Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio

Performance

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Dividends

Drawdowns

Volatility

Diversification

Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio

Currency in USD · Last updated May 11, 2025

70% US, 30% Intl, 80% equity, 20% fixed income

Asset Allocation

Position	Category/Sector	Target Weight
AVDE Avantis International Equity ETF	Foreign Large Cap Equities	5%
AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	Foreign Small & Mid Cap Equities, Actively Managed	5%
AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	Foreign Large Cap Equities	5%
AVUS Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	Large Cap Growth Equities, Actively Managed	11%
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	Small Cap Value Equities, Actively Managed	11%
DFIVX DFA International Value Portfolio	Foreign Large Cap Equities	5%
FNDC Schwab Fundamental International Small Co. Index