Concentrated US growth equity portfolio with strong historical returns and efficient risk adjusted positioning
Report created on May 20, 2026Risk profile
5/7
Diversification profile
3/5
Positions
-
VO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
VOO - US9229083632 70.00% -
SC Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
SCHG - US8085243009 20.00% -
VX Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
VXUS - US9219097683 10.00%
This portfolio is a very simple three‑ETF mix, with 70% in a broad US large‑cap index, 20% in US large‑cap growth, and 10% in international stocks. So it’s overwhelmingly an equity portfolio, focused on big US companies, with a small slice adding non‑US exposure. This kind of structure is easy to understand and manage because most of the behaviour comes from one core holding. Simplicity like this reduces the chances of accidental overlap or drifting into niche areas without noticing. The flip side is that any strengths or weaknesses of US large caps will dominate the experience. Overall, this is a clean, growth‑oriented stock portfolio without moving parts like bonds, alternatives, or cash.
Growth
Historically, $1,000 invested in this mix in 2016 grew to about $4,373, which is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.97%. CAGR is like average speed on a road trip: it smooths out the bumps to show how fast the money grew per year. This slightly beat the US market benchmark and clearly outpaced the global market over the same period. The worst drop was about -33.5% during early 2020, which is a deep but typical equity‑style drawdown. It’s notable that 90% of returns came from just 38 days, underscoring how a few strong days drive long‑term results and how missing them could materially change outcomes.
Projection
The Monte Carlo projection looks ahead 15 years by simulating many possible futures based on past volatility and returns. Think of it as rolling the dice 1,000 times using the portfolio’s historical behaviour to see a range of outcomes. The median path turns $1,000 into about $2,667, with a “middle” range of roughly $1,758 to $4,035. The wide “possible” band, from about $956 to $7,513, shows how uncertain long‑term equity outcomes can be. The average simulated annual return of 7.91% is much lower than the historical 15.97%, reminding that past performance was unusually strong and not guaranteed to repeat, especially after a decade of robust US equity gains.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
Across asset classes, this is a 100% stock portfolio with no bonds, cash, or alternatives. That means all the risk and return comes from equity markets, with no built‑in shock absorbers like fixed income. For context, many broad benchmarks mix in bonds to dampen volatility, whereas this structure leans fully into growth potential and equity swings. In strong market environments, that all‑stock stance can be powerful, but during downturns, there’s nothing in the mix explicitly designed to offset stock declines. The diversification score of “Moderately Diversified” makes sense here: holdings are diversified within global equities, but everything ultimately depends on stock market behaviour.
Sectors
- Technology 36%
- Financials 12%
- Telecommunications 11%
- Consumer Discretionary 10%
- Industrials 9%
- Health Care 8%
- Consumer Staples 4%
- Energy 3%
- Basic Materials 2%
- Utilities 2%
- Real Estate 2%
Sector exposure is dominated by Technology at 36%, followed by Financials, Telecommunications, Consumer Discretionary, and Industrials. This is a more growth‑tilted mix than a classic broad market, where tech usually takes a smaller share and defensive areas like Consumer Staples or Utilities are a bit more prominent. Heavier tech and communication exposure can boost returns when innovation and digital trends are in favour, but those sectors often react more sharply to things like interest‑rate hikes or shifts in growth expectations. The relatively small weights in sectors such as Energy, Utilities, and Real Estate mean fewer natural stabilizers when markets rotate into more defensive or value‑oriented areas.
Regions
- North America 91%
- Europe Developed 4%
- Asia Developed 2%
- Japan 2%
- Asia Emerging 1%
Geographically, about 91% of the portfolio is in North America, with only modest allocations to Europe, Japan, and other developed and emerging Asian markets. By comparison, global equity benchmarks usually have closer to 60% in the US and the rest spread worldwide. This means results are heavily tied to the US economy, US corporate earnings, and the US dollar. When the US outperforms, this concentration has been a tailwind, which lines up with the strong historical returns relative to the global market. On the other hand, if other regions lead for a period, the current structure would capture only a small slice of that performance because non‑US exposure is limited.
Market capitalization
- Mega-cap 49%
- Large-cap 32%
- Mid-cap 17%
- Small-cap 1%
Market‑cap exposure is tilted strongly to the largest companies: about 49% in mega‑caps and 32% in large‑caps, with modest mid‑cap and very little small‑cap exposure. That’s broadly consistent with many cap‑weighted indices, but this portfolio sits even more firmly at the big‑company end. Large and mega‑caps tend to be more established businesses with deep liquidity, which can make trading smoother and sometimes less volatile than smaller stocks. However, this also means less direct participation in small‑company growth and turnarounds, which can behave differently from the giants. In practice, the portfolio’s day‑to‑day moves will mostly track how the biggest headline names in the market are doing.
