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Diversified dividend tilted portfolio with cautious risk level and efficient mix of stocks and bonds

Report created on Apr 26, 2026

Risk profile Info

3/7
Cautious
Less risk More risk

Diversification profile Info

4/5
Broadly Diversified
Less diversification More diversification

Positions

This portfolio is built around a mix of income-focused stocks and short-term bonds, with a 75% allocation to equities and 25% to bonds. The biggest single holding is the short-term USD bond fund at 25%, while the rest is spread across dividend growth, high-dividend, and defensive equity ETFs. This structure combines growth potential from stocks with some stability from bonds. The equity side leans on rules-based ETFs rather than single stocks, which helps diversify business-specific risk. Overall, the portfolio lines up with its “cautious” risk label: it still participates in equity markets but has a meaningful buffer from bonds and from focusing on steadier, dividend-oriented companies.

Growth Info

From mid-2016 to April 2026, $1,000 invested in this portfolio grew to about $2,455, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.84%. CAGR is like your average speed on a long road trip, smoothing out bumps along the way. Over the same period, the US market grew about 15.06% a year and the global market about 12.46%, so this portfolio traded some return for stability. Its worst peak-to-trough fall (max drawdown) was -27.21%, smaller than both benchmarks’ drawdowns of roughly -34%. That smaller drop is consistent with the cautious profile and bond allocation, showing a pattern of gentler ups and downs compared with broad equity markets.

Projection Info

The forward projection uses a Monte Carlo simulation, which basically runs the portfolio’s historical risk and return patterns through 1,000 “what if” futures. Each simulation shakes returns slightly differently to show a range of possible outcomes. Over 15 years, the median scenario turns $1,000 into about $2,543, while the middle half of outcomes ranges from roughly $1,863 to $3,589. There are also more extreme but less likely paths from about $1,099 to $5,797. The average annual return across all simulations is 7.09%. These numbers are useful for understanding potential variability, but they are still based on the past, which never guarantees how markets will behave in the future.

Asset classes Info

  • Stocks
    75%
  • Bonds
    25%

Asset allocation is straightforward: 75% in stocks and 25% in bonds. That’s more conservative than a pure equity portfolio yet still tilted firmly toward growth assets. Bonds here are short-term, which typically reduces sensitivity to interest rate changes compared with longer bonds. Having a quarter of the portfolio in bonds can cushion equity drawdowns and smooth the ride, especially during sharp market falls. Compared with a broad global equity benchmark at nearly 100% stocks, this split explains both the lower historical drawdown and the lower long-term return. This allocation is well-balanced and aligns closely with common cautious equity-income approaches.

Sectors Info

  • Financials
    12%
  • Health Care
    12%
  • Consumer Staples
    11%
  • Technology
    8%
  • Industrials
    8%
  • Utilities
    7%
  • Energy
    7%
  • Consumer Discretionary
    4%
  • Basic Materials
    2%
  • Telecommunications
    2%
  • Real Estate
    1%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Sector exposure is spread across many areas, with no single sector dominating. Financials and health care each sit at 12%, and consumer staples at 11%, all of which are often considered more defensive parts of the market. Technology, industrials, utilities, and energy each hold mid‑single to high‑single digit weights, while more cyclical sectors like consumer discretionary and basic materials are smaller. This composition tilts slightly toward traditionally resilient sectors, which can help during economic slowdowns but may lag flashier growth areas during strong bull markets. The portfolio’s sector mix is broadly diversified and matches benchmark-like patterns, a strong indicator of sensible risk spreading.

Regions Info

  • North America
    76%
  • Europe Developed
    14%
  • Japan
    5%
  • Asia Developed
    2%
  • Australasia
    2%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Geographically, the portfolio is dominated by North America at 76%, with Europe developed at 14% and the rest spread across Japan and other developed Asia-Pacific regions. This is somewhat more US-tilted than a typical global benchmark, where North America is significant but not quite this dominant. The developed-market focus means there is little direct exposure to emerging markets, which can be more volatile but also offer different growth drivers. A strong tilt to North America can benefit from US market strength, as it has over the last decade, but it also means returns are closely tied to one main economic region and currency.

Market capitalization Info

  • Large-cap
    36%
  • Mega-cap
    21%
  • Mid-cap
    14%
  • Small-cap
    2%
  • Micro-cap
    1%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Market capitalization exposure is led by large and mega-cap companies, which together make up 57% of the portfolio, with mid-caps at 14% and only small and micro-caps at around 3% combined. Large and mega-caps tend to be more established businesses with more stable earnings and better access to capital, which often translates to lower volatility than smaller firms. The relatively low allocation to small and micro-caps means the portfolio is less sensitive to the more extreme swings that can come from younger, riskier companies. This large-cap focus is consistent with the cautious risk score and the emphasis on dividend and low-volatility strategies.

True holdings Info

  • UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
    1.29%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • The Home Depot Inc
    1.02%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • The Coca-Cola Company
    0.92%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    • Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares
  • Johnson & Johnson
    0.88%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • Procter & Gamble Company
    0.83%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • PepsiCo Inc
    0.76%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    • Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares
  • AbbVie Inc
    0.74%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • Merck & Company Inc
    0.72%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares
  • Texas Instruments Incorporated
    0.71%
    Part of fund(s):
    • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
  • Broadcom Inc
    0.70%
    Part of fund(s):
    • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
  • Top 10 total 8.55%

This breakdown covers the equity portion of your portfolio only.

