Balanced Canadian portfolio with strong equity tilt and notable single stock risk exposure

Report created on Apr 13, 2026

Risk 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

This portfolio is mostly growth-focused, with 60% in a broad core equity ETF and another 7% in a NASDAQ 100 ETF, giving heavy stock exposure. Around 10% sits in a high-interest savings ETF, adding a cash-like buffer, while 5% is in physical gold and 8% in an energy transition materials ETF. A single stock, MDA Ltd, is a meaningful 10% slice. Structurally, this is a balanced-but-tilted mix: there is some stabilizing cash and gold, but the heart of the portfolio is equities. That’s great for long-term growth potential, but the sizeable satellite positions can drive bumps along the way.

Growth Info

Over the recent period, $1,000 grew to about $1,862, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.35%. CAGR is like your average speed on a long road trip, smoothing out the ups and downs. This return comfortably beat both the US market and global market by roughly 8–9 percentage points per year. The worst drop, or max drawdown, was -13.88%, noticeably milder than the benchmarks’ deeper slumps. That combination of higher return and smaller drawdown is excellent, but it’s based on a short, very strong window. Past performance, especially over a few years, doesn’t guarantee anything going forward.

Projection Info

The Monte Carlo projection uses thousands of simulated paths based on historical patterns to estimate future outcomes, a bit like running alternate “what if” market timelines. The median scenario takes $1,000 to roughly $2,710 over 15 years, implying an annualized return around 7.66%. There’s a wide, realistic range: from about $1,105 in tougher markets to $6,645 in strong ones. An 81.4% chance of ending with a positive return is encouraging, especially versus cash. Still, simulations rely on past data and assumptions that can break down in unusual environments, so these numbers should be seen as rough guide rails, not promises.

Asset classes Info

  • US Equity
    47%
  • Stocks
    28%
  • Stocks
    15%
  • No data
    10%

Asset-class-wise, there’s a clear emphasis on equities, with sizeable exposure to US equity and additional stock positions, plus some holdings labeled as “No data” for classification. This solid equity foundation is a big driver of both growth and risk. The cash-like high-interest savings ETF and the gold allocation soften volatility at the margins but don’t dominate. Compared with typical balanced portfolios, this one leans a bit more toward growth assets than defensive ones. For someone with a medium to long time horizon, that tilt can be sensible, but it does mean accepting more year-to-year swings than a bond-heavy mix would deliver.

Sectors Info

  • Industrials
    18%
  • Financials
    17%
  • Technology
    15%
  • Basic Materials
    12%
  • Energy
    6%
  • Consumer Discretionary
    6%
  • Telecommunications
    5%
  • Health Care
    5%
  • Consumer Staples
    3%
  • Utilities
    2%
  • Real Estate
    1%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Sector exposure is well-spread, with industrials, financials, technology, and basic materials all in double digits. This balanced mix closely resembles broad global benchmarks, which is a strong indicator of healthy diversification. No single sector appears to dominate, and more cyclical areas like energy and consumer discretionary sit alongside steadier sectors such as health care, consumer staples, and utilities. That blend helps avoid being overly tied to one specific economic story, like just banks or just tech. When sector composition aligns this well with global norms, it usually means the portfolio can weather different business cycles more smoothly.

Regions Info

  • North America
    70%
  • Europe Developed
    10%
  • Japan
    4%
  • Asia Developed
    2%
  • Australasia
    2%
  • Asia Emerging
    1%
  • Latin America
    1%
  • Africa/Middle East
    1%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Geographically, about 70% is in North America, with the rest spread across Europe, Japan, developed Asia, Australasia, and small slices in emerging regions. This North America tilt is common and has worked very well in recent years, especially with strong US market performance. At the same time, it means results are heavily linked to one region’s economic and policy environment. The meaningful, though smaller, exposure to other developed and emerging markets helps diversify that risk. Relative to global benchmarks, the mix is slightly home- and US-tilted but still broadly international, which is a sound foundation for long-term investing.

