Wealth preservation
Wealth preservation is the discipline of not losing money in ways that can't be recovered. Growth is secondary.
The asymmetry of loss
A 50% drawdown requires a 100% gain to recover. Preservation-focused investors size positions to avoid outcomes they cannot recover from within their horizon.
Common tools
Diversification across uncorrelated assets.
High-quality government bonds as portfolio ballast.
Physical assets (gold, real estate) as inflation and crisis hedges.
Position sizing and drawdown limits on any speculative sleeve.
Where speculative yield fits — carefully
A capped, position-sized allocation to a higher-return programme can enhance long-run growth without threatening preservation. The key word is 'capped' — the allocation size, not the target return, is what determines survivability.