Towards an understanding of risk

Robert Huebscher | Advisor Perspectives | 20 May 2011

How should we think about risk in portfolios? I put that question to a cross-section of prominent advisers, authors and academics. Their answers encompassed diverse opinions and underscored how crucial that question is to the investment process.

We asked each person the following:

How should a 25-year-old, who is beginning to save for retirement, think about and measure risk in his or her portfolio?

How should a 65-year-old, who is beginning the withdrawal ph...