Balanced growth portfolio with strong US tilt and efficient risk adjusted performance
Report created on Apr 11, 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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VO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
VOO - US9229083632 50.00% -
QQ Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
QQQM - US46138G6492 18.00% -
SC Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
SCHD - US8085247976 17.00% -
AV Avantis® International Equity ETF
AVDE - US0250727031 15.00%
The portfolio is built from four broad equity ETFs, all stock-focused and fully invested in the market. Roughly half sits in a core US large‑cap fund, with a sizable satellite in a growth‑heavy index, plus a dedicated US dividend fund and a smaller slice in international stocks. This kind of structure is common: a simple core for stability, surrounded by more targeted growth and income sleeves. Because it’s 100% stocks, the mix is still growth‑oriented despite the “balanced” label. The main takeaway is that the building blocks are straightforward and transparent, which makes it easier to understand how changes in markets translate into moves in the overall portfolio.
Growth
Over the period from late 2020 to early 2026, $1,000 grew to about $2,075, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.28%. CAGR is like your average speed on a road trip, smoothing out bumps along the way. That return is just slightly below the US market but clearly ahead of the global market, which is a solid outcome. The worst decline (max drawdown) was about -25%, similar to the US market’s drop. This shows the portfolio captured strong upside while not being meaningfully more painful during downturns. Just remember, these results reflect a particularly unusual few years; past performance doesn’t guarantee the next five will look anything like this.
Projection
The Monte Carlo simulation projects many possible 15‑year paths for a $1,000 investment using historical return and volatility patterns. Think of it as running the market 1,000 different “what if” scenarios and seeing where you most often end up. The median outcome around $2,743 implies an annualized return of about 8.1%, with a 75.6% chance of finishing ahead of $1,000. The wide range—from about $979 at the low end of typical scenarios to over $7,000 in stronger ones—shows how uncertain long‑term investing can be. These projections aren’t predictions; they’re more like weather models, helpful for framing expectations but never a guarantee of where things actually land.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
All of the portfolio is invested in stocks, with no bonds or cash buffers in the mix. That means full exposure to equity market ups and downs, which is great for long‑term growth but can be bumpy in the short run. Many “balanced” allocations blend stocks with bonds or other defensive assets to smooth volatility; here, risk management instead comes from diversification across different types of stocks. The upside is a higher potential long‑run return versus mixed portfolios. The trade‑off is living with deeper drawdowns when markets drop, so this setup suits someone comfortable riding through several‑year equity cycles without needing to sell in a downturn.
Sectors
- Technology 29%
- Financials 11%
- Telecommunications 10%
- Health Care 10%
- Consumer Discretionary 10%
- Industrials 9%
- Consumer Staples 8%
- Energy 6%
- Basic Materials 3%
- Utilities 2%
- Real Estate 1%
Sector exposure is led by technology at 29%, with the rest spread across financials, telecom, health care, consumer‑related areas, industrials, energy, and smaller slices in materials, utilities, and real estate. Tech is somewhat heavier than a broad global baseline, reflecting the US and growth‑oriented tilt, while still leaving meaningful exposure to more cyclical and defensive sectors. Tech‑heavy portfolios often shine when innovation and low rates drive growth, but they can be more volatile when interest rates rise or when investors rotate toward more traditional industries. The positive here is that, beyond the tech tilt, the rest of the sector mix looks well‑rounded, helping avoid dependence on any single economic story.
Regions
- North America 86%
- Europe Developed 8%
- Japan 3%
- Australasia 1%
Geographically, about 86% is in North America, with modest allocations to developed Europe, Japan, and a small slice of Australasia. This lines up closely with a US‑based investor owning a blend of domestic and international stocks but clearly leans toward the home market. Relative to global market weights, the US share is on the high side, which has been beneficial recently as US equities outperformed. However, this also means portfolio results are heavily linked to one economy, one policy regime, and one currency. The international portion is large enough to add some diversification, but not so large that it drives overall behavior away from US‑style market cycles.
Market capitalization
- Large-cap 42%
- Mega-cap 37%
- Mid-cap 18%
- Small-cap 2%
Most of the portfolio sits in mega‑cap and large‑cap companies, with smaller allocations to mid‑caps and only a very small slice in small‑caps. Large and mega‑caps tend to be more established businesses, often with deeper moats, steadier earnings, and better liquidity than small firms. That can make returns somewhat more stable, especially in crises when investors flock to bigger names. On the flip side, small‑caps historically have offered higher potential long‑term returns but with more volatility. Here, the emphasis on big companies helps keep risk in line with broad benchmarks. It also means performance will resemble well‑known headline indices more than the “hidden” small‑cap part of the market.
