Sometimes a portfolio, no matter how cleverly designed when it was new, simply fails to meet expectations. The markets and sectors may have changed substantially, or perhaps an investor’s goals have shifted.

No matter the cause, such a portfolio is ripe for redesign. That’s a bit more drastic than merely rebalancing, which, essentially, means restoring your original asset allocation among investment categories.

Redesigning, on the other hand, means taking your existing portfolio apart and reconstructing it. In view of how the market and the world have changed, some portfolios may need redesigning rather than merely rebalancing.

When you look at your portfolio, consider how it got to where it is. It’s common enough for portfolios to gather dust for years, so yours may not have changed substantially in a very long time – it may date from a time when your television needed tubes and your car phone weighed as much as a brick.

It never pays to be too quick to redesign, however. Give the idea some thought and you may resolve that only a partial redesign is needed to add to or replace old investment categories with up-to-date choices that better suit today’s market and your current needs.

<em>Material prepared by Raymond James for use by its financial advisors. Raymond James &amp; Associates, Inc., Member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. </em>

<em>Arthur Levin is a Financial Advisor with Raymond James &amp; Associates, Inc., Member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC located at 2015 Boundary Street, Suite 220, Beaufort SC 29902. </em>

<em>He can be contacted at 843-379-6100 or arthur.levin@raymondjames.com or visit our website at: www.tlswealthmanagement.com</em>