Cautious globally diversified portfolio with strong risk control and meaningful gold and bond ballast
Report created on Mar 27, 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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VF Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
VFV - CA92205Y1051 33.40% -
VI Vanguard FTSE Developed All Cap ex North Amer Idx ETF
VIU - CA92204G1054 15.37% -
PH Sprott Physical Gold Trust
PHYS - CA85207H1047 13.72% -
XI iShares S&P/TSX 60
XIU - CA46428D1087 13.27% -
ZA BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF
ZAG - CA05590C1086 12.35% -
VI Vanguard FTSE Developed ex North America High Dividend Yield Index ETF
VIDY - CA92202A1003 11.89%
The portfolio is built around broad stock index ETFs, with a solid allocation to gold and core bonds. Roughly two thirds sits in diversified equity funds, while about a quarter is in defensive assets that historically cushion big market drops. This structure matches what many would see as a cautious but growth‑oriented mix rather than a pure income or capital‑preservation setup. Having simple, broad ETFs as the main building blocks keeps things transparent and easy to maintain. For someone wanting growth above inflation but still caring a lot about downside protection, this kind of “stocks plus ballast” layout is a sensible, easy‑to‑understand base to work from over many years.
Growth
Since 2018 a hypothetical $1,000 grew to about $2,394, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%. CAGR is like the average speed of a car over a long trip, smoothing out bumps along the way. The portfolio slightly lagged the U.S. market but beat the global market, while suffering a shallower maximum drawdown of about -21% versus roughly -27% in the benchmarks. That shallower drop is a positive sign for a cautious risk profile. Only 34 days drove 90% of returns, underlining how missing a handful of strong days can materially reduce outcomes. As always, this is backward‑looking; future markets can behave very differently.
Asset classes
- US Equity 57%
- Stocks 14%
- Stocks 13%
- Bonds 12%
- Other 3%
Asset‑class‑wise, most of the risk and return comes from equities, with a moderate but meaningful slice in bonds and a chunk in gold. That mix lines up well with a cautious growth stance: enough stock exposure to grow wealth over decades, balanced by assets that tend to behave differently when equities fall. Compared with a pure stock portfolio, this structure should dampen volatility and drawdowns, which fits the 3/7 risk score. The diversification score of 5/5 suggests the building blocks are working together effectively. For someone balancing sleep‑at‑night comfort and long‑term growth, keeping this broad stock‑bond‑gold mix in roughly similar proportions over time looks very reasonable.
Sectors
- Financials 31%
- Technology 15%
- Industrials 8%
- Consumer Discretionary 6%
- Health Care 6%
- Telecommunications 5%
- Energy 5%
- Basic Materials 4%
- Consumer Staples 4%
- Utilities 2%
- Real Estate 1%
This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.
Sector allocation is nicely spread, with financials the largest slice, followed by technology and then a range of others. This is very much in line with typical broad equity benchmarks, where financials and tech often dominate but don’t completely overwhelm. The portfolio isn’t skewed toward a single “story” sector that could blow up if one theme goes out of favor. Tech exposure is meaningful but not extreme, so it should benefit from innovation without fully riding the tech rollercoaster. This sector composition matches benchmark data well, which is a strong indicator of healthy diversification and should help smooth out the impact of sector‑specific booms and busts over time.
Regions
- North America 60%
- Europe Developed 16%
- Japan 6%
- Asia Developed 3%
- Australasia 2%
This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.
Geographically the portfolio leans toward North America (around 60%), with the rest spread across developed regions like Europe, Japan, and other developed Asia. That tilt toward North America is higher than some global benchmarks but is very typical for a Canadian investor. The good news is that there is still solid non‑North‑American exposure, which reduces the risk of any single regional slump dominating outcomes. Under‑ or over‑weights versus global norms can cut both ways; the last decade favored North America, but future leadership might shift. Overall, this regional mix looks thoughtfully diversified and aligned with many mainstream global allocation approaches.
Market capitalization
- Large-cap 38%
- Mega-cap 38%
- Mid-cap 11%
- Small-cap 1%
This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.
