Strategic asset allocation
Long-term target weights for asset classes, set against an investor's horizon and constraints and not revised because of the news.
How to read the number
These weights, rather than the choice of individual securities, explain most of the variation in a portfolio's result over time.
When the metric lies
Written weights without a rule for returning to them do nothing: growth in the risky class makes the portfolio more aggressive than intended, and the decision ends up being taken by the market.
Also known as: long-term allocation policy