Capital markets provide three tools for investors to employ in generating investment returns: asset allocation, market timing, and security selection.
Explicit understanding of the nature and power of the three portfolio management tools allows investors to emphasize the factors most likely to contribute to long-term investment goals and deemphasize the factors most likely to interfere with long-term goals.
Establishing a coherent investment program begins with understanding the relative importance of asset allocation, market timing, and security selection. (查看原文)
Asset-allocation decisions play a central rol in determining investor results. A number of well-regarded studies of institutional portfolios conclude that approximately 90 percent of the variability of returns stems from asset allocation, leaving approximately 10 percent of the variability to be determined by security selection and marekt timing.
In fact, the studies cited reflect investor behavior, not finance theory. Investors gain important insights into questions of portfolio structure through understanding the forces that place asset allocation in a starring role, while leaving security selection and market timing in the wings.
Three basic investment principles inform asset-allocation decisions in well-constructed portfolios. First, long-term investors build portfolios with a pronou... (查看原文)
Three basic investment principles inform asset-allocation decisions in well-constructed portfolios. First, long-term investors build portfolios with a pronounced equity bias. Second, careful investors fashion protfolios with substantial diversification. Third, sensible investors create portfolios with concern for tax considerations. The principles of equity orientation, diversification, and tax sensitivity find support both in common sense and academic theory. Surprisingly, basic investment principles seem to find little support in real-world asset-allocation activity. (查看原文)
Genertions of economics students who learned that “there ain't no such thing as a free lunch” may be surprised to discover that Nobel laureate Harry Markowitz called diversification one of the economic world’s rare “free lunch”. (查看原文)
The story differs for individual investors. The available evidence points to a pattern of excessive allocation to recent strong performers offset by inadequate allocation to recent weak performers. Possibly, investors allow inertia to drive portfolio allocations, with asset class weights flowing and ebbing with the relative rise and fall of markets. Or maybe investors actively chase yesterday's winners while aggressively abandoning previous losers. The impact of market timing on individual investor portfolios generally falls into the negative category. (查看原文)
In the portfolio construction process, diversification requires that individual asset-class allocations rise to a level sufficient to have an impact on the portfolio, with each asset-class accounting for at least 5 to 10 percent of assets. Diversification further requires that no individual asset class dominate the portfolio, with each asset class amounting to no more than 25 to 30 percent.
The principle of equity orientation induces investors to place the bulk of the portfolio in higher-expected-return asset classes. Domestic equities, foreign equities, and real estate deserve large allocations, allowing the equity-oriented asset classes to drive long-term returns. Domestic bonds and inflation-indexed bonds receive low allocations, allowing the fixed-income-oriented asset classes to prov... (查看原文)
The best protection for investor against the shortcomings of equity investment lies in owning an all-inclusive, market -like portfolio of equity securities in the context of a well-diversified collection of asset classes. (查看原文)
The best protection for investors against the shortcoming of equity investments lies in owning an all-inclusive, market-like portfolio of equity securities in the context of a well-diversified collection of asset classes. Although equity markets do not always deliver handsome returns in a steady, stable, inflation-hedging fashion and corporate managements sometimes fail to serve shareholders interests, equity investments remain a central part of thoughtfully assembled, long-term-oriented investment portfolios. (查看原文)
The Treasury bonds' modest expected returns and adverse reaction to inflation argue for modest allocations to the asset class by long-term investors. (查看原文)
A modest allocation to emerging markets stocks contains the potential to enhance the risk and return characteristics of most investment portfolios. (查看原文)
In the term of risk and return, real estate falls between higher-risk equity and lower-risk debt.……With its inflation-sensitive nature, real estate provides powerful diversification to investor portfolios. (查看原文)
Domestic and foreign equities drive portfolio returns, along with an assist from real estate. Conventional and inflation-linked bonds provide diversifying power, with real estate again playing a supporting role. (查看原文)
Diversification and equity orientation represent important objective principles for long-term investors.
Personal preference play a critical subjective role in portfolio decision making.
Individual circumstances introduce important considerations to the portfolio structuring process.……Sensible investors consider financial asset allocations in a context that encompasses the broadest possible picture of individual assets and liabilities.
Time horizon constitutes one of the most influential variables in structuring investment portfolios.
The heart of the investment process lies in producing a coherent set of portfolio targets that reflect the science of applying basic investment principles and incorporate the art of meeting investor needs and preferences. (查看原文)
Some evidence points to individual investor acceptance of a passive form of market timing that allow asset allocations to drift with ebb and flow of markets. More worrying, a fair number of individual investors engage in counterproductive performance chasing that results in buying high and selling low. Buying yesterday's winners and selling yesterday's losers inevitably hurts tomorrow's performance. (查看原文)
Avoiding bull market purchases and forsaking bear market sales constitute first steps in sensible implementation of a reasonable investment program.……Supremely rational investors take the further step of acting against the consensus, rebalancing to long-term portfolio targets by buying the out-of-favor and selling the in-vogue.……,while providing evidence that few investors appear to pursue rebalancing activity. (查看原文)
作者: David F. Swensen 副标题: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment isbn: 0743228383 书名: Unconventional Success 页数: 402 定价: USD 30.00 出版社: Free Press 出版年: 2005-08-02 装帧: Hardcover
