To appreciate the importance of the asset allocation decision, think of an investor with $10,000 to invest and a five‐year investment horizon at the beginning of 2010. If the investor, believing emerging markets offered great growth potential, placed the $10,000 in Vanguard’s Emerging Markets Fund, the Fund’s value at the end of his holding period would have been approximately $12,000. In contrast, had the investor invested in Vanguard’s S&P 500 Fund, the Fund’s value would have been over $21,000.