Term

Strategic Asset Allocation

Also: SAA

The long-term target mix of asset classes a portfolio is built around.

Strategic asset allocation sets the policy weights for each asset class — equities, fixed income, private markets, real assets and cash — based on a family's objectives, risk tolerance and constraints. It is the single biggest driver of long-run returns and the anchor the scenario engine optimises around.

For most families the strategic allocation matters far more than any individual fund or trade: it explains the great majority of a portfolio's long-run variability. Getting it right, and writing it into the policy, is the single highest-leverage decision a family makes.

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