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Gold has woken from its slumber to be up more than 18% since the start of the year (see chart below). Whilst this has been driven by growth concerns and falling real rates, we believe there is still a strong case for including it as part of a broader asset allocation.

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The volatility and declining performance of the markets over the last few weeks have certainly put some investors on edge and have been a timely reminder that, just as markets were kind to investors last year, and by and large trended up, markets can indeed go down. Given the recent volatility,

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With the Fed raising U.S. rates on 15th March and flagging that there may be more to come, it is worth considering what has historically performed best in such rising rate environments.
To answer this question we undertook some analysis comparing the performance of various country, sector and size equity exposures during the last 10 periods of rising US 10yr bond yields (which took us back to 2001).

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Whilst every investor is different, there are 5 common themes we hear from many investors on an ongoing basis. They are the desire to:

Increase the diversification of portfolios
Get exposure to growth in a “low-growth” world
Get exposure offshore
Reduce exposure to the Banks and Materials Sectors in Australia
Maintain a keen focus on valuations after a long (but challenging) “Bull Market”

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This is the fifth post in my series on the topic of asset allocation. Previously, I’ve discussed accessing asset allocation exposures,  how asset allocation is the cornerstone of active portfolio management, provided an overview on the benefits of asset allocation and given you my thoughts on implementing tactical allocations in portfolios.

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Australian investors are increasingly seeking to invest in international markets – with the mining bust and a weaker Australian dollar contributing to the desire to look offshore. With that in mind, investors looking to invest globally should be aware of the potential added benefits that arise from looking beyond the “usual suspects” when seeking international exposure.

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This is the fourth article in my series of posts that look at the importance of asset allocation. Previously, I’ve discussed how asset allocation is the cornerstone of active portfolio management, provided an overview on the benefits of asset allocation and given you my thoughts on implementing tactical allocations in portfolios.

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This post follows up from my other two posts (here and here) on asset allocation. Many investors use aspects of tactical asset allocation to some extent, perhaps without ever even realising it! Have you ever sold down shares and moved to cash because you thought markets were toppy? That’s a form of tactical asset allocation!

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Last month, I wrote a post introducing the concept of active asset allocation, something I am seeing my clients starting to implement a lot more in recent times. In this post for the BetaShares Academy, I continue this theme, and describe some of the benefits that active asset allocation can generate for portfolios.

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In my travels as one of BetaShares’ Directors of Distribution, I get to observe first-hand how some forward thinking advisers are approaching portfolio management. One area I am seeing a lot more of recently is advisers using asset allocation as a key component of an active portfolio management strategy. In a series of BetaShares Academy posts that I will write over the coming weeks,

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