Re-Sectioning the Pie Chart
The whole idea behind asset allocation is to prevent extremes. Experience has taught us that the three main categories of investment assets—equities (stocks), fixed-income (bonds), and cash equivalents—each behave differently in reaction to any given set of circumstances. The term for this difference is “negative correlation.” Investor.gov, the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, explains asset allocation by comparing it to street vendors who sell both umbrellas and sunglasses, two items consumers are unlikely to purchase at the [...]