I Want Out-of-the-Box Choices

The number of alternative investment strategies available through mutual funds has exploded in recent years -- a welcome development for investors who want their portfolio to be as disconnected as possible from the market’s gyrations.

Rydex/SGI Managed Futures Strategy, for example, has a negative correlation to Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index -- meaning that the fund tends to go up when the stock market goes down. Merk Hard Currency fund depends more on the direction of the dollar than the direction of stocks. And Hussman Strategic Growth fund will expose investors to the stock market’s whims only when its manager, John Hussman, feels certain that the rewards outweigh the risks.

See the alternatives-heavy portfolio.

See all 22 of our recommended portfolios.