True holdings
-
NV NVIDIA Corporation 5.22%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AA Apple Inc 4.69%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 3.48%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 2.56%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 2.17%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AV Broadcom Inc 1.82%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 1.81%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 1.81%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
TS Tesla Inc 1.60%
Part of fund(s):- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
- LS 1x Tesla Tracker ETP Securities GBP
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
BR Berkshire Hathaway Inc 0.79%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Top 10 total 25.95%
Looking through the ETFs, the biggest underlying exposures are the familiar mega‑cap US names like NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. The top few companies alone account for meaningful slices of the overall portfolio, and several show up in more than one ETF. That overlap quietly increases concentration in a handful of giants, even though everything is held via diversified funds. Because this analysis only uses each ETF’s top‑10 holdings, the true overlap is likely a bit higher than shown. The practical point: even with multiple ETFs, the portfolio’s fortunes are still heavily tied to how a small group of large US tech‑adjacent stocks performs.
Factors
Factor exposures across value, size, momentum, quality, yield, and low volatility all sit in the neutral band around market‑like levels. Factor exposure is basically how much the portfolio leans into traits that research has linked to returns, like cheapness (value) or stability (low volatility). A neutral profile means there’s no strong bet on any one style, so behavior should track broad markets rather than swing wildly with style rotations. That’s actually a strength: it lowers the risk of being badly out of sync when one factor, like value or momentum, has a long cold streak. The flipside is it doesn’t deliberately chase any particular factor premium either.
Risk contribution
-
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Weight: 50.00% 51.4% -
Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
Weight: 18.00% 23.1% -
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
Weight: 17.00% 12.8% -
Avantis® International Equity ETF
Weight: 15.00% 12.7%
Risk contribution shows how much each ETF drives the portfolio’s overall ups and downs, which can differ from its weight. The core S&P 500 ETF is half the portfolio and contributes a similar share of risk, which is very balanced. The NASDAQ 100 slice, at 18% weight, contributes over 23% of risk, meaning it punches above its size due to higher volatility. The dividend and international funds each contribute less risk than their weights, slightly dampening overall swings. The top three holdings together drive over 87% of total risk. If someone wanted a calmer ride without changing funds, the main lever would be tweaking the growth‑heavy NASDAQ allocation relative to the others.
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 portfolio sits on or very close to the efficient frontier, meaning that given these four ETFs, the mix is using risk efficiently. The Sharpe ratio of 0.67 is slightly below the optimal and minimum‑variance portfolios, which sit around 0.9, but those alternatives deliver similar returns with marginally lower volatility through different weightings. The efficient frontier represents the best achievable trade‑offs using only the existing holdings, not adding new ones. Being near this curve is a strong sign the allocation is already well‑constructed. Any improvements from reweighting would likely be incremental tweaks rather than major structural changes.
Dividends
- Avantis® International Equity ETF 2.60%
- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF 0.50%
- Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 3.40%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 1.10%
- Weighted yield (per year) 1.61%
The overall dividend yield is about 1.61%, with the dedicated US dividend ETF providing the highest yield and the NASDAQ 100 the lowest. Dividend yield is the cash return investors receive from companies’ profit distributions, and it can be important for those who like a regular income stream or reinvest steadily for compounding. Here, income is a meaningful but not dominant component of total return; most of the growth historically has come from price appreciation. The nice part is that the dividend ETF boosts yield without overwhelming the portfolio, while the growth exposures keep the focus on capital appreciation rather than purely on cash payouts.
Ongoing product costs
- Avantis® International Equity ETF 0.23%
- Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF 0.15%
- Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 0.06%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 0.03%
- Weighted costs total (per year) 0.09%
The weighted total expense ratio (TER) of the portfolio is about 0.09%, which is impressively low. TER is the annual fee charged by funds, taken out invisibly from returns, like a thin layer being shaved off performance each year. Keeping this number low is one of the few levers investors fully control, and over long horizons, even small fee differences can compound into big dollar amounts. Here, costs are clearly aligned with best practices and compare very favorably to many actively managed options. That efficient fee structure gives more of the gross market return to the investor, which supports better long‑term compounding without needing to chase higher‑risk assets.
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