Broad global stock mix with balanced risk and strong diversification across regions sizes and sectors
Report created on May 12, 2026Risk profile
4/7
Diversification profile
4/5
Positions
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VX Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
VXUS - US9219097683 60.00% -
VT Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
VTI - US9229087690 40.00%
This portfolio is extremely simple: just two broad stock index ETFs, with 60% in international stocks and 40% in the total US market. That means every dollar is invested in equities, spread across thousands of companies around the world. Structurally, this is a classic “total market plus total international” setup, which is easy to understand and maintain. The 60/40 split leans a bit more toward non‑US markets than many global indexes, giving foreign companies a slightly bigger role in driving returns. Overall, the structure is clean, rules‑based, and naturally diversified, since both funds track very broad indices instead of narrower themes or niches.
Growth
From 2016 to 2026, a $1,000 investment in this mix grew to about $3,164, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.25%. CAGR is the “average yearly speed” over the whole period, smoothing out the bumps. The portfolio slightly lagged both the US market (15.39%) and the global market index (12.78%), mainly because it gives more weight to non‑US stocks, which grew more slowly than US shares in this decade. The worst peak‑to‑trough drop was about -34% during early 2020, similar to broad markets. Overall, the portfolio has behaved like a diversified global equity strategy with solid but not top‑decade returns.
Projection
The Monte Carlo projection uses past volatility and returns to simulate many possible 15‑year futures, like running 1,000 “what if” scenarios. The median outcome turns $1,000 into around $2,704, with a wide but realistic range from roughly $1,001 to $7,994 in most simulations. The average simulated return is about 8.05% per year, which is lower than the historical 12.25%, reflecting more conservative assumptions going forward. Around 73% of simulations end with a positive return. These numbers illustrate how uncertain long‑term equity investing can be: the spread between weaker and stronger paths is large, and past patterns are only a rough guide, not a promise.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
All of this portfolio sits in one asset class: stocks. That creates very clear behavior—it rises and falls with global equity markets, without the cushioning effect that bonds or cash can sometimes provide. The upside is full participation in stock market growth worldwide. The trade‑off is that drawdowns, like the -34% drop in 2020, are an inherent part of the ride because there are no defensive assets to soften the blow. Many broad benchmarks include a mix of stocks and bonds, so compared with those, this portfolio is more growth‑oriented and more sensitive to market swings, while still being diversified within equities themselves.
Sectors
- Technology 22%
- Financials 18%
- Industrials 14%
- Consumer Discretionary 9%
- Health Care 9%
- Telecommunications 7%
- Basic Materials 6%
- Consumer Staples 5%
- Energy 5%
- Utilities 3%
- Real Estate 3%
Sector exposure is well balanced and close to broad global equity benchmarks. Technology is the largest slice at 22%, followed by financials at 18% and industrials at 14%, with the rest spread across consumer, health care, telecom, materials, energy, utilities, and real estate. No single sector dominates, which helps reduce the risk that one industry’s troubles overwhelm the whole portfolio. A tech‑tilt compared with the old economy is normal in modern indexes, since many of the world’s biggest companies are tech‑related. This alignment with broad sector weights is a positive sign of healthy diversification rather than a narrow thematic bet.
Regions
- North America 45%
- Europe Developed 22%
- Japan 9%
- Asia Developed 9%
- Asia Emerging 8%
- Australasia 3%
- Africa/Middle East 2%
- Latin America 1%
Geographically, about 45% is in North America and 55% outside it, with sizeable allocations to developed Europe (22%), Japan (9%), and other developed and emerging Asian markets. This is more international‑heavy than many “world” portfolios that lean heavily towards the US. The result is broader exposure to different economies, currencies, and policy environments. That can help if leadership rotates away from US stocks, but it also means the portfolio didn’t fully capture the stronger US run over the last decade, which shows up in historical underperformance versus the US benchmark. Overall, this global spread is a strong indicator of thoughtful diversification.
