To rebalance or not to rebalance

THE question of whether to shift allocation from equity to bonds is one that invariably comes up as often as the S&P500 achieves a new high.

But is this the right question to ask? I would say that this question, like everything else, needs to evolve.

Looking back, 2017 was a period of historically and almost stubbornly low volatility. Comparatively, 2018 was a rollercoaster ending in a December that hit the S&P500 with nearly a 16 per cent drop. The present has us coming off a two-week losing streak in the equity market and the US Fed putting a pause on their activity.