Globally diversified stock portfolio with strong low volatility tilt and impressively low all in costs
Report created on Apr 7, 2026Risk profile
- Secure Speculative
The risk profile, derived from past market volatility, reflects the level of risk the portfolio is exposed to. This assessment helps align your investments with your financial goals and comfort with market fluctuations.
Diversification profile
- Focused Diversified
The diversification assessment evaluates the spread of investments across asset classes, regions, and sectors. This ensures a balanced mix, reducing risk and maximizing returns by not concentrating in any single area.
Positions
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VX Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
VXUS - US9219097683 70.00% -
VT Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
VTI - US9229087690 30.00%
This portfolio is built from just two broad stock index ETFs, one covering international markets and one covering the domestic market, with a 70/30 split in favor of international. That means every dollar is in stocks, but spread across thousands of companies worldwide. Using just two “total market” funds keeps things really simple while still capturing a huge slice of the global equity universe. For a balanced-risk profile, this is a pretty straightforward equity-heavy setup: risk comes entirely from stocks, not from mixing in bonds or alternatives. The main takeaway is that simplicity here is a feature, not a bug, as long as someone is comfortable with full equity exposure and the ups and downs that come with it.
Growth
From 2016 to early 2026, $1,000 grew to about $2,752, which is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7%. CAGR is like the average yearly “speed” over the full trip, smoothing out bumps. That’s solid growth, though it lagged both the US market alone and the global market, mainly because the US outperformed most other regions over this period. The max drawdown, about -34%, happened during the early 2020 crash and is very typical for an all‑stock allocation. The big lesson is that the portfolio has delivered strong long‑term growth but with real stomach‑churning drops, and future returns may differ because past performance never guarantees what happens next.
Projection
The Monte Carlo projection runs 1,000 different “what if” paths using historical return and volatility patterns to simulate the next 15 years. Think of it as rolling the dice on future markets many times, then seeing where $1,000 could plausibly land. The median outcome is about $2,801, with a wide but reasonable range from roughly $1,856 to $4,182 in the middle 50% of cases. There’s about a 75% chance of finishing above $1,000, and the average annualized return across simulations is 8.2%. These numbers are not promises; they’re just statistically informed guesses built from the past. The main takeaway is that outcomes cluster around positive growth, but bad decades are absolutely still possible.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
All of this portfolio is in stocks, with 0% in bonds, cash, or alternative assets. That 100% equity stance explains both the solid long‑run returns and the relatively deep drawdowns. Compared to a more traditional “balanced” mix that might pair stocks with bonds, this structure leans clearly toward growth over stability. For someone still accumulating assets with a long time horizon, that’s often fine, but for shorter horizons it can feel very bumpy. The important insight is that diversification here is within equities, not across asset classes, so risk management comes more from riding out volatility than from holding meaningfully safer assets alongside stocks.
Sectors
- Technology 21%
- Financials 19%
- Industrials 14%
- Consumer Discretionary 9%
- Health Care 8%
- Basic Materials 6%
- Telecommunications 6%
- Consumer Staples 5%
- Energy 4%
- Utilities 3%
- Real Estate 3%
Sector exposure is broad and close to global norms, with technology the largest slice around 21%, followed by sizeable allocations to financials and industrials. Health care, consumer sectors, materials, telecoms, energy, utilities, and real estate all show up, each in single‑digit shares. This alignment with broad benchmarks is a strong sign of healthy diversification: no single theme or industry is driving everything. That said, the top underlying holdings still skew toward tech and chip‑related names, so big moves in that part of the market will be noticeable. Overall, this sector mix supports long‑term growth without a big bet on any one economic story or trend.
Regions
- North America 36%
- Europe Developed 26%
- Japan 11%
- Asia Developed 10%
- Asia Emerging 10%
- Australasia 3%
- Africa/Middle East 2%
- Latin America 2%
- Europe Emerging 1%
Geographically, the portfolio is nicely global: about a third in North America, a bit over a quarter in developed Europe, with meaningful slices in Japan, other developed Asia, and emerging Asia, plus smaller allocations to Australasia, Latin America, and Africa/Middle East. This is more internationally tilted than many US‑centric portfolios and is quite close to a “world market” style allocation. That global spread is a big diversification strength, reducing dependence on any single country or currency. The trade‑off is that recent US outperformance means this mix has lagged a pure US portfolio, but that’s the nature of diversification—sometimes it means being okay with not always owning the recent winner.
