5 Steps to Spring-Cleaning Your Investment Portfolio

Portfolios can get unwieldy. Here’s how to reduce the clutter. [Morningstar](?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_improvingfinances&utm_content=53094&elqTrackId=90427d371d2f49c3a18479ebfd3f7ef1&elq=6fc50f924364478887567377dc402e0f&elqaid=53094&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=26873) [Improving Your Finances] Improving Your Finances with [Christine Benz]( [Christine Benz] Just ask my friends and family: I abhor clutter. I can’t think straight in a messy space, and I’m a little ruthless about culling bric-a-brac from our house. I feel the same about investment portfolios. In my experience, too many investors assemble investment collections, not portfolios, and all of those moving parts make it hard to see the big picture: what sort of asset allocation you’re targeting, how much risk you’re taking, and where you’d turn for liquidity in a pinch. I recently did [a webcast for Morningstar.com viewers]( in which I discussed how to give your portfolio a good spring-clean. (You can read the transcript if you’d rather not listen to my chatter for 45 minutes.) If you’re doing some culling in your own portfolio, you might be tempted to throw your non-US stocks overboard. After all, adding non-US equities has detracted from the returns of a US-only portfolio in recent years, even as it has modestly reduced risk. To add insult to injury, foreign stocks’ correlation with the US market has also increased over the past three years. I recently wrote about [whether and how to make room for non-US stocks in a portfolio]( drawing upon the [Diversification Landscape Report]( that Amy Arnott, Karen Zaya, and I recently completed. And last week I wrote about [whether 2022’s bond rout diminishes bonds’ status as an equity diversifier](. (TL;DR: I don’t think so. But bring some cash!) Finally, you’ve likely heard the news that Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman died last week at the age of 90. John Rekenthaler noted that not only were Kahneman and co-researcher Amos Tversky brilliant, but they were also in the right place at the right time. [John’s discussion of Kahneman’s enormous influence]( is a must-read, as is [Jason Zweig’s Wall Street Journal article]( . With warm regards, Christine Benz [5 Steps to Spring-Cleaning Your Investment Portfolio]( Portfolios can get unwieldy. Here’s how to reduce some clutter. [Read More]( Share: [facebook]( [twitter]( [linkedin]( ADVERTISEMENT [media]( [media] [Where International Diversification Works—And Where It Falls Short]( Recent diversification and performance benefits of non-US stocks have been muted, but that trend may not persist. [Read More]( [How Did Diversified Portfolios Hold Up in 2023? | Morningstar]( Delve into Morningstar's 2023 analysis of portfolio diversification strategies. Uncover insights on correlation trends, asset class performance, and what it all means for building diversified portfolios. [Read More]( [Which Bonds Provide the Biggest Diversification Benefit?]( The bond rout in 2022 upended notions about correlations, but high-quality bonds and cash have been solid diversifiers over longer stretches. [Read More]( [Daniel Kahneman: The Unlikely Economist]( How an outsider won a Nobel Prize. [Find Out More]( [The 4% Retirement Rule Is Just a Starting Point]( Also, why we raised our suggestion for a starting safe withdrawal rate. [Watch Now]( [Victor Haghani: Lessons From the Missing Billionaires]( Why investment sizing is an important—yet often overlooked—factor in investor outcomes. [Listen Today]( Get Top Stock Picks and Market Insights Every Week on The Morning Filter. Every Monday morning, Susan Dziubinski sits down with Morningstar Chief U.S. markets strategist Dave Sekera to discuss what's on his radar, new Morningstar research, and stock picks or pans for the week ahead. [Watch Now.](morningstar/streams?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_improvingfinances&utm_content=53094) Stay connected: [twitter]( [facebook]( [linkedin]( [instagram]( [YouTube]( [Apple News]( [View online]( | [See all newsletters]( | [Share your feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( from this newsletter. Or update your [email preferences](. © 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22 W. Washington St. Chicago, IL 60602