The conventional portfolio is conventional for a reason. This has been the common approach for many years. It is easy to cling to the way people have approached investing for a long time. This is true even if the strategy has not worked well for over a decade. There may be a certain level of comfort that comes from following the herd. My goal in this book was to share with you what I have learned over the past 15 years. As an institutional consultant advising clients with a total of $14 billion in assets, including several portfolios in excess of $1 billion, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to interact with some of the smartest investment minds in the world. I have been exposed to a wide variety of investment strategies from the most forward-thinking investors in the industry.

This book provides a synthesis of what I have learned. I feel that the insight that I have gleaned from the brightest investment professionals should be shared. For this reason I chose to write this book, with the hope that I can at least introduce you to other perspectives that you should consider before making the crucial asset allocation decision for your portfolio. I hope I have been able to effectively present a balanced portfolio viewpoint that helps you see asset classes and the portfolio construction process in a deeper, more thoughtful way. The decision is completely yours. My goal is to help you make a well-informed one. In that aim I hope I have succeeded.