Portfolio Management
Portfolio management is the art and science of making decisions about investment mix and policy, matching investments to objectives, asset allocation for individuals, and balancing risk against performance. Portfolio management is all about determining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the choice of debt vs. equity, encountered in the attempt to maximize return at a given appetite for risk.
Review is a method used to return a portfolio to its original target allocation at annual intervals. It is important for retaining the asset mix that best reflects an investor’s risk/return profile. Otherwise, the movements of the markets could expose the portfolio to greater risk or reduced return opportunities. For example, a portfolio that starts out with a 70% equity and 30% fixed-income allocation could, through an extended market rally, shift to an 80/20 allocation that exposes the portfolio to more risk than the investor can tolerate.
Rebalancing almost always entails the sale of high-priced/low-value securities and the redeployment of the proceeds into low-priced/high-value or out-of-favor securities. The annual iteration of rebalancing enables investors to capture gains and expand the opportunity for growth in high potential sectors while keeping the portfolio aligned with the investor’s risk/return profile.
