Asset allocation - dividing resources among different investment categories - is a way to lessen the risk of losses in a financial portfolio. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly critical to advisory firms seeking to better serve their clients, particularly high-net-worth clients. This roundup focuses on nine solutions for asset allocation, ranging from the simple and most basic to the most sophisticated. Each is designed to meet the needs of a different size of advisor, and each has a significant presence among accounting firms engaged in financial planning and wealth management.

AllocationMaster

Sungard Online Investment Systems

(949) 743-6363 / www.allocationmaster.com

Initially based on portfolio analysis concepts used by large endowment and pension funds, AllocationMaster has evolved through the use of quarterly updates that have allowed it to adjust rapidly to evolving theories of allocation and changes in the asset marketplace. Its portfolio optimization engine handles the complex mathematics of Modern Portfolio Theory, and there is a Monte Carlo simulation engine to project future investment returns. Recently added features include Section 529 Plan asset modeling and concentrated stock position modeling. It's a straightforward, easy-to-use allocation system with basic support for creation of financial plans, making it especially valuable for smaller accounting firms.

Asset Allocation Analyst

Equisoft

(866) 790-3141 / www.assetallocationanalyst.com

Asset Allocation Analyst is a Web-based allocation tool designed to serve the mass, mass-affluent, and high-net-worth segments. It provides portfolio construction, monitoring and rebalancing in a single solution, with access to over 30 Fundata and Morningstar Global data feeds, information on over 100 currencies, and access to more than 40 analytical statistics using traditional as well as probabilistic Monte Carlo simulations. The availability of the data feeds, combined with a Fund Factsheet generator, enables a firm to produce its own branded Fund Factsheets in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. Asset Allocation Analyst has strong appeal for its Web-based format, the quality of its client reports, and the simplicity of its Investor Decision Grid.

VisualMvo, MvoPlus and MCRetire

Efficient Solutions Inc.

(203) 744-4023 / www.effisols.com

Efficient Solutions Inc. offers a low-cost solution to provide Modern Portfolio Theory asset allocation services through mean variance optimization. Like other low-cost offerings, the company's three products are designed for both investment professionals and sophisticated personal investors. VisualMvo is a single-period mean-variance optimizer designed to construct the "Efficient Frontier." MvoPlus offers additional "Constant Ratio Asset Allocation" strategies, and also functions as a conventional single-period optimizer, or as a back-tester and optimizer of historical data. MCRetire is a Monte Carlo retirement simulator, which takes into account the fluctuations in investments. The Efficient Solutions product line offers two things that may appeal to allocation-savvy accountants - high value for the money and the ability to do asset allocations in a flexible and simplified way.

DynaPorte

Burlington Hall Asset Management Inc.

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