Diversification: Portfolio Safety’s Cornerstone

Common Portfolio Wisdom – The Key to Safety is Diversification

Pros –

Gains in one asset class may offset losses in another.

Diversification offers more stability than holding just one asset.

Cons –

There are periods when many asset classes may go down simultaneously.

Gains can be “watered” down and may limit potential.

Axiom – The key to safety is being in harmony with long-term market trends.

Common Portfolio Wisdom – The Key to Safety is Diversification has become like pixie dust in the financial world. People hear that word and think everything is good because they are diversified, but that is not always the case.

The thought is if you’re diversified then you will have a lower risk because you are not putting all your eggs in one basket as the saying goes, however, while diversification

and asset allocation is important it does not guarantee lower risk.

It would be like putting all your eggs in different baskets but then putting all the baskets in the back of the same pick-up truck. When that truck hits a bump, all the baskets fly, and all the eggs break.

The average 60/40 portfolio, when stress tested has an average drawdown or loss potential of 30% or more. Is that lower risk?

So, while diversification is good, in and of itself does not mean you are low risk.

If you want to know what your risk is, have a risk assessment done on your portfolio. This should be run by third-party investment research and analytics firm such as Morning Star. This report is more than a snapshot of your portfolio, it analysis the funds in your portfolio and can give you a probability of upside and downside return potential. Everyone, especially those in or nearing retirement should have an updated risk assessment done on a regular basis.