Market capitalization
- Mega-cap 43%
- Large-cap 31%
- Mid-cap 18%
- Small-cap 5%
- Micro-cap 1%
The portfolio is tilted toward larger companies, with 43% in mega‑caps and 31% in large‑caps, while mid‑caps, small‑caps, and micro‑caps make up the remaining quarter. This pattern is typical for market‑cap‑weighted index funds, where the biggest companies naturally take up more space. Large firms often have more stable business models and easier access to capital, which can mean smoother earnings, while smaller companies can be more volatile but also more sensitive to economic growth. Here, the dominance of mega and large caps suggests returns will be driven largely by the world’s most established companies, with a meaningful but not dominant contribution from smaller names.
True holdings
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NV NVIDIA Corporation 2.56%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AA Apple Inc 2.37%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
23 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. 2.07%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 1.75%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 1.28%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 1.06%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AV Broadcom Inc 0.93%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 0.84%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
SS Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 0.81%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 0.80%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
- Top 10 total 14.47%
Looking through the ETFs’ top‑10 holdings, some familiar global giants stand out: NVIDIA, Apple, Taiwan Semiconductor, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Broadcom, Samsung, and Meta. Each is a small slice individually—NVIDIA is the largest at about 2.56% of the total portfolio—but combined, these top names still represent a modest share, given only about 20% of ETF holdings are visible here. There is some overlap across both funds in the biggest global firms, which is expected in cap‑weighted index products and creates mild concentration in a handful of tech and communication platforms. Still, the diversity beyond the top‑10 reduces the impact of any single company.
Factors
Factor exposure is mostly neutral across value, size, momentum, quality, and yield, meaning the portfolio broadly mirrors the characteristics of the overall market rather than making strong tilts. The only notable tilt is toward low volatility, at 64%, which signals a mild leaning toward stocks that have historically moved less sharply than the market. Factor exposure can be thought of as the “personality” of a portfolio—how it behaves in different environments. A low‑volatility tilt may help slightly in rough markets by dampening swings, but it can lag during explosive risk‑on rallies. Overall, this is a well‑balanced, market‑like factor profile.
Risk contribution
-
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 60.00% 59.0% -
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 40.00% 41.0%
Risk contribution measures how much each holding drives the portfolio’s overall ups and downs. Here, the split is very clean: the international ETF contributes about 59% of risk and the US ETF about 41%, almost exactly in line with their 60/40 weights. The risk‑to‑weight ratios are both near 1, which means neither fund is disproportionately amplifying volatility. This symmetry reflects that both are broad, diversified equity funds with similar overall risk levels. In more concentrated portfolios, it’s common to see a single holding dominate risk, but in this case the two‑fund structure keeps risk aligned with allocation in a straightforward way.
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 efficient frontier analysis shows this portfolio sits on or very close to the curve of best possible risk‑return combinations using just these two ETFs. The current mix has a Sharpe ratio of 0.52, while the highest Sharpe combination reaches 0.81 with slightly higher risk and return. The minimum‑variance mix is almost identical in risk to the current setup. Sharpe ratio compares excess return to volatility—higher means better risk‑adjusted performance. Being on the frontier indicates the 60/40 split is an efficient way to combine these two holdings; there is no obvious “free lunch” from simply reshuffling them to reduce risk or boost returns.
Dividends
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares 1.00%
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 2.70%
- Weighted yield (per year) 2.02%
The combined dividend yield is about 2.02%, with the US fund yielding roughly 1.0% and the international fund around 2.7%. Dividends are the cash payouts companies distribute from profits and can be a steady component of long‑term equity returns, especially when reinvested. In this portfolio, the yield is moderate—neither a high‑income tilt nor a low‑yield growth focus. International markets generally pay higher dividends on average, which explains the higher yield from that portion. Over time, reinvested dividends can significantly boost total return, even if they don’t grab as much attention as price changes day to day.
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%
Costs are a clear strength here. The total expense ratio (TER) averages about 0.04% per year, with the US fund at 0.03% and the international fund at 0.05%. TER is the annual fee charged by the funds, taken out automatically, like a very small management toll. For context, many actively managed funds charge 0.5% to 1% or more. Keeping fees this low means that more of the portfolio’s gross return stays in your pocket and can compound over time. This cost profile aligns closely with best‑in‑class index investing practices and is a strong foundation for long‑term performance.
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