Strategic Asset Allocation During Global Uncertainty

This exercise places the reader in the position of an investor, who, before 2017, had invested for almost 20 years. Since the financial crisis in 2008–09, this investor had stayed away from the US market. The investor’s return from the previous year stood at a mere 2 per cent. Given that many political events would likely occur in 2017, the investor hoped to revise their investment strategies at the time by developing a more internationalized portfolio. Specifically, the investor was considering how to allocate capital among the existing 10 broker-recommended exchange-traded funds traded on the Singapore stock exchange and two exchange-traded funds in alternative assets traded in the US market. The investor also needed to provide additional cash flows for the education of their two daughters from year two onward for a total of four years. The investor was also willing to reshuffle the investment portfolio to put more weights into the US market. However, before making the revised investment decision, the investor needed to consider the expected returns and risks.

This exercise can be used in an advanced undergraduate or graduate course on investment management or portfolio management. Students will have an opportunity to<ul><li>understand the relationship between financial needs and investment strategy;</li><li>apply the Markowitz Portfolio Theory to real-time market data;</li><li>appreciate the effect of diversification on portfolio risk and return;</li><li>delineate the differences between the effects of long-term and short-term investments on portfolio risk and return; and</li><li>rationalize the investment strategy recommendation with other qualitative considerations.</li></ul>

• ASSET ALLOCATION, TACTICAL ASSET ALLOCATION, INVESTMENT, RISK AND RETURN