Broad low cost equity portfolio blending total market exposure with small cap value tilts
Report created on Apr 10, 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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VT Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
VTI - US9229087690 80.00% -
AV Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Value ETF
AVUV - US0250728773 12.00% -
AV Avantis® International Small Cap Value ETF
AVDV - US0250728021 8.00%
This portfolio is a simple three‑fund setup holding 100% in stocks. The core is a broad total stock market ETF at 80%, paired with two small‑cap value ETFs at 12% domestic and 8% international. That means most of the behavior will track a broad equity market, with a meaningful but not dominating tilt toward smaller, cheaper companies. A structure like this is easy to manage and understand because there are few moving parts. For someone comfortable with stock market swings and focused on long‑term growth, keeping things this streamlined can be a real advantage and reduces the risk of over‑trading or style drift.
Growth
Historically, a $1,000 investment grew to about $2,467 over the period, giving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.86%. CAGR is like your average speed on a long road trip, smoothing out bumps along the way. Compared to the US market, returns were slightly lower, but the portfolio beat the global market by almost 2 percentage points per year. The worst drop, or max drawdown, was about -36.6% during early 2020, a bit steeper than the benchmarks. This shows strong growth but real volatility. The key takeaway is that returns were attractive, but staying invested through sharp drawdowns was essential to capturing them.
Projection
The Monte Carlo projection uses 1,000 simulations based on historical behavior to imagine many possible 15‑year paths. Think of it as running the same movie with slightly different weather each time to see a range of outcomes. The median result turns $1,000 into about $2,699, with a “likely” middle band between roughly $1,810 and $4,107. There is still a meaningful chance of only modest gains or even flat results after inflation. These numbers are not promises; they’re illustrations based on past patterns that may not repeat. The main lesson is that long‑term stock investing has historically skewed positive but always with wide uncertainty.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
All of the money sits in equities, with no bonds or cash in the mix. That’s a classic growth‑oriented setup, leaning fully into the higher return potential and higher risk of stocks. In calm markets this can feel great, but during rough patches there’s no “shock absorber” from safer assets to soften declines. Compared with a balanced stock‑bond mix, this will likely experience deeper drawdowns but also has more upside over long horizons. This allocation makes the most sense for investors who can handle seeing large swings on their statements without being tempted to bail out at the worst possible time.
Sectors
- Technology 26%
- Financials 14%
- Industrials 12%
- Consumer Discretionary 11%
- Health Care 9%
- Telecommunications 8%
- Energy 6%
- Consumer Staples 5%
- Basic Materials 4%
- Real Estate 2%
- Utilities 2%
Sector exposure is fairly broad, with technology the largest slice at 26%, followed by financials, industrials, and consumer‑focused areas. This spread looks similar to common broad‑market indices, which is a good sign that diversification is doing its job. A tech‑heavy allocation can do very well when growth stocks are in favor but may be more sensitive to rising interest rates or regulatory changes. Having meaningful weights in sectors like financials, industrials, and healthcare helps balance that out. Overall, the sector mix aligns well with global standards, which supports resilience across different economic environments instead of betting heavily on a single industry story.
Regions
- North America 92%
- Europe Developed 3%
- Japan 3%
- Australasia 1%
Geographically, the portfolio is dominated by North America at 92%, with small allocations to developed Europe, Japan, and Australasia. That’s more home‑biased than global market weightings, where the US is a big piece but not quite this extreme. The upside is alignment with the world’s largest and most innovative stock market, which has done very well in recent decades. The trade‑off is higher exposure to a single economy, currency, and policy environment. If non‑US regions go through a strong cycle while the US lags, this portfolio would capture less of that. Geography here is a conscious tilt rather than a global market mirror.
Market capitalization
- Mega-cap 33%
- Large-cap 25%
- Mid-cap 20%
- Small-cap 15%
- Micro-cap 7%
By market cap, the mix is nicely graduated: about a third in mega‑caps, a quarter in large‑caps, and the rest spread across mid, small, and even micro‑caps. This broader size spectrum goes beyond what you’d see in a pure large‑cap index and opens the door to different growth drivers. Smaller companies can be more volatile and sometimes less liquid, but they’ve historically offered higher long‑term return potential. The dedicated small‑cap value funds are clearly showing up in these numbers. This balance between giant, stable firms and more nimble smaller businesses creates a healthy blend of stability and growth‑oriented risk.
