Diversification is famously described as the only free lunch in investing, and so it's no surprise that modeling, analyzing, and otherwise dissecting the concept is a core part of portfolio design and management. The correlation coefficient is often the go-to metric in this corner of finance. But, like any one statistical measure, there are pros and cons with correlation, and so relying on it exclusively can be misleading at times. Fortunately, there are alternatives.
For some perspective, let's review how these alternatives compare with correlation for a handful of ETFs. Although the following review isn't