When first preparing an Investment Policy Statement for a client, we assign a percentage weight that each asset class is to maintain.
For example, using just two very broad asset classes, we may decide with the client that stocks are to equal 65% of the total portfolio and bonds are to equal 35%.
However, as the prices of stocks and bonds shift over time, the weights of the asset classes will also shift. Therefore, our investment portfolios will soon drift away from the initial asset allocation target weights.
To solve this problem, we periodically rebalance the weights of the asset classes that are held in each of our client’s portfolios.
When rebalancing, we take advantage of any tax minimization opportunities that are available, such as tax loss harvesting and capital gain distribution minimization.
The goal of our rebalancing process is to insure that, over the long-term, we are buying low and selling high, while also taking advantage of tax minimization opportunities.
Our portfolio rebalancing is another way that we try to increase our client’s risk-adjusted, after tax-return.