AAII.com: Portfolio Observer and ETF Info

Updated: AAII’s Portfolio Observer

AAII’s Portfolio Observer reports on recommended asset allocation and diversification strategies. The Suggested Allocation Breakdowns for three investor types (aggressive, moderate and conservative) have been updated to include a wider variety of asset types: large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks, international and emerging markets stocks, and intermediate- and short-term bonds.

Benchmark performance numbers are combined with the suggested allocations to create hypothetical portfolio returns for each investor type over the year-to-date and for the last one, five and 10 years.

Finally, broad allocation scenarios are presented for the three investor types. Growth, income and risk characteristics are given for each scenario, along with an average annual growth rate, the worst return for one year, and the optimal investment time horizon.

Also, don’t forget to check out the monthly action reading, which offers tips and advice on implementing the portfolio allocation scenarios in a real-world situation. To access AAII’s Portfolio Observer, visit www.aaii.com/ppo.

AAII's Portfolio Observer CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE FULL SIZE.

NEW: ETFs Added to Mutual Funds Education Area

Information about exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been added to the Mutual Funds education area of AAII.com. ETFs are passively managed portfolios that track an index and are traded on an exchange like a stock; they offer an alternative to traditional index mutual funds.

AAII’s ETF coverage includes our annual Guide to ETFs articles about ETF investing. To find data on a specific ETF, you can enter the ticker symbol in the white “Ticker” box at the top of each AAII Web page, and choose GO. Information includes daily price and volume, various performance and risk statistics, top holdings and relevant news stories.

AAII's Model ETF Portfolio CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE FULL SIZE.

To access AAII’s Funds/ETFseducation area, visit www.aaii.com/mfunds.

If you are interested in AAII’s model portfolios, don’t forget to check out the experimental Model ETF Portfolio. The portfolio includes nine low-cost, smaller-cap, value-oriented exchange-traded funds. You can read commentaries from James Cloonan (AAII’s chairman and creator of all of AAII’s model portfolios), check out the performance of the Model ETF Portfolio as well as the individual holdings, and learn how to implement the portfolio.

To access the Model ETF Portfolio, go to www.aaii.com/aaiiportfolios/etfportfolio. Commentary and updated performance data appear in each May and November issue of the AAII Journal.