Frontiers of Modern Asset Allocation - Hardcover

by Paul D. Kaplan (Editor), Laurence B. Siegel (Foreword by)

Innovative approaches to putting asset allocation into practice

Building on more than 15 years of asset-allocation research, Paul D. Kaplan, who led the development of the methodologies behind the Morningstar Rating(TM) and the Morningstar Style Box(TM), tackles key challenges investor professionals face when putting asset-allocation theory into practice. This book addresses common issues such as:

• How should asset classes be defined?
• Should equities be divided into asset classes based on investment style, geography, or other factors?
• Should asset classes be represented by market-cap-weighted indexes or should other principles, such as fundamental weights, be used?
• How do actively managed funds fit into asset-class mixes?

Kaplan also interviews industry luminaries who have greatly influenced the evolution of asset allocation, including Harry Markowitz, Roger Ibbotson, and the late Benoit Mandelbrot. Throughout the book, Kaplan explains allocation theory, creates new strategies, and corrects common misconceptions, offering original insights and analysis. He includes three appendices that put theory into action with technical details for new asset-allocation frameworks, including the next generation of portfolio construction tools, which Kaplan dubs "Markowitz 2.0."

Front Jacket

Paul D. Kaplan has been right in the middle of these developments. First as a researcher for Ibbotson Associates and now for Morningstar, Dr. Kaplan has published dozens of articles and research papers over the past fifteen years that dig deeply into analyzing the moving parts of portfolio creation. In addition to pushing the asset-allocation debate forward with his research, Dr. Kaplan has helped develop products and tools for institutions, financial advisors, and individual investors that have made it practical to put the concepts of asset allocation into everyday use.

In Frontiers of Modern Asset Allocation, Dr. Kaplan brings together twenty-seven of his best articles and interviews. He divides the book into four parts--Equities; Fixed Income, Real Estate, and Alternatives; Crashes and Fat Tails; and Doing Asset Allocation--examining everything from how asset classes should be defined to whether they should be represented by market value-weighted indexes or other principles. The book also includes interviews with industry luminaries who have greatly influenced the evolution of asset allocation, including Markowitz, Roger Ibbotson, and the late Benot Mandelbrot. Frontiers of Modern Asset Allocation is essential reading for institutional investors, wealth managers, financial planners, and academics. It includes three appendices that put theory into action with technical details for new asset-allocation frameworks, including the next generation of portfolio construction tools, which Dr. Kaplan dubs "Markowitz 2.0," in honor of the father of Modern Portfolio Theory.

Back Jacket

In 1952, the economist Harry Markowitz introduced a now-commonplace concept: investors can construct an "efficient portfolio" by investing in diverse securities combined to maximize expected returns while minimizing expected volatility. Markowitz revolutionized investing. Ever since, the idea of asset allocation has been the bedrock of constructing portfolios. The pursuit of finding a portfolio's sweet spot--the optimal area where various asset classes work in conjunction to provide the most returns for the least risk--has given rise to an incredible body of research and range of products.

Paul D. Kaplan has been right in the middle of these developments. First as a researcher for Ibbotson Associates and now for Morningstar, Dr. Kaplan has published dozens of articles and research papers over the past fifteen years that dig deeply into analyzing the moving parts of portfolio creation. In addition to pushing the asset-allocation debate forward with his research, Dr. Kaplan has helped develop products and tools for institutions, financial advisors, and individual investors that have made it practical to put the concepts of asset allocation into everyday use.

In Frontiers of Modern Asset Allocation, Dr. Kaplan brings together twenty-seven of his best articles and interviews. He divides the book into four parts--Equities; Fixed Income, Real Estate, and Alternatives; Crashes and Fat Tails; and Doing Asset Allocation--examining everything from how asset classes should be defined to whether they should be represented by market value-weighted indexes or other principles. The book also includes interviews with industry luminaries who have greatly influenced the evolution of asset allocation, including Markowitz, Roger Ibbotson, and the late Benoît Mandelbrot. Frontiers of Modern Asset Allocation is essential reading for institutional investors, wealth managers, financial planners, and academics. It includes three appendices that put theory into action with technical details for new asset-allocation frameworks, including the next generation of portfolio construction tools, which Dr. Kaplan dubs "Markowitz 2.0," in honor of the father of Modern Portfolio Theory.

Author Biography

PAUL D. KAPLAN is quantitative research director at Morningstar Europe and is responsible for the quantitative methodologies behind Morningstar's fund analysis, indexes, advisor tools, and other services. Dr. Kaplan conducts research on investment style analysis, performance and risk measurement, asset allocation, retirement-income planning, portfolio construction, index methodologies, and alternative investments. He led the development of quantitative methodologies behind the Morningstar Rating for funds (Morningstar's star rating), the Morningstar Style Box, and the Morningstar family of indexes. Many of Dr. Kaplan's research papers have been published in professional books and publications such as the Financial Analysts Journal, the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Wealth Management, the Journal of Investing, the Journal of Performance Measurement, the Journal of Indexes, and the Handbook of Equity Style Management. He received the 2008 Graham and Dodd Award and won a Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence in 2000.