Gyroscopic Investing

I'm in over my head with the minimum volatility class of funds, so I would appreciate some insight on the theory and performance of these funds, and could they serve as a viable substitute to the core index funds in the permanent portfolio?  One objection I anticipate is that the PP is built on the theme of investing in four varied assets that exhibit high fluctuations and of course the minimum volatility practice is to limit those fluctuations, but after a 7 year bull, is it time to be more defensive with the stock portion of the portfolio?

http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/ ... 1&SR=Yahoo

If you're really worried about timing the market I would suggest rebalancing early vs. replacing funds.  This will allow you the opportunity to catch gains on the low side as well.  I think maximum volatility should be the goal in the various asset classes.

Volatility is only important for the 1% or so rebalancing bonus, but that is a small edge compared to returns from asset classes -- at least when they're not overvalued!

I'm more concerned that funds don't implement the low volatility factor properly, are overdiversified, the effect is diminishing, etc..  Why not just equal weight all the market caps as I've described in another thread?  That way you're exposed to every factor possible without worrying about it disappearing.