4. Which of the following answers is most likely false regarding Asset Classes and Asset Allocation?

a. Asset Classes should be defined so as to have at least these characteristics: assets within a given Asset Class are relatively similar, Asset Classes do not overlap with any other Asset Classes, use of multiple Asset Classes in a single portfolio should help enable diversification, and the group of defined Asset Classes together should represent most of the available investment universe.

b. Most of the variation in the returns of a given portfolio are due to market timing (shifting in and out of risky asset classes based on market performance predictions) and security selection (picking the securities of the firm or firms in each industry forecast to out-perform competing firms) and to a slight degree depend on Asset Allocation.

c. The current thinking about portfolios today includes Traditional Asset Classes such as Cash, Bonds, Stocks or Equity, and Real Estate any of which can be sub-divided into Domestic US and International and non-Traditional Alternative Investments such as Private Equity, Hedge Funds, and Commodities.