THE ART OF ASSET ALLOCATION Asset Allocation Principles and Investment Strategies for Any Market

This is the all-in one guidebook for understanding - and profiting. It is from - today's most up-to-date, market-proven asset allocation strategies. All investing constitutes a trade-off between the returns you seek and the risks you are willing to take. Asset allocation involves the spreading of those risks in order to minimize their potential impact. Too often, however, even minor misuse of asset allocation principles can adversely affect portfolio performance - and lead advisors and investors to disregard the very tools they need to get their portfolios back on track. "The Art of Asset Allocation" is today's most comprehensive and hands-on guidebook for using asset allocation principles to dramatically improve the performance of virtually any portfolio.Written by one of today's top asset allocation practitioners and experts, it provides you with: a comprehensive explanation of the asset allocation process; clear, readily graspable diagrams and illustrations; step-by-step guidelines for choosing the best asset allocation strategies; descriptions of the risks and rewards of all the major asset classes; insights into behavioral influences on investors' decision-making; analysis of important asset allocation rebalancing techniques; detailed matrices and worksheets for determining optimal asset allocations; asset allocation can be used by anyone, regardless of background, to aim for successful returns and protect those returns in today's changing marketplace. Let "The Art of Asset Allocation" provide you with everything you need to make allocation a key part of your overall investment strategy, and reduce or eliminate costly shortfalls in both your short- and long-term portfolio performance."Unique in its coverage and innovativeness, "The Art of Asset Allocation" furnishes a comprehensive array of tools, charts, illustrations, matrices, worksheets, and practical guidance designed to illuminate: the basic principles of asset allocation; the mechanics of asset allocation; the behavioral underpinnings of asset allocation; the essential characteristics of each of the 16 major asset classes; a series of approaches to financial markets analysis; and matrices and worksheets designed to successfully carry out asset allocation on an ongoing basis...' - From the Foreword.Asset allocation has long been a popular tool among financial professionals for improving risk-adjusted return in all market environments. But new tools, asset classes, and approaches have profoundly transformed the allocation process, with critical implications for everyone from investors with relatively modest portfolios to high-asset individuals and professional advisors responsible for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. "The Art of Asset Allocation" details how you can use modern asset allocation concepts and tools to augment returns and control risks in every market climate - bull, bear, or non-trending.This all-encompassing book will provide you with the knowledge you need to most effectively employ modern asset allocation techniques, whether you are a newcomer to asset allocation and read the book from cover to cover or an experienced asset allocator seeking primarily to update your body of knowledge on the topic. In-depth treatment is given to all aspects of effective asset allocation, including: basic meanings, principles, and pathways of asset allocation; dozens of clear and insightful charts and illustrations; mechanics and frameworks of asset allocation; analyzing assets' rates of return and the behavioral underpinnings of asset allocation; essential risk and reward characteristics of each of the 16 major asset classes; a series of approaches to financial markets analysis and rebalancing; worksheets to profile the investor, the investment outlook, and potential investments; and, successful long-term investment performance is rarely a matter of luck or timing.Rather, it is a function of thoughtfully and prudently choosing a portfolio of investments to minimize risk while maximizing return, and strategically and tactically rebalancing assets to reflect changing markets, the creation of new asset classes, and the global investment outlook. In a logical and straightforward way, "The Art of Asset Allocation" can show you how to use asset allocation to improve your portfolio performance, regardless of your investment time frame or portfolio size, in every market environment.

David M. Darst, CFA, is a managing director of Morgan Stanley. He serves as Chairman of the Asset Allocation Committee and Chief Investment Strategist of the Global Wealth Management Group. Darst was the founding president of the Morgan Stanley Investment Group.