Allocation Update

I started these investment studies in November with two objectives in mind. First, after reviewing the results of my investment approaches over the past few years, I wasn’t happy with the results that I was achieving. My returns ranged from 2% to 5% per year.  While this isn’t bad in a period of very low interest rates, it pales in comparison to the performance of the stock market.

So I began looking at some investment alternatives and strategies. It occurred to me that some of these might be good alternatives for my friends and family. I’m afraid many of them are passive investors and wish to remain that way. That’s fine, but they may be giving a lot of money away. So I’ve been looking for some simple alternatives for them.

I started this blog as an attempt to document what I’ve learned and provide information for others. I’ve kind of been all over the place and now is the time to pull some of these threads together.

On my own investment strategy, I did decide on the asset allocations that I will use as targets. Then I began the rather laborious task of researching investment products and matching them to the allocations I selected. Quite frankly, I probably over obsessed during this step. Now I’m in the process of implementing. This will be an iterative process of research and purchases.

I’ve found some of the alternative investment vehicles to be attractive to me, and for my friends and family. I’ve decided to open accounts with four of the alternatives. I will be reporting on my experiences soon.