I wondered how long it would take before someone from Assetbuilder posted on here. I know Scott reads this board because he's the reason I first came here.
First off, I learned about Assetbuilder via Scott's articles, so somewhere he must have stated his association. Secondly, this is from the Assetbuilder website...
Smart allocation: We go a step beyond “naïve” diversification. We use a technique called “mean variance optimization” that helps us get the highest return for the least risk from any given group of asset classes. Smart allocation is the most difficult step because it involves both rocket science and art. And that’s where we think we can add some real value with pre-constructed, risk-measured portfolios. Lots of people can divide by two, three, four, or five to produce a Couch Potato Building Block portfolio. But optimizing requires more work. With it, we can produce near equity market returns with lower risk.
So I guess I am a tad confused. Obviously to even refer to the "couch potato" method on a website they must have Scott's approval, so now I guess we can assume Scott has realized that his suggested method to millions of readers was folly? Scott has finally deduced (what investment professionals have contested for years)that investing is more difficult than merely dividing by two or three? So, now that he's associated with a firm, he recognizes the value of investment advice? Well how convenient for Scott.