Allocation hero

Master strategic asset allocation,
and make your investors rich.

Princeton, class of 1969. You have just finished Markowitz’s Portfolio Selection: Efficient Diversification of Investments and you are going to open your own fund. Ten classmates agreed to be the first investors: $1,000 each in January 1970, one percent of their salaries every January after that, and they take the money back in August 2026.

The other kid, John Nemesis, got to your investors first and told them your allocations were weak and they should join his Grand Nemesis Fund instead. They declined. He calls his strategy proprietary, has never explained it to anyone, and will be at every reunion with his number — and if you are behind him long enough, they will change their minds.

How the fund works

  1. Money in: $10,000 on day one, then ten founders × 1% of the US average wage every January — about $600 in 1971, about $7,000 in 2026.
  2. You set the allocation at each decision point. Between decisions the fund is untouched: sleeves drift with the market and new money goes in at your target weights.
  3. Changing the allocation costs 5% of every dollar that moves from one asset class to another. Contributions go in free.
  4. Choose a ready-made portfolio or build your own from the asset classes with enough history at the time. New classes unlock as their data begins.
  5. After every period the fund is compared with the Grand Nemesis Fund and with a bank deposit, both run from the same money. Two decades in a row behind John and the founders leave. A single decade behind the deposit and they give up on investing for good, and you with them.

Settings

Decide the allocation
every 10 years, 6 decisions
Founders
10 classmates
Rebalancing cost
5% of money moved
Fund opens
January 1970
Fund closes
August 2026

All figures are nominal US dollars, monthly total returns from the project’s series, January 1970 to July 2026.

Allocation Hero · a game by Quant Wealth Manager · markets are the real record; the Journal is not