Saddle up for a quick lesson in risk

Is risk profiling an art or a science? I strongly suspect it qualifies as both. It's essentially quantitative, but it also entails a fair amount of subjective judgement. I guess what really matters is that it works.  It's interesting to reflect on what risk profiling's principal purpose actually is. We all appreciate the general idea is to identify investment solutions suitable for each client's specific needs and preferences, but how might we neatly sum up the raison d'être of such efforts?  One suggestion is this: the principal purpose of risk profiling is to encourage good investme...