Liquid Alternatives are simply hedge fund strategies wrapped in a mutual fund format... From a practical standpoint, investors should view these strategies as a way to diversify either bond or stock holdings in order to provide non-correlated returns to their investment portfolios, cushion
portfolios against downside risks, and improve risk - adjusted returns.
There are various hedging strategies available, many of them using inverse ETFs or ETNs (exchange - traded notes), which let you participate in the hope of stock gains while also hedging some of
your portfolio against downside risk.
Hedging is a way of insuring
your portfolio against downside risk by purchasing put options against assets.
Not exact matches
Having a higher weighting in bonds and a lower weighting in stocks has, in the past, lowered the volatility in your
portfolio while also providing some
downside protection
against large losses.
I think the issue here is whether any amateur fund manager (which I think is what we all are — including those financial advisers who create their own «homegrown»
portfolios using trackers and bond funds) can seriously manage a
portfolio for income or for growth and control
against downside risk (in equities or bonds) as well as a good active management group like Invesco perpetual or M&G.
Liquid alternatives can be a useful addition to any
portfolio whether an investor is seeking a leveraged strategy to boost profits, a way to reduce risk and hedge
against downside movement, or gain access to other assets like commodities.
Liquid alternatives can be a useful addition for any
portfolio whether an investor is seeking a leveraged strategy to boost profits, trying to reduce risk and hedge
against downside movement, or trying to gain access to other asset classes like commodities.
One may need to remove them from his / her
portfolio when protecting
against downside risk, but again...
When you multiply the
downside percentage
against your
portfolio value, you can test your financial courage.
During periods of high volatility, the
Portfolio Manager will write (or sell) a call option
against some of its positions in order to hedge
downside risk, while generating an income stream from the sale of options.