Do You Have a Zombie Portfolio? 

• 2 min read

Following cliché investment advice might turn your portfolio into the walking dead.

Get the latest in Research & Insights

Sign up to receive a weekly email summary of new articles posted to AMG Research & Insights.

QUESTION: Is the 60/40 portfolio dead? 

ANSWER: For those unfamiliar with the term, a 60/40 portfolio is one roughly invested 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. Back in the days before digital calculators, investment gurus decided that 60/40 was the prudent mix for most institutional investors. They believed this blend had enough equities to allow growth in good times and adequate fixed income to provide stability and income during downturns. For decades that has been the standard investment split for most pension funds and insurance companies, their multi-billion-dollar portfolios plodding along in zombie-like fashion.  

But last year, for a brief time, stock and bond markets dropped at the same time as interest rates and inflation climbed upward, prompting many to ask if the 60/40 portfolio was an anachronism, a dead strategy? Perhaps the better question is: Was it ever alive, a viable strategy for maximizing investment returns? 

Long before this age when everyone has a computer in their pocket, AMG recognized that such rules of thumb are oversimplified and that clients are better served with more dynamic approaches.  

Over the past 50 years, through bull and bear markets, AMG has developed proprietary techniques for optimizing portfolio returns while managing risk. AMG continually updates its economic and financial research and refines its investment models to help clients more thoughtfully allocate their resources and manage risk as they work to achieve their financial goals.  

So is the 60/40 portfolio alive, dead or just the walking dead? Honestly, you should probably ask someone else because we at AMG are too focused on the future to worry about cliché solutions.  

HOW AMG CAN HELP

Not a client? Find out more about AMG’s Personal Financial Management (PFM) or to book a free consultation call 303-486-1475 or email us the best day and time to reach you.

This information is for general information use only. It is not tailored to any specific situation, is not intended to be investment, tax, financial, legal, or other advice and should not be relied on as such. AMG’s opinions are subject to change without notice, and this report may not be updated to reflect changes in opinion. Forecasts, estimates, and certain other information contained herein are based on proprietary research and should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any particular security, strategy, or investment product.

Get the latest in Research & Insights

Sign up to receive a weekly email summary of new articles posted to AMG Research & Insights.