in this case a simple stock and bond mix, works to mitigate the extreme drawdowns of risky asset classes. But we go beyond a limited stock/bond portfolio to consider a more global allocation that also takes into account real assets. We track 13 assets and their returns since 1973, with particular attention to a number of well-known portfolios, like Ray Dalio's All Weather portfolio, the Endowment portfolio, Warren Buffett's suggestion, and others. And what we find is that, with a few notable exceptions, many of the allocations have similar exposures. And yet, while we are all busy paying close attention to our portfolio's particular allocation of assets, the greatest impact on our portfolios may be something we fail to notice altogether...

Financial experts agree: Asset allocation is the key strategies for maintaining a consistent yet superior rate of investment return. Now, Roger Gibson's Asset Allocation - the bestselling reference book on this popular subject for a decade has been updated to keep pace with the latest developments and findings. This Third Edition provides step-by-step strategies for implementing asset allocation in a high return/low risk portfolio, educating financial planning clients on the solid logic behind asset allocation, and more.

The comprehensive guide to private market asset allocation Asset Allocation and Private Markets provides institutional investors, such as pension funds, insurance groups and family offices, with a single-volume authoritative resource on including private markets in strategic asset allocation. Written by four academic and practitioner specialists, this book provides the background knowledge investors need, coupled with practical advice from experts in the field. The discussion focuses on private equity, private debt and private real assets, and their correlation with other asset classes to establish optimized investment portfolios. Armed with the grounded and critical perspectives provided in this book, investors can tailor their portfolio and effectively allocate assets to traditional and private markets in their best interest. In-depth discussion of return, risks, liquidity and other factors of asset allocation takes a more practical turn with guidance on allocation construction and capital deployment, the “endowment model,” and hedging — or lack thereof. Unique in the depth and breadth of information on this increasingly attractive asset class, this book is an invaluable resource for investors seeking new strategies. Discover alternative solutions to traditional asset allocation strategies Consider attractive returns of private markets Delve into private equity, private debt and private real assets Gain expert perspectives on correlation, risk, liquidity, and portfolio construction Private markets represent a substantial proportion of global wealth. Amidst disappointing returns from stocks and bonds, investors are increasingly looking to revitalise traditional asset allocation strategies by weighting private market structures more heavily in their portfolios. Pension fund and other long-term asset managers need deeper information than is typically provided in tangential reference in broader asset allocation literature; Asset Allocation and Private Markets fills the gap, with comprehensive information and practical guidance.

Achieve investing success by understanding your behavior type This groundbreaking book shows how to invest wisely by managing your behavior, and not just your money. Step by step, Michael Pompian (a leading authority in the practical application of Behavioral Finance concepts to wealth management) helps you plan a strategy targeted to your personality. The book includes a test for determining your investment type and offers strategies you can put into use when investing. It also includes a brief history of the stock market, and easy-to-comprehend information about stocks and investing to help you lay a solid foundation for your investment decisions. Behavioral Finance and Investor Types is divided into two parts. Test Your Type, gives an overview of Behavioral Finance as well as the elements that come into play when figuring out BIT, like active or passive traits, risk tolerance, and biases. The book includes a quiz to help you discover what category you are in. Plan and Act, contains the traits common to your type; an analysis of the biases associated with your type; and strategies and solutions that compliment and capitalize on your BIT. Offers a practical guide to an investing strategy that fits both your financial situation and your personality type Includes a test for determining your tolerance for risk and other traits that will determine your investment type Written by the Director of the Private Wealth Practice for Hammond Associates—an investment consulting firm serving institutional and private wealth clients Behavioral Finance and Investor Types offers investors a better sense of what drives them and what puts on their breaks. By using the information found here, you'll quickly become savvy about the world of investing because you'll come to understand your place in it.

A comprehensive guide to the key investment decisions all investors must make and how to manage the risk that entails Since all investors seek maximize returns balanced against acceptable risks, successful investment management is all about successful risk management. Strategic Risk Management uses that reality as a starting point, showing investors how to make risk management a process rather than just another tool in the investor's kit. The book highlights and explains primary investment risks and shows readers how to manage them across the key areas of any fund, including investment objectives, asset allocation, asset class strategy, and manager selection. With a strong focus on risk management at the time of asset allocation and at the time of implementation, the book offers important guidance for managers of benefit plans, endowments, defined contribution schemes, and family trusts. Offers a thorough examination of the role of risk management in the decision-making process for asset allocation, manager selection, and other duties of fund managers Written by the current head of portfolio design for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund Addresses the fundamental importance of risk management in today's post-crisis fund management landscape Strategic Risk Management is a comprehensive and easy-to-read guide that identifies the primary risks investors face and reveals how best to manage them.