This week, Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist John Blank, PhD discusses:

• The Zacks approach to asset allocation in 2024. John writes the Zacks Monthly Investing Update and Asset Allocation report, and this is the first of two webinars he will present offering his expert insights on this critical topic. John begins this session by defining the broad asset classes (equities, bonds, commodities, etc.), outlining the 7 characteristics of an asset class, and enumerating the three asset allocation strategies.

• John then digs into charts showing annualized returns for some key asset class indices, ranging from the S&P 500 to Dow Jones Industrials to the Russell Micro-Cap Index in equities, to municipal and U.S. Treasury bonds, to real estate, commodities and more asset classes. He also surveys ETF-based asset class options.

• To finish up the first of his two asset allocation webinars, John incorporates risk metrics into the asset allocation discussion. He looks at beta as well as Sharpe Ratio for various asset classes, sector weights and investment styles for the largest equity mutual funds, and Moody’s/Fitch/S&P ratings as a percentage of the portfolio for the largest bond mutual funds. Don’t miss this expert review of the asset allocation process from one of the industry’s leading strategists!