What Is a Diversified Portfolio?
In a diversified portfolio, the assets don’t correlate with each other. When the value of one rises, the value of another may fall. The mixture can lower overall risk because, no matter what the economy does, some asset classes will benefit. That can offset losses in the other assets. Risk is also reduced because it’s rare that the entire portfolio would be wiped out by any single event. A diversified portfolio is your best defense against a financial crisis.
How Diversification Works
Stocks do well when the economy grows. Investors want the highest returns, so they bid up the price of stocks. They are willing to accept a greater risk of a downturn because they are optimistic about the future. Bonds and other fixed-income securities do well when the economy slows. Investors are more interested in protecting their holdings in a downturn. They are willing to accept lower returns for that reduction of risk. The prices of commodities vary with supply and demand. Commodities include wheat, oil, and gold. For example, wheat prices would rise if there is a drought that limits supply. Oil prices would fall if there is excess supply. As a result, commodities don’t follow the phases of the business cycle as closely as stocks and bonds do.
Include These Five Asset Classes to Diversify Your Portfolio
Here are six asset classes to help build a diversified portfolio:
U.S. Stocks
U.S. stocks are shares of U.S.-based public corporations. Companies of different sizes should be included. Company size is measured by its market capitalization, so include small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap stocks in a portfolio. They respond differently depending on the phase of the business cycle.
U.S. Fixed Income
Fixed income investments pay an agreed-upon return on a fixed schedule. They include bonds, certificates of deposit, and money market funds. These are guaranteed by the federal government. Municipal bonds are also very safe. You can also buy short-term bond funds and money market funds that invest in these safe securities. Corporate bonds provide a higher return with greater risk. The highest returns and risk come with junk bonds.
Foreign Stocks
These include companies from both developed and emerging markets. You can achieve greater diversification if you invest overseas. International investments can generate a higher return, because emerging-market countries are growing more rapidly. They are also riskier investments, because these countries have fewer central bank safeguards in place. They are susceptible to political changes and are less transparent. U.S. companies do well when the dollar is weak because it boosts exports. Foreign companies do well when the dollar is strong. That makes their exports into the United States cheaper than when the dollar is weak.
Foreign Fixed Income
These include both corporate and government issues. They provide protection from a dollar decline. They are safer than foreign stocks.
Alternatives
Alternative investments can include a variety of assets and generally make up the smallest allocation, compared to the other asset classes. Examples of alternatives include real estate, commodities, hedge funds, venture capital, derivatives, or cryptocurrencies. Commodities can include natural resources such as gold or oil. Gold is considered a solid part of a diversified portfolio because it’s the best hedge against a stock market crash. Research shows that gold prices rise dramatically for 15 days after a crash. Gold can also be a good defense against inflation. It is also uncorrelated to assets such as stocks and bonds.
Your Primary Home as an Asset
Most investment advisors don’t count the equity in a home as a real estate investment. They assume you will continue to live there for the rest of your life. That attitude encouraged many homeowners to borrow against the equity in their homes to buy consumer goods. When housing prices declined in 2006, many homeowners owed more than their property was worth. As a result, many people lost their homes during the financial crisis. Some walked away from their homes, while others declared bankruptcy. If your equity goes up, you can sell other real estate investments, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), in your portfolio. You might also consider selling your home, taking some profits, and moving into a smaller house. That would prevent you from being house-rich but cash-poor. In other words, you won’t have all your investment eggs in your home basket.
Diversification and Asset Allocation
How much should you own of each asset class? There is no universal best-diversified investment. Investors use asset allocation to determine the exact mix of stocks, bonds, and commodities. It depends on your comfort with different risk levels, your goals, and where you are in life. For example, stocks are riskier than bonds. If you need the money in the next few years, you should hold more bonds than someone who could wait 10 years. So, the percentage of each type of asset class depends on your personal goals. They should be developed with a financial planner. You should also rebalance according to the current phase of the business cycle. In the early stage of a recovery, small businesses do the best. They are the first to recognize opportunity and can react more quickly than big corporations. Large-cap stocks do well in the latter part of a recovery. They have more funds to out-market the smaller companies. Asset bubbles are bid up by speculators and are not supported by underlying real values. Regular rebalancing will protect you from asset bubbles. You should consider selling, or at least trimming, any asset that’s grown so much that it takes up too much of your portfolio. If you follow this discipline, you won’t get hit too hard when the bubble bursts.
When a Mutual Fund Is a Diversified Investment
A mutual fund or index fund provides more diversification than an individual security does. It tracks a bundle of stocks, bonds, or commodities. It is not a replacement for a well-diversified portfolio. A mutual fund or index fund would be a diversified investment if it contained all six asset classes. To meet your needs, it would also have to balance those assets according to your goals. Then, it would adjust, depending on the stage of the business cycle.
