It's 2025, do you know how your portfolio is allocated?

There was a famous public service announcement that ran for several decades, from the 1960s to the 1990s, that asked a question: "It’s 10pm, do you know where your children are?" 

The whole point of the often-parodied PSA was to urge parents to check on their children's whereabouts, especially during times when children might be out unsupervised and have limited means of contact. This PSA, if applied to financial planning and investing, can serve as a helpful reminder about something often taken for granted: an account's asset allocation.

If a portfolio is being professionally managed, the asset allocation will ideally be monitored and maintained by the financial consultant according to the objectives of the investment strategy, whether an active risk-based strategy or a passive multiple-asset class strategy. Back to our PSA, if your child is at home, their location is known and monitored. However, having multiple children, each with different schedules and interests, can make supervision more challenging.

If you are a DIY investor or have multiple accounts being managed under different investment strategies, perhaps by multiple managers, the responsibility for monitoring the total portfolio's asset allocation will fall on you, and the job can become challenging. Again, once your children are out and roaming the neighborhood without a phone, as was the case just a couple of decades ago, it becomes much more difficult to monitor their activity.

The Necessity for an Asset Allocation Check-In, Today

This analogy all comes to mind, particularly at a time when the stock market continues to generate strong returns. Investors must consider the risk of future volatility and their own tolerance for that increased risk. Let's illustrate the point using the S&P 500 and the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. Both have had positive performance each calendar year since 2023.

 

	2023	2024	YTD 2025 (Thru 9/30)
S&P 500 TR	26.29	25.02	14.83
Bloomberg US AGG Bond TR	5.53	1.25	6.13

Analysis: Manning & Napier. Source: Morningstar (1/1/2023 – 9/30/2025).

 

If you had invested $100,000 in the above two indices at the start of 2023, with a 50%/50% allocation to each (assuming no withdrawals, taxes, or fees for this example), the portfolio value would be roughly $147,000 at the end of September 2025. That's impressive market value appreciation in less than three years, and many people may say to themselves, "That's a very good return for a 50/50 allocation!" 

The problem is, it's not a 50/50 allocation. While it started that way, it's now a 61.5%/38.5% allocation.

Do You Know Where Your Asset Allocation Is?  

Per the example, asset allocations will shift over time. However, it's essential to monitor that allocation regularly and not assume that it is where you think it is. Many people may have a retirement account(s), an additional IRA, a taxable brokerage account, and a Health Savings Account (HSA), and additional accounts for a spouse. A trust may be involved, and some accounts might have an allocation to private investments. Perhaps some of the accounts are managed professionally, while others receive a set-it-and-forget-it approach. When taking this all into account, the task of monitoring your asset allocation becomes significantly more challenging. If we go one layer deeper, there is exposure to different sectors of the market, both for stocks and bonds, that should be monitored. You may also have withdrawal needs that will impact the asset allocation in an account. Areas of investment risk can increase when it may not be immediately apparent as you go about living your life month-to-month.

We recommend and provide an asset allocation review whenever we create or update a plan for our clients. During that review, it's a great time to check in and confirm that you're comfortable with the allocations in your individual accounts and total portfolio. If things have shifted more than expected, it's a natural time to discuss any changes in risk tolerance and make an adjustment, if necessary.

Without that regular review as part of a financial plan, a portfolio can shift meaningfully over time, potentially impacting its ability to provide the returns necessary to achieve longer-term goals. Back to our PSA again – you may trust that everything will be okay, but it's comforting to know that you're not simply crossing your fingers that your child walks in the door at the end of the night.

The S&P 500 Total Return Index is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted measure comprised of 500 leading U.S. companies to gauge U.S. large cap equities. The Index returns do not reflect any fees or expenses. The index accounts for the reinvestment of regular cash dividends, but not for the withholding of taxes.

The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged, market-value weighted index of U.S. domestic investment-grade debt issues, including government, corporate, asset-backed, and mortgage-backed securities, with maturities of one year or more. Index returns do not reflect any fees or expenses.

Index returns provided by Morningstar. Index data referenced herein is the property of Morningstar, and/or its third party suppliers and has been licensed for use by Manning & Napier. Morningstar and its third party suppliers accept no liability in connection with its use. Data provided is not a representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the ability of any index to accurately represent the asset class or market sector that it purports to represent and none of these parties shall have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of any index or the data included therein. For additional disclosure information, please see: https://go.manning-napier.com/benchmark-provisions.

Please consult with an attorney or a tax or financial advisor regarding your specific legal, tax, estate planning, or financial situation. The information in this article is not intended as legal or tax advice.