Looking through the ETFs’ top holdings, the largest individual company exposures are all under about 1.3% of the total portfolio, with names like UnitedHealth, Home Depot, and Coca-Cola. This indicates that even the biggest underlying positions are modest in size, lowering the risk that any single company dominates results. There is some overlap where the same company appears in more than one ETF, but within the top 10 look-through the concentration remains low. Because only ETF top‑10 holdings are used, actual overlap is likely a bit higher in reality, but the current data suggests broad diversification across individual businesses rather than heavy bets.

Factors Info

Value
Preference for undervalued stocks
High
Data availability: 67%
Size
Exposure to smaller companies
Neutral
Data availability: 100%
Momentum
Exposure to recently outperforming stocks
Neutral
Data availability: 53%
Quality
Preference for financially healthy companies
Neutral
Data availability: 53%
Yield
Preference for dividend-paying stocks
High
Data availability: 100%
Low Volatility
Preference for stable, lower-risk stocks
Very high
Data availability: 100%

Factor exposures are estimated using statistical models based on historical data and measure systematic (market-relative) tilts, not absolute portfolio characteristics. Results may vary depending on the analysis period, data availability, and currency of the underlying assets.

Factor exposure shows very high tilts toward yield and low volatility, with both well above 70%. Factors are like investing “ingredients” — characteristics such as high dividend yield or price stability that help explain how a portfolio behaves. A strong yield tilt aligns with the focus on dividend strategies and helps explain the overall portfolio yield above 3%. The very high low-volatility tilt fits with the cautious risk score and the lower drawdown versus benchmarks. Historically, low-volatility and high-yield stocks can lag in fast, speculative rallies but often hold up better in choppier markets, which is consistent with the portfolio’s more defensive pattern.

Risk contribution Info

  • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
    Weight: 22.00%
    31.9%
  • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    Weight: 15.00%
    21.4%
  • Schwab International Equity ETF
    Weight: 13.00%
    17.8%
  • Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF
    Weight: 14.00%
    14.6%
  • Fidelity® MSCI Utilities Index ETF
    Weight: 4.00%
    4.8%
  • Top 5 risk contribution 90.5%

Risk contribution shows how much each holding drives the portfolio’s overall ups and downs, which can differ from its weight. The top three equity funds — the two US dividend ETFs and the international equity ETF — make up 50% of the weight but contribute about 71% of total risk. The main US dividend ETF, at 22% weight, contributes nearly 32% of volatility, meaning it punches above its size. The short-term bond fund, despite its 25% weight, barely features in the top risk contributors, which is typical for lower-volatility assets. This pattern highlights how equity-heavy positions dominate overall risk, even in a balanced-looking allocation.

Redundant positions Info

  • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
    iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF
    High correlation

Correlation measures how similarly assets move, on a scale from -1 (always opposite) to +1 (always together). The two main US dividend ETFs move almost identically, indicating very high correlation. When holdings are strongly correlated, they tend to rise and fall at the same time, reducing diversification benefits between them. This doesn’t mean there’s a problem, but it clarifies that these two funds behave more like a combined block of US dividend exposure than two independent diversifiers. In market selloffs, that block is likely to move in the same direction, while the bond position is what mainly provides a different pattern.

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.

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The risk–return chart shows the current portfolio sitting on or very near the efficient frontier, which is the curve of the best possible return for each risk level given the existing holdings. The current Sharpe ratio — a measure of return per unit of risk — is 0.51, while the optimal combination of these same funds reaches 0.81 at higher volatility, and the minimum variance version lowers risk dramatically but also slashes return. Because the portfolio is already close to the frontier, the existing mix is considered efficient for its risk level. Any improvements would mostly come from accepting more or less risk, not from obvious inefficiencies.

Dividends Info

  • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF 2.00%
  • Fidelity® MSCI Utilities Index ETF 2.50%
  • iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond 4.20%
  • Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF 4.50%
  • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 3.40%
  • Schwab International Equity ETF 3.10%
  • Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares 2.10%
  • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares 1.70%
  • Weighted yield (per year) 3.27%

The portfolio’s overall dividend yield is about 3.27%, noticeably higher than broad US market averages in recent years. Yield is the annual income paid out as dividends relative to the portfolio value, and here it’s supported by explicit dividend strategies and a relatively high-yield international ETF. The bond fund also contributes meaningfully with a yield above 4%. This income stream has been an important part of total return historically, especially when price growth is more modest. For an equity-heavy portfolio, a yield above 3% indicates a clear tilt toward established, cash-generative businesses rather than purely growth-focused companies that reinvest instead of paying dividends.

Ongoing product costs Info

  • iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF 0.08%
  • Fidelity® MSCI Utilities Index ETF 0.08%
  • iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond 0.06%
  • Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF 0.40%
  • Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 0.06%
  • Schwab International Equity ETF 0.06%
  • Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares 0.10%
  • Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares 0.10%
  • Weighted costs total (per year) 0.12%

Estimated total costs, measured by the weighted average total expense ratio (TER), are around 0.12% per year. TER is the annual fee the funds charge, taken out of returns before you see them, similar to a small service fee. This level is impressively low, especially for a portfolio using multiple specialized ETFs, including a higher-cost international low-volatility high-dividend fund at 0.40%. Keeping costs down helps more of the underlying returns reach the investor, and over long periods even small fee differences can compound into meaningful amounts. This cost profile is a clear strength and supports better long-term performance potential.

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