Market‑cap exposure is dominated by mega‑cap and large‑cap companies, with only small slices in mid and small caps. Large and mega‑caps are usually more stable, mature businesses with deeper liquidity, which tends to reduce volatility and trading frictions. The flip side is less exposure to the sometimes higher long‑term growth potential of smaller companies. For a cautious risk profile, this large‑cap skew is a strong positive, as it supports smoother returns and reduces the likelihood that any single small, risky name can materially hurt performance. Investors seeking a bit more return “spice” could introduce more small‑cap exposure, but that would come with bumpier rides.
True holdings
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NV NVIDIA Corporation 2.83%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
AA Apple Inc 2.30%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 2.20%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 1.36%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
RY Royal Bank of Canada 1.10%
Part of fund(s):- iShares S&P/TSX 60
-
AV Broadcom Inc 1.00%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 0.94%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 0.81%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
-
TD Toronto Dominion Bank 0.77%
Part of fund(s):- iShares S&P/TSX 60
- Top 10 total 27.02%
This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.
Looking through the ETFs, the biggest single exposure is to physical gold at about 14%, with the rest of the top names being mega‑cap companies like NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, and large Canadian banks. These stocks appear via multiple ETFs, which creates some hidden concentration even though each fund seems diversified. Because only top‑10 ETF holdings are captured, overlap is probably higher than shown. This kind of effective overweight to a handful of global giants is common in index‑heavy portfolios and usually acceptable, but it’s worth being aware that big moves in those names can have an outsized effect on overall returns, both on the upside and downside.
Factors
Factor exposure shows a standout tilt toward low volatility at about 80%, meaning the holdings lean strongly toward historically steadier stocks. Factor exposure is like checking which “traits” your portfolio favors; low‑volatility stocks tend to swing less than the market but can lag in sharp risk‑on rallies. Other factors such as value, size, and momentum are close to or slightly below market‑like levels, so they don’t drive behavior nearly as much. This strong low‑volatility bias lines up very well with a cautious investor profile, helping reduce the emotional pressure during major downturns and making it easier to stay invested through market stress.
Risk contribution
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Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF
Weight: 33.40% 42.8% -
Vanguard FTSE Developed All Cap ex North Amer Idx ETF
Weight: 15.37% 17.4% -
iShares S&P/TSX 60
Weight: 13.27% 15.1% -
Vanguard FTSE Developed ex North America High Dividend Yield Index ETF
Weight: 11.89% 12.4% -
Sprott Physical Gold Trust
Weight: 13.72% 9.8% - Top 5 risk contribution 97.4%
Risk contribution looks at how much each holding adds to overall ups and downs, which can differ a lot from simple weights. The S&P 500 ETF is about one third of the portfolio but drives roughly 43% of total risk, meaning its movements matter most day‑to‑day. The next two equity ETFs lift the top‑three risk share to about 75%, while gold actually contributes less risk than its weight suggests. This pattern is not unusual, but it does show that the core equity funds are the main risk engine. If someone wanted even more stability, trimming that first ETF a bit and spreading weight to bond‑like assets could further align risk with a cautious stance.
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 delivers about 12.78% expected return with 12.48% volatility, giving a Sharpe ratio of 0.86. The optimal mix of these same holdings reaches a higher Sharpe of 1.09, meaning better return per unit of risk is possible just by reweighting. The minimum‑variance version cuts risk a lot but at a big return cost. Since the current setup sits below the efficient frontier, it isn’t using these ingredients as efficiently as it could. Importantly, improving this doesn’t require new products; simply adjusting existing weights closer to the optimal or minimum‑variance mix could enhance the trade‑off while staying within the same familiar lineup.
Dividends
- Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF 0.20%
- iShares S&P/TSX 60 0.60%
- BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF 0.90%
- Weighted yield (per year) 0.26%
The overall dividend yield of about 0.26% is quite low, even though there is a dedicated high‑dividend ETF in the mix. Most of the return here is expected to come from capital growth rather than regular cash payouts. That’s not a problem if the main goal is long‑term wealth building instead of current income. For someone needing to draw cash, it simply means planning to occasionally sell small portions of holdings rather than living mostly off dividends. The presence of bonds, which pay interest internally, still supports stability, but this setup is better matched to growth‑oriented or total‑return strategies than to a pure income focus.
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