True holdings
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NV NVIDIA Corporation 4.94%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AA Apple Inc 4.71%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 3.53%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 2.44%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 2.19%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
AV Broadcom Inc 1.82%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 1.73%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 1.70%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
TS Tesla Inc 1.38%
Part of fund(s):- LS 1x Tesla Tracker ETP Securities GBP
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
-
BR Berkshire Hathaway Inc 1.10%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
- Top 10 total 25.54%
Looking through the ETFs’ top holdings, exposure is clearly tilted toward the biggest US names: Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla all show up. These mega caps appear inside the total market ETF and can repeat across multiple funds, creating hidden concentration even in a diversified product. Because only top‑10 holdings are captured, the real overlap is probably higher, especially among the largest companies. This type of concentration is very common in cap‑weighted index funds and is not necessarily a problem, but it does mean portfolio results will be heavily influenced by how a handful of dominant companies perform in the future.
Factors
Factor exposure across value, size, momentum, quality, yield, and low volatility all sits in the neutral range. Factors are like underlying “personality traits” of a portfolio that explain why it behaves a certain way. A neutral reading around 50% basically says this mix looks a lot like the broad market, despite the explicit small‑cap value allocations. That means no strong tilt toward cheap, fast‑moving, or defensive stocks overall. The good news is that this avoids over‑concentration in any specific style that might underperform for long stretches. Behavior should remain fairly benchmark‑like, which can make it psychologically easier to stay the course.
Risk contribution
-
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 80.00% 79.1% -
Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Value ETF
Weight: 12.00% 14.5% -
Avantis® International Small Cap Value ETF
Weight: 8.00% 6.4%
Risk contribution shows how much each holding drives the portfolio’s ups and downs, which can differ from simple weight. Here, the total market ETF is 80% of the allocation and contributes about 79% of total risk, almost a one‑to‑one match. The US small‑cap value fund is 12% of assets but adds roughly 14.5% of risk, reflecting its higher volatility. The international small‑cap value fund actually contributes a bit less risk than its weight. Overall, no single position is wildly out of proportion to its size. That’s a healthy sign that risk is spread in line with how you’ve chosen to allocate capital.
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 right on or very near the efficient frontier. The efficient frontier is the curve showing the best possible return for each risk level using only the existing holdings in different mixes. The current Sharpe ratio of 0.59 is a bit below the maximum Sharpe around 0.8, but the optimizer suggests only tiny tweaks to weights would improve things. That means this setup is already doing a solid job of balancing risk and return with the chosen funds. The big wins from here are more likely to come from behavior and time in the market rather than fine‑tuning.
Dividends
- Avantis® International Small Cap Value ETF 2.80%
- Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Value ETF 1.30%
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares 1.10%
- Weighted yield (per year) 1.26%
The overall dividend yield is about 1.26%, with the international small‑cap value fund offering the highest yield around 2.8%. Dividend yield is the annual cash payout relative to price, similar to earning “rent” on your shares. For a growth‑tilted all‑stock portfolio, this level of income is modest but normal, since many companies are focused more on reinvesting profits. The main value of dividends here is as a small cushion and a way to reinvest steadily over time, rather than as a primary income source. For someone seeking meaningful cash flow, extra focus on yield would usually be needed.
Ongoing product costs
- Avantis® International Small Cap Value ETF 0.36%
- Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Value ETF 0.25%
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF Shares 0.03%
- Weighted costs total (per year) 0.08%
The weighted total expense ratio (TER) is about 0.08%, which is impressively low for an equity portfolio with active factor elements. TER is the annual fee charged by funds, quietly deducted in the background, like a small membership cost. Keeping this number low is one of the easiest ways to boost long‑term outcomes because every dollar not spent on fees can keep compounding for you. This cost level compares very favorably with many retail portfolios, which often sit much higher. You’ve set a strong foundation here: the structure is efficient, and fees are unlikely to be a drag on returns.
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