True holdings
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NV NVIDIA Corporation 7.98%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AA Apple Inc 6.42%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 4.75%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 4.07%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 3.56%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AV Broadcom Inc 3.15%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 2.83%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 2.20%
Part of fund(s):- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
TS Tesla Inc 2.02%
Part of fund(s):- LS 1x Tesla Tracker ETP Securities GBP
- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
BR Berkshire Hathaway Inc 0.99%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Top 10 total 37.97%
Looking through to the top underlying holdings, the portfolio concentrates meaningfully in a handful of mega‑cap names. NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (both share classes), Broadcom, Meta, Tesla, and Berkshire Hathaway together represent a large slice of the equity exposure. Many of these appear across multiple ETFs, creating overlap that amplifies their role in portfolio behaviour. For example, if several funds all hold the same big tech or platform companies, those stocks can drive performance more than their visible position sizes suggest. Because this analysis only uses each ETF’s top‑10 holdings, actual overlap may be somewhat higher, but even this partial view clearly shows a strong tilt toward a small set of dominant firms.
Factors
Factor exposures here are broadly neutral across the classic dimensions of value, size, momentum, quality, yield, and low volatility. Factor exposure is basically a way of describing the “personality” of the portfolio — traits like preferring cheap vs expensive stocks or stable vs more volatile ones. A neutral reading around 50% means the mix behaves similarly to the overall market on these characteristics, without strong tilts toward, say, deep value, defensive quality, or high dividend payers. This balanced factor profile meshes with the index‑tracking nature of the ETFs and helps explain why the portfolio’s risk and return look fairly market‑like rather than strongly style‑driven.
Risk contribution
-
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Weight: 70.00% 68.9% -
Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
Weight: 20.00% 22.9% -
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 10.00% 8.2%
Risk contribution shows how much each holding drives the portfolio’s ups and downs, which can differ from its weight. Here, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is 70% of the portfolio and contributes about 69% of total risk — almost one‑for‑one. The Schwab US Large‑Cap Growth ETF at 20% weight contributes roughly 23% of risk, punching slightly above its weight, which is common for growth‑tilted assets that are a bit more volatile. The 10% international fund contributes about 8% of risk, a touch below its weight, offering some diversification. Altogether, nearly all portfolio risk comes from just these three core positions, which is expected in such a concentrated ETF lineup.
Redundant positions
-
High correlationSchwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFVanguard S&P 500 ETF
The correlation analysis highlights that the Schwab US Large‑Cap Growth ETF and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF move almost identically. Correlation measures how often two assets move together; when it’s very high, they tend to rise and fall at the same time. This close relationship means the growth fund doesn’t provide much day‑to‑day risk offset to the S&P 500 holding, even though it changes the return profile slightly toward faster‑growing companies. Correlation like this isn’t inherently bad — it simply reflects that both funds are drawn from the same broad US large‑cap universe. Diversification benefits mainly come instead from the smaller international allocation and the many underlying stocks.
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 efficient frontier chart, the current portfolio sits on or very near the frontier, which means that for its given risk level, it’s delivering close to the best possible risk‑return trade‑off using these same holdings. The Sharpe ratio of 0.68 (a measure of return per unit of risk above cash) is slightly below the optimal portfolio’s 0.87 but comparable to the minimum‑variance portfolio’s 0.69. Importantly, the efficient frontier here only explores different weightings of the existing ETFs, not adding new assets. So the data suggests that this simple three‑ETF mix is already arranged in a way that’s broadly efficient given the chosen building blocks.
Dividends
- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF 0.40%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 1.10%
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 2.80%
- Weighted yield (per year) 1.13%
The portfolio’s overall dividend yield is about 1.13%, coming mainly from the S&P 500 ETF and the international fund, with the growth ETF yielding very little at 0.40%. Dividends are cash payments from companies to shareholders and can be an important part of total return over long periods, especially when reinvested. Here, income is relatively modest, which is typical for a growth‑oriented equity mix that leans toward companies prioritizing reinvestment over payouts. As a result, most of the historical and expected return has come, and is likely to come, from price changes rather than ongoing dividend income. This aligns with the “growth” risk classification in the overview.
Ongoing product costs
- Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF 0.04%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 0.03%
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 0.05%
- Weighted costs total (per year) 0.03%
Costs for this portfolio are impressively low. The total expense ratio (TER) across the ETFs averages about 0.03% per year, with individual funds ranging from 0.03% to 0.05%. TER is the annual fee charged by the fund manager, and even small differences compound over time. Compared with many actively managed funds that can charge ten to twenty times as much, these fees barely nibble at returns. Keeping costs this low is a strong structural advantage, especially over decades, because more of the portfolio’s gross performance stays in the account. This cost efficiency pairs well with the broadly diversified index‑tracking approach already in place.
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