The process of adjusting a portfolio's asset allocation back to its target weights by selling appreciated assets and buying depreciated ones. This maintains desired risk levels and forces a disciplined 'buy low, sell high' approach.
Investment term that gained prominence in the 1980s as portfolio theory became mainstream and investors adopted systematic asset allocation strategies. The concept formalized the intuitive idea of maintaining balance, applying it systematically to investing.
Rebalancing is one of the few 'free lunches' in investing! It forces you to sell what's gone up and buy what's gone down, which feels wrong emotionally but adds returns over time—studies show it can add 0.5-1% annual return just from this disciplined contrarian behavior.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.