As each asset class has varying levels of return and risk, one should consider their risk tolerance, investment objectives, time horizon and available capital as the basis for their asset composition. Investors with a long time horizon and larger sums to invest may feel more comfortable with high risk, high return options. Contrastively, investors with smaller sums and shorter time spans may feel more comfortable with low risk, low return allocations.
To make the asset allocation process easier for clients, investment companies create a series of model portfolios, each comprising diforewent proportions of asset classes. These portfolios of different proportions satisfy a particular level of investor risk tolerance. In general, these model portfolios range from conservative to very aggressive.
- Very Aggressive
- Aggressive
- Moderately Aggressive
- Moderately Conservative
- Conservative


Conservative Portfolios
Conservative model portfolios generally allocate a large percent of the total portfolio to lower-risk strategies such as fixed-income and money market securities. The main goal of a conservative portfolio is to protect the principal value of your portfolio. One could invest in the equity portion in high-quality blue chip companies, or an index fund, with less exposure in foreign exchange since the goal is not to beat the market.

Aggressive Portfolios
Aggressive portfolios main goal is to obtain long-term growth of capital. The strategy of an aggressive portfolio is often called a “capital growth” strategy. To provide some diversification, investors with aggressive portfolios usually add some fixed-income securities.
- Fixed Income Securities
- Equities
- Cash and Equivalents

Moderately Conservative Portfolios
A moderately conservative portfolio is ideal for those who wish to preserve a large portion of the portfolio’s total value, but are willing to take on a higher amount of risk to get some inflation protection.

Moderately Aggressive Portfolios
Moderately aggressive model portfolios are often referred to as “balanced portfolios” since the asset composition is divided almost equally between fixed-income securities and equities in order to provide a balance of growth and income. This strategy is best for investors with a longer time horizon (generally more than five years), and a medium level of risk tolerance.

Highly Aggressive Portfolios
Highly Aggressive Portfolios consist of mostly equity strategies and aggressive foreign exchange strategies. The main goal is aggressive capital growth over a long time horizon. Since these portfolios carry a considerable amount of risk, the value of the portfolio will vary widely in the short term.