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2) Identify the investment constraints that are specific to the individual investor.

Factors to be considered here are personal data such as:

  • age,
  • family obligations,
  • income tax considerations,
  • net worth,
  • current income,
  • investment personality, knowledge, temperament, risk tolerance, unacceptable risks,
  • time horizon, and
  • any other relevant investment constraints.

3) Determine the allocation strategy.

This step involves choosing a risk and reward combination which provides the highest levels of investor utility or satisfaction with which to achieve the financial objectives, while considering an investor's specific constraints and personal circumstances.

However, before developing an investment strategy it is necessary to determine whether or not the goals and objectives are realistic. It is important to comprehend all of the risks that are specific to each of the various components of the portfolio. This is critical in order to understand the relationship that exists between risk and the investment time horizon. It is also necessary to consider the benefits of a diversified portfolio.

Diversification

Diversification is a critical aspect of portfolio management, which can be achieved through asset allocation. An asset allocation program can:

  • Diversify by asset class, which is usually expressed as a range of recommended percentages with a specified minimum and maximum limit.
  • Diversify within asset classes.
  • Diversify geographically.
  • Review and re-balance the portfolio.

Diversification is a risk management technique that attempts to provide some insurance against the unexpected. The rule of thumb for diversification is to combine investments that have low or negative correlations, in order to eliminate specific and unique investment risk in a portfolio, until only market risk remains. When only market risk remains in a portfolio, options and futures derivative contracts can be used to hedge these risks.

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