In my various personal and professional roles, I am involved in setting many investment strategies based on vastly different resources and needs. Every circumstance is unique due to risk tolerance, expected returns, desire for income, time horizon, etc. It's not only for institutions. For example, all SMSF trustees are required by law to prepare an investment strategy. Raewyn Williams says we need to address the tensions between multiple needs and wants, such as 'min risk or max return', and understand our investing preferences and tradeoffs.