Balanced Asset Allocation: How to Profit in Any Economic Climate

Praise for Balanced Asset Allocation

"Alex Shahidi′s book is a magistral piece that will be enjoyed by anyone with a serious interest in investing and asset allocation. The intellectual rigor with which Shahidi leads the reader from beginning to end is breathtaking, debunking many preconceived ideas from the institutional world while coming up with many novel and often counterintuitive ones. Through an analysis of various economic environments (past and future), Shahidi dissects the shifting correlations (and inverse correlations) between various asset classes (equities, fixed income, inflation protected securities, commodities ). This book is most timely in today′s deleveraging, and possibly low return, world."
Charles de Vaulx, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager, International Value Advisers (IVA), and recipient of Morningstar′s "International Stock Manager of the Year" award in 2001

"Building balance as described herein should be the foundation of all portfolios; this book is essential reading for any investor. Alex distills his comprehensive understanding of the economy, risk assets, and portfolio construction to its essence. The result is to make these valuable concepts accessible to a wide audience. Assimilating the wisdom in this book will increase the dependability of any portfolio."
Peter Joers, III, Co–Founder, Greenline Partners; former Client Advisor at Bridgewater Associates

"For many investors the most critical decision they make is in choosing their default portfolio. Yet for how important this decision is, remarkably little that is useful has been written. Alex does a phenomenal job proposing a simple yet effective solution. Balanced Asset Allocation is one of those rare books that is both easy to read and provides great insights."
Nick Nanda, Co–Founder, Kaleidoscope Capital; former Portfolio Manager on the Asset Allocation team at Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co (GMO)

"There are many books on investing, but precious few that buck the consensus in a logical, well–argued manner. Read Alex Shahidi′s book with an open mind and you are sure to become a better investor, even if you disagree with his unconventional analysis."
Samuel Lee, Strategist, Morningstar

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter One The Economic Machine: Why Being Balanced is So Important Today

Chapter Two Your Portfolio is NOT Well–Balanced

Chapter Three The Fundamental Drivers of Asset Class Returns

Chapter Four Viewing Stocks through a Balanced Portfolio Lens

Chapter Five The High Value of Low Yielding Treasuries within the Balanced Portfolio Framework

Chapter Six Why TIPS are Critical to Maintaining Balance (Despite its Low Yield)

Chapter Seven Owning Commodities in a Balanced Portfolio

Chapter Eight Even More Balance: Introduction to Other Asset Classes

Chapter Nine How to Build a Balanced Portfolio: Conceptual Framework

Chapter Ten How to Build a Balanced Portfolio: Step–By–Step Process

Chapter Eleven The Balanced Portfolio: Historical Returns

Chapter Twelve Implementation Strategies: Putting Theory into Practice

Chapter Thirteen Conclusion

Index

ALEX SHAHIDI is a leading investment consultant managing multi–billion dollar portfolios. He focuses on advising large pension funds, foundations, endowments, and ultra–high–net–worth families, and is responsible for managing over $13 billion in assets. Alex is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder, Certified Investment Management Analyst, and a Certified Financial Planner. Since 2008, he has consistently been recognized as one of the top financial advisors in the country by national publications such as Barron′s, Worth, and On Wall Street. His comments about asset allocation have been referenced in the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Money News, and Advisor Perspectives.