Global stock portfolio with strong US core and low costs delivering solid long term growth
Report created on May 5, 2026Risk profile
4/7
Diversification profile
3/5
Positions
-
VO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
VOO - US9229083632 70.00% -
VE Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares
VEU - US9220427754 30.00%
This portfolio is very simple: two broad stock ETFs, with about 70% in a US index and 30% in an ex‑US global index. That means every dollar is in publicly traded companies, with no bonds or cash showing in the mix. Simplicity like this makes it easy to understand where risk and return come from. The US-heavy tilt gives the portfolio a clear anchor while still leaving a meaningful slice invested internationally. Structurally, the portfolio behaves like a streamlined global equity strategy, where overall performance is largely driven by the US market, with non‑US stocks adding an extra diversification layer and some currency exposure.
Growth
From 2016 to early 2026, $1,000 grew to about $3,616, which translates to a 13.79% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). CAGR is like your average speed on a long road trip, smoothing out bumps along the way. Over this period, the portfolio slightly lagged the US market benchmark but outpaced the global market benchmark. The maximum drawdown, at around -34%, was similar to major benchmarks during the 2020 crash, taking about five months to recover. That shows this portfolio experienced full equity-style swings. Just 34 days made up 90% of total returns, highlighting how a few strong days can dominate long-term performance and why staying invested has historically mattered.
Projection
The forward projection uses Monte Carlo simulation, which runs 1,000 “what if” scenarios based on historical return and volatility patterns. Think of it as rolling the dice many times to see a range of possible futures, not a single prediction. For a $1,000 starting amount over 15 years, the median outcome lands around $2,743, with a wide plausible range between roughly $1,027 and $7,668. The average simulated annual return is about 8.07%. Importantly, these results rely on past data and statistical assumptions; real markets can behave differently, especially during rare events. So the projections are better viewed as a rough map of potential outcomes rather than a guarantee of where this portfolio will actually end up.
Asset classes
- Stocks 100%
All of this portfolio sits in stocks, with 100% equity exposure and no bonds or alternatives. That creates a clear, growth‑focused profile where returns are tied directly to corporate earnings and stock market valuations. Compared with more mixed asset portfolios that hold bonds or cash, this structure typically comes with higher expected long‑term returns but also larger short‑term swings. There’s no built‑in shock absorber from less volatile asset classes. Relative to broad global equity benchmarks, the asset class mix is closely aligned, which is a positive sign: it behaves very much like a pure equity portfolio, without hidden complexity from other asset types.
Sectors
- Technology 28%
- Financials 16%
- Industrials 11%
- Consumer Discretionary 10%
- Health Care 9%
- Telecommunications 9%
- Consumer Staples 5%
- Energy 4%
- Basic Materials 4%
- Utilities 3%
- Real Estate 2%
Sector exposure is fairly broad, with technology at 28% being the biggest slice, followed by financials, industrials, consumer discretionary, and health care. This looks quite similar to many global equity benchmarks where tech and related areas are major drivers of returns. A meaningful tech weighting often brings higher sensitivity to changes in interest rates and growth expectations, which can amplify both rallies and pullbacks. At the same time, having exposure across defensive areas like consumer staples, health care, and utilities helps balance out some of that cyclicality. Overall, the sector mix is well-spread and aligns closely with global standards, which is a strong indicator of sensible diversification across different parts of the economy.
Regions
- North America 72%
- Europe Developed 11%
- Japan 5%
- Asia Developed 4%
- Asia Emerging 4%
- Australasia 1%
- Africa/Middle East 1%
- Latin America 1%
Geographically, about 72% of the portfolio is in North America, with the rest spread across developed Europe, Japan, other developed Asia, emerging Asia, and smaller allocations to Australasia, Latin America, and Africa/Middle East. This is broadly in line with the global market’s current composition, where US companies make up a large share of total market value. The non‑US exposure adds diversification across different economies, political systems, and currencies. That can help smooth country‑specific shocks but also introduces foreign exchange movements into returns. The US tilt means portfolio behavior will still largely track US market trends, with international holdings providing an additional but smaller diversification buffer.
Market capitalization
- Mega-cap 47%
- Large-cap 34%
- Mid-cap 17%
- Small-cap 1%
The portfolio leans heavily toward the largest companies, with about 47% in mega‑caps and 34% in large‑caps. Mid‑caps take roughly 17%, and small‑caps just 1%. This is typical of market‑cap‑weighted indices, where bigger companies naturally dominate. Large and mega‑cap stocks tend to be more established businesses with broad analyst coverage and deeper trading liquidity, which can make their prices move more smoothly than very small companies. On the other hand, the tiny small‑cap slice means less exposure to that part of the market, which historically has been more volatile but sometimes offers different growth dynamics. In practice, portfolio behavior will mostly reflect the fortunes of the world’s biggest listed companies.
