The Hindu Business Line : Portfolio for models and ministers

MR NATWAR SINGH is reported to have said that he gave up the External Affairs portfolio in the `larger interest' of the party and the country. So, the word to come to terms with is portfolio.

It appears after porter's knot and portfire, and is defined as "a large, thin, flat case for carrying drawings, maps and so on," in Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Seen thus, a portfolio is a glorious-looking file. On www.leatherbywc.com you can see a leather portfolio, sandwiched between `leather organiser' and `retirement book'. The site www.foldersolutions.com offers a variety of `portfolios', between `audio packaging' and `envelopes'.

The Texas Christian University wishes to inform its Ph.D. students and alumni, through www.cpl.tcu.edu/dossier, that it will no longer be housing `Dossier/Teaching Portfolio files' but instead `offer a more user-friendly and up-to-date' way of managing their files. It speaks of Interfolio (www.interfolio.com) as `an on-line dossier/credential file service' that allows "individuals to manage academic vitas, letters of recommendation, transcripts, writing samples, pictures, graphics, and other documents".

It is upon a file with the duke's other letters in my tent, says Parolles in All's Well That Ends Well.

Portfolio refers to "the contents of a portfolio, especially when they represent somebody's creative work," says Encarta. There is this `global arts resource', www.artq.net, providing one with access to `artist portfolios' and `high quality art by living artists'. www.hkportfolio.com represents illustrators `whose work is primarily intended for a juvenile market.'

"Your portfolio is a valuable tool in your arsenal as an artist, and it is often the first opportunity you have to impress and influence those in charge of making the decisions and choices that affect you and your work," writes Susan Myers on www.nyfa.org. Basic contents are the résumé and bio, artist statement, work samples, press clippings or reviews of artwork, and so forth, but Myers sees the artist's portfolio as "an evolving assortment of credentials that can be modified and tailored for any particular audience."

If you are looking for `a modelling resource for models to display their professional modelling portfolio online,' try www.modelingpage.com. However, `Model Portfolios for Retirees' on http://news.morningstar.com is not on the same plank. "Before you pound the pavement to get your first modelling job, you'll need to pull together a portfolio to show potential clients a variety of looks," advises www.ehow.com. If cost bothers you, one useful insight on the site is that "there are some photographers out there who are genuinely talented, and happy to work for nothing in order to build up their own portfolios."

Explaining `How to Create a Killer How to Create a Killer Portfolio', Jack Molisani declares on www.prospring.net that a portfolio is a tool he uses to walk potential clients down a path of understanding that he is an expert, he really has done what he claims and that he can do the same for them and solve the problems they are having. "After checking student Portfolios each year, we run across some that stand out for one reason or another," states Kalamazoo College on www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/outstanding.html. It lists the `outstanding' ones to serve as inspiration or "to jump-start your creative process when you are building your personal electronic Portfolio".

Etymology is "Italian portafoglio, from portare to carry (from Latin) + foglio leaf, sheet, from Latin folium," says Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, promising `more at BLADE', where it states, "Old English blæd; akin to Old High German blat leaf, Latin folium, Greek phyllon, Old English blOwan to blossom — more at BLOW," which in turn informs, "Old English blAwan; akin to Old High German blAen to blow, Latin flare, Greek phallus... "

Online Etymology Dictionary has this to say about portfolio: "1722, from Italian portafoglio `a case for carrying loose papers,' from porta, imperative of portare `to carry' (see port (1)) + foglio `sheet, leaf,' from Latin folium (see folio). Meaning `collection of securities held' is from 1930." Folio is explained as "1447, from L.L. folio `leaf or sheet of paper,' from Latin folio, abl. of folium `leaf,' from PIE *bhulyom `leaf' (cf. Greek phyllon `leaf,' Gael. bile `leaflet, blossom'), from base *bhel- `to thrive, bloom, swell' (see bole)." Bole, you'd learn is "c.1314, from O.N. bolr `tree trunk,' from P.Gmc. *bulas, from PIE *bhel- `to blow, swell' (cf. Gk. phyllon `leaf,' phallus... )"

In Love's Labour's Lost, the Bard pleads through Adriano de Armado, "Assist me, some extemporal god of rhyme, for I am sure I shall turn sonnet. Devise, wit; write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio." Nostalgia, said Doug Larson, is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days. "In masks outrageous and austere/The years go by in single file; But none has merited my fear/And none has quite escaped my smile," writes Elinor Wylie poetically. "In Britain, a minister without portfolio is an important government official who is not in charge of a particular department, but who still takes part in the decisions of the government," explains Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Portfolio is "a particular job or area of responsibility of a member of a government," it states, and offers an example, "The Prime Minister offered her the foreign affairs portfolio."

The `disambiguation' page for the word on Wikipedia lists finance; management, marketing; education, learning; and politics. "The recent explosion of knowledge, information and learning technologies has led to the development of digital portfolios or electronic portfolios, commonly referred as ePortfolios," it notes. "In strategic management and marketing, a portfolio is a collection of products, services, or brands that are offered for sale by a company," adds http://en.wikipedia.org.

For investors, portfolio means, "a collection of investments all owned by the same individual or organisation," as www.investorwords.com defines. "These investments often include stocks, which are investments in individual businesses; bonds, which are investments in debt that are designed to earn interest; and mutual funds, which are essentially pools of money from many investors that are invested by professionals or according to indices."

Portfolio beta (not the `son,' please note) describes relative volatility of an individual securities portfolio, taken as a whole, as measured by the individual stock betas of the securities making it up, educates www.bloomberg.com. `Portfolio insurance' is "an option hedging strategy to protect long cash market positions," informs www.equanto.com about "a method of hedging a portfolio of stocks against the market risk by short selling stock index futures short."

Institutional investors frequently use the hedging technique when the market direction is uncertain or volatile, adds Quanto Financial Technology. Such insurance may not, however, cover the volatility that shrouds ministerial berths.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

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