Market capitalization
- Mega-cap 45%
- Large-cap 30%
- Mid-cap 17%
- Small-cap 4%
- Micro-cap 1%
By size, the portfolio is dominated by mega‑ and large‑cap stocks, which together make up about 75% of exposure. Mid‑caps add another meaningful slice, while small and micro caps are present but modest. Bigger companies tend to be more stable and easier to trade, so this tilt can lower volatility compared with a portfolio stuffed with smaller, more speculative names. At the same time, having some mid and small caps in the mix gives exposure to potential higher‑growth areas without overly concentrating risk there. This size distribution is close to how global stock markets are structured, so it aligns well with a “market‑like” core approach.
True holdings
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23 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. 2.39%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
-
NV NVIDIA Corporation 1.85%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AA Apple Inc 1.77%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 1.32%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
SS Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.11%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 0.92%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AS ASML Holding N.V. 0.90%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 0.82%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AV Broadcom Inc 0.68%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 0.65%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
- Top 10 total 12.42%
Looking through to the biggest underlying holdings, there’s meaningful exposure to giant global names like TSMC, NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, ASML, Alphabet, and Broadcom. Several of these appear in both funds’ top holdings, which creates some hidden concentration in mega‑cap technology and semiconductor names even though everything is held via broad ETFs. Since only each ETF’s top 10 are captured, overlap is actually understated; the true exposure to these giants is likely higher. The key point is that “total market” does not mean equal weight across companies: a relatively small set of mega‑caps quietly drives a meaningful part of your portfolio’s behavior.
Factors
Factor exposure here is generally balanced, with most factors—value, size, momentum, and quality—sitting close to neutral, meaning the portfolio behaves a lot like the overall market on those dimensions. The standout tilts are toward yield and low volatility, both in the “high” range. Factors are like investing “ingredients” that help explain performance; a high yield tilt means a bit more exposure to dividend‑paying stocks, while a low volatility tilt means a bias toward stocks that historically move less than the market. Together, those tilts support a smoother ride and a slightly more income‑friendly profile than a pure growth‑heavy equity portfolio, especially during choppier markets.
Risk contribution
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Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 70.00% 69.7% -
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 30.00% 30.3%
Risk contribution shows how much each holding drives the portfolio’s overall ups and downs. Even though the international ETF is 70% of the allocation, it contributes roughly 70% of the total risk, while the US ETF at 30% contributes about 30%. That one‑to‑one relationship (risk/weight ~1) means there isn’t a hidden risk hotspot—risk is distributed in line with weights. For such a simple two‑fund mix, this is exactly what you’d hope to see. The main takeaway is that any change in allocation between these two funds will have a straightforward and predictable impact on total risk, making future tweaks easy to reason about.
Risk vs. return
This chart shows the Efficient Frontier, calculated using your current assets with different allocation combinations. It highlights the best balance between risk and return based on historical data. "Efficient" portfolios maximize returns for a given risk or minimize risk for a given return. Portfolios below the curve are less efficient. This is informational and not a recommendation to buy or sell any assets.
Click on the colored dots to explore allocations.
On the risk‑return chart, the current mix sits right on or very close to the efficient frontier, which is the curve showing the best possible return for each level of risk using just these two funds. The Sharpe ratio of the current portfolio (0.44) is lower than the max‑Sharpe option (0.75), but that optimal point also carries higher risk. The minimum variance mix offers similar returns with a slightly better Sharpe than the current setup, yet the reported data say your current allocation is already effectively efficient for its risk level. In plain terms, this combination is doing its job well—there isn’t an obvious improvement available just by reweighting these same holdings.
Dividends
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares 1.20%
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 2.90%
- Weighted yield (per year) 2.39%
The combined dividend yield is about 2.39%, supported by a higher yield from the international fund and a lower one from the domestic fund. Dividend yield is the annual cash payout as a percentage of price—like getting a small “rent check” while you own the shares. For an all‑equity portfolio, this is a reasonably healthy level, especially with the mild yield factor tilt. Dividends can be a nice source of return stability, though they’re not guaranteed and can be cut in downturns. Reinvesting these payouts can quietly boost long‑term compounding, while taking them as cash can help support spending for someone already drawing from their portfolio.
Ongoing product costs
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares 0.03%
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 0.05%
- Weighted costs total (per year) 0.04%
Total ongoing fund costs are about 0.04% per year, which is extremely low by any standard. These are the expense ratios (TERs) charged by the ETFs to cover management and operations, and they’re taken out automatically before returns hit your account. Keeping fees this low is a huge positive: every 0.1% saved annually compounds into real money over decades. Here, the costs are impressively lower than many active funds and even cheaper than a lot of other index options. That means more of the portfolio’s returns stay in your pocket, supporting better long‑run outcomes without you having to do anything extra.
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