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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Global Macro Investing and the Benefits of Multiple Asset Classes

By Bruce Jones

Anyone that has been trading for a long time has heard that diversification is the only free lunch our there, referring to the economics principle that nothing good is free. The problem has been that if you went to the typical financial planner you were deworsified and not diversified. Dont worry because diversification is still very useful if done properly and really does help to increase returns and lower risks.

The typical planner will have you put some of your money in domestic stocks, some in foreign stocks, and then place some money in bonds. If that is all you are doing you are not getting nearly the benefit you could be getting and in reality you are barely diversified at all.

Diversification done right will not only have you invested in several different asset classes but also in multiple strategies inside each asset class. Ask a global macro trader why they trade this way and they will tell you that being able to go into multiple asset classes is the only way to consistently generate positive returns regardless of what the stock market is doing.

Global macro traders diversify into asset classes such as domestic stocks, foreign stocks, Treasury bonds, investment grade corporate bonds, junk bonds, foreign government bonds, foreign corporate bonds, commodities, real estate, and currencies. Some traders even trade in collectibles like art. Why do they cast their investment net so wide? For the simple reason that one asset class may be in or out of favor at any given time.

One of the best known although regularly ignored tenets of successful investing is to look for the best risk to reward situations. If you dont focus on risk then it will come back to haunt you and cause you to lose lots of money. By looking across multiple asset classes you will be better able to find great risk to reward scenarios as not every asset class is always in a good position to make you money.

Of course as alluded to earlier we can diversify in more than one way. Cast your net wide and put money is several asset classes but you can also diversify by looking at different trading horizons. For instance if you can manage multiple strategies in the same asset class then do that, if you cant hire an outside manager that can. For instance you can put money with an uncorrelated commodity trading advisor and then put money with a long term trend following commodity trading advisor. By doing this you are catching short term and long term movements in commodities. You can do the same types of things with other asset classes.

If you diversify wide and deep your investment returns will be far more consistent and in most years will be better off then the standard stock and bond mix that so many so called professionals push you into. There is no guarantee that you will make money every day, month, or even year but by following these concepts you can really improve your risk adjusted returns.

If you are like most people these days and are managing your own investments then you will likely want to learn how to build trading and forecasting models to help you spot more opportunities. The more streamlined your research is the better your results will be and the better your returns will be. - 23199

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