Market capitalization Info

  • Mega-cap
    30%
  • Large-cap
    29%
  • Mid-cap
    25%
  • Small-cap
    4%
  • Micro-cap
    1%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

By market cap, the portfolio is nicely balanced: roughly 30% mega-cap, 29% large-cap, and 25% mid-cap, with modest small- and micro-cap exposure. Mega- and large-caps tend to be more stable, mature companies, while mid- and smaller caps add growth and sometimes extra volatility. This spread means the portfolio can benefit from both the steadier giants and the dynamism of smaller businesses. Compared with a pure large-cap index, the tilt toward mid-caps can provide an additional growth kick over time, though returns may be a bit bumpier in rough markets. Overall, this size mix looks thoughtfully diversified.

True holdings Info

  • iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market Index ETF
    14.50%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
  • MDA Ltd
    10.00%
  • Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF
    7.07%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Invesco NASDAQ 100 Index ETF CAD Units
  • Sprott Physical Gold Trust
    5.00%
  • Royal Bank of Canada
    1.03%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
    • iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite
  • NVIDIA Corporation
    0.77%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
    • iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
  • Toronto Dominion Bank
    0.72%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
    • iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite
  • Cameco Corp
    0.68%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares S&P/TSX Energy Transition Materials Index ETF
  • Teck Resources Limited
    0.68%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares S&P/TSX Energy Transition Materials Index ETF
  • Apple Inc
    0.67%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
    • iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
  • Top 10 total 41.11%

Looking through the ETFs, the biggest underlying exposure is a total US stock market ETF at about 14.5%, plus NASDAQ 100 exposure at just over 7%. There’s also a direct 10% stake in MDA and a 5% allocation to gold. Large global names like Royal Bank of Canada, NVIDIA, Apple, and major Canadian resource companies appear via ETF holdings, but none dominate on their own. Overlap between ETFs is present but not extreme, which helps maintain diversification. Hidden concentration can still exist beyond the top-10 ETF positions, yet overall the structure looks well-spread across many companies rather than overly reliant on a single mega-cap.

Risk contribution Info

  • iShares Core Equity Portfolio
    Weight: 60.00%
    52.2%
  • MDA Ltd
    Weight: 10.00%
    26.1%
  • iShares S&P/TSX Energy Transition Materials Index ETF
    Weight: 8.00%
    11.4%
  • Invesco NASDAQ 100 Index ETF CAD Units
    Weight: 7.00%
    8.3%
  • Sprott Physical Gold Trust
    Weight: 5.00%
    2.1%
  • Top 5 risk contribution 100.0%

Risk contribution shows how much each position drives the overall portfolio’s ups and downs, which can be very different from its weight. Here, the 10% position in MDA contributes a striking 26% of total risk, more than double its size. The 60% core equity holding contributes about 52% of risk, roughly in line with its weight, while gold and the savings ETF contribute much less than their allocations. With the top three holdings accounting for nearly 90% of risk, most volatility comes from a few positions. Adjusting position sizes over time can help align risk contributions with how important each holding is intended to be.

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.

The risk–return chart shows the current portfolio with a high expected return of about 24.97% but also higher volatility, and a Sharpe ratio of 1.64. The Sharpe ratio compares return to risk, like miles per gallon for your investments. The optimal mix of these same holdings reaches a much better Sharpe of 2.54 at lower risk and lower return, while the minimum-variance version is ultra-low risk. The current setup sits about 6.36 percentage points below the efficient frontier at its risk level, meaning the same ingredients could be mixed differently for a smoother ride without necessarily sacrificing much long-term growth potential.

Dividends Info

  • GLOBAL X HIGH INTEREST SAVINGS ETF 0.40%
  • Weighted yield (per year) 0.04%

Dividend yield is very low overall, with the high-interest savings ETF showing about 0.40% and the total portfolio yield at just 0.04%. That signals a clear focus on capital growth over income. For investors not relying on regular cash payouts, this can be perfectly fine: returns mainly come from price appreciation instead of ongoing distributions. The trade-off is that in more volatile periods, income-focused portfolios sometimes feel steadier because dividends keep rolling in even if prices wobble. If future income needs rise, shifting part of the portfolio toward higher-yielding assets could gradually increase the cash flow profile.

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