As requested in a comment, here is the correlation matrix of critical ETFs used in nearly all the ITA portfolios. I cut the time frame to 23 months of data so VSS and VNQI did not show up with “short-term” data errors. Identical percentages were assigned to each ETF with exception of SDS. The percentages […]
Portfolio Construction: The Essential Decisions
William J. Bernstein, in his most recent book, “The Investor’s Manifesto” writes, “Before diving into the most important issue faced by any investor–the asset allocation decision–you will need to understand four things: save as much as you can, make sure you have enough liquid taxable assets for emergencies, diversify widely, and do so with passive […]
Strategic Asset Allocation: A Starting Point For Portfolio Construction
Much is made of the importance of asset allocation here at ITA Wealth Management. Long-time readers are familiar with the general layout of the portfolios and new readers will find more information by doing a search for “Dashboard.” Not all portfolios tracked on this blog use the seventeen asset allocation classes, but we want to […]
Asset Classes: How Many Should I Own?
With much recent attention given to answering the money managers most perplexing question, what percent of the portfolio should be invested in each asset class, the whole idea of how many asset classes to include in a portfolio has been neglected. William Bernstein answers the question this way. “You might as well ask the meaning […]
Beginner Advice: Getting Started With Portfolio Construction
Several days ago a friend wrote and asked about setting up a portfolio where $500 would be deposited every month. What advice would I pass on to such an investor? The first bit of advice is to read all the Beginning Investor posts on this blog and then set up a Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) […]
Asset Allocation – Risk Parity Revisited: Part 1
Having selected a number of assets to include in a portfolio, a key decision any investor has to make is “What percentage of my available funds should I allocate to each asset held in my portfolio?” In the Feynman Study I covered a number of common options: 1. Use of a Strategic Asset Allocation Plan (SAA) – […]
Basic Portfolio and Current ETF Rankings
The following data table includes the latest ETF rankings for 20 basic ETFs and the Buy-Hold-Sell recommendations. GLD is the only ETF under-performing SHY so I would avoid gold as an investment. ETF Rankings: The overall strength of this market is illustrated by the fact that not one of these ETFs is priced below its […]
Revisiting The “Swensen Six” Portfolio
Investors looking for a well-diversified and basic portfolio need look no further than the “Swensen Six.” Both HedgeHunter and I’ve written about David Swensen’s simple portfolio before. More references can be found by searching for Swensen on this blog. Here is the “Swensen Six” portfolio in its most basic form where only six ETFs are […]