My wife Gina and I just registered for the Mississippi Blues Marathon.  We are looking forward to running through the streets of Jackson, Mississippi on January 9th.  We both ran a marathon in November, so we’re facing a relatively short training period to prepare for this one.

Gina leaves most of the planning of our training up to me.  So, I pulled up my calendar and starting filling in a plan.  I penciled in a 5k time test on Tuesday mornings, followed by some hillwork on either Tuesday or Wednesday evening.  A tempo run is one where you try to maintain a certain pace for the entire run.  We will do our tempo runs on Thursdays.  That leaves Saturday or Sunday for our long runs.  We figure we’ll get in a 16-miler this weekend, followed by a 20-miler the following weekend.  Then we’ll taper, and give our bodies the rest they need before the event.

As I put together the different components that make up our training plan, I couldn’t help but notice yet another similarity between my personal and professional life.  As an investment manager, I follow the same principals when building client portfolios as I do when putting together a training plan.

Our training plan is made up of several different types of runs.  Client portfolios are built using several different types of investments.  We follow an asset class management approach to building and managing a portfolio.  That means we have some exposure to domestic equities, international equities (including emerging markets), real estate, commodities and fixed-income.  Our portfolios are well-diversified.  I guess that means our training plan is well-diversified.

Gina and I run at different paces…lately, I’ve been the faster one!  So, the details of our training plan vary in order to account for our differences.  Just like investing.  Each portfolio has the same asset classes, but the specific allocations depend on the individual characteristics of the investor…things like age, income, goals, risk tolerance, cash needs, etc.

Each part of our training plan has a specific purpose.  Speedwork teaches your body to run faster.  Hillwork makes you stronger.  In a portfolio, each asset class has a specific purpose.  We own equities to provide growth opportunities.  We buy large and small, foreign and domestic, to spread the risk.  Fixed-income provides some cash flow and tends to serve as the anchor of the portfolio…maybe like the long run does in a marathon training plan.

A well-constructed training plan has several different parts that complement each other.  So does a well-constructed portfolio.

Photo by: Flawka