True holdings
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NV NVIDIA Corporation 5.31%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AA Apple Inc 4.66%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
MS Microsoft Corporation 3.44%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AM Amazon.com Inc 2.55%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class A 2.09%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
AV Broadcom Inc 1.83%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
GO Alphabet Inc Class C 1.68%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
ME Meta Platforms Inc. 1.57%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
TS Tesla Inc 1.31%
Part of fund(s):- LS 1x Tesla Tracker ETP Securities GBP
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
-
23 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. 1.13%
Part of fund(s):- Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares
- Top 10 total 25.57%
Looking through ETF top holdings, the largest underlying exposures include NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (both share classes), Broadcom, Meta, Tesla, and Taiwan Semiconductor. Together, these names make up a meaningful portion of the portfolio, and several appear in both ETFs, creating overlap. Because only top‑10 holdings are captured, actual overlap is likely higher than shown. This kind of concentration in a handful of mega‑cap leaders is typical for cap‑weighted global and US indices today. It means portfolio results are strongly influenced by how a small group of large technology and technology‑adjacent companies perform, even though thousands of smaller positions sit in the background.
Factors
Factor exposures across value, size, momentum, quality, yield, and low volatility all sit in the neutral range, close to the 50% “market‑like” point. Factors are like underlying traits — such as being cheap (value) or stable (low volatility) — that research has linked to long‑term returns. A neutral reading means the portfolio doesn’t strongly lean into or away from any of these characteristics compared with the overall market. In practice, that suggests behavior should be relatively similar to broad market indices, without strong “style” bets that might shine in certain environments and struggle in others. This balanced factor profile supports the idea that the portfolio is acting as a straightforward market‑tracking equity blend.
Risk contribution
-
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
Weight: 70.00% 72.4% -
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares
Weight: 30.00% 27.6%
Risk contribution looks at how much each holding drives overall ups and downs, which can differ from its weight. Here, the US ETF is 70% of the portfolio but contributes about 72% of total risk, while the ex‑US ETF at 30% weight contributes around 28% of risk. Those proportions are very close to their sizes, showing a well‑balanced relationship between allocation and volatility. With only two holdings, it’s expected that each accounts for a large slice of total risk, but there’s no single position whose risk effect is wildly out of line with its weight. That’s consistent with both ETFs being diversified, broad‑market funds rather than narrow, highly volatile niches.
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 risk vs. return analysis shows the current portfolio has a Sharpe ratio of 0.6, while the optimal combination of these same two ETFs reaches about 0.82, and the minimum variance mix scores around 0.68. The Sharpe ratio compares excess return to volatility, so higher values mean better risk‑adjusted performance. Importantly, the current portfolio sits on or very close to the efficient frontier, which is the curve of best possible returns for each risk level using just these holdings. That means, for this pair of ETFs, the existing weight split is already broadly efficient; there isn’t a clear indication that a drastically different mix, using only the same components, would have produced a much better historical risk/return tradeoff.
Dividends
- Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares 2.70%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 1.10%
- Weighted yield (per year) 1.58%
The blended dividend yield comes out around 1.58%, with the ex‑US ETF yielding about 2.70% and the US ETF about 1.10%. Dividend yield measures how much cash companies pay out each year as a percentage of the portfolio value. While this portfolio is clearly growth‑oriented, dividends still add a steady income component to total return, alongside price gains. Historically, reinvested dividends have been a significant part of long‑term stock market growth. Here, the higher ex‑US yield slightly boosts overall income, reflecting that many non‑US markets traditionally pay more in dividends than US large‑caps. The result is a modest but consistent cash return profile within a broader capital‑growth strategy.
Ongoing product costs
- Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares 0.07%
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 0.03%
- Weighted costs total (per year) 0.04%
Total ongoing fund costs are very low, with a blended TER (Total Expense Ratio) of about 0.04%. TER is the annual fee charged by the funds, taken directly out of their assets, so lower percentages leave more of the market’s return in your pocket. Both ETFs are at the low end of industry pricing, especially for broad index exposure. Over long horizons, even small fee differences can compound into noticeable dollar amounts, so this cost level is a meaningful strength of the portfolio. It supports better long‑term performance potential compared with similar strategies that charge significantly higher annual expenses for doing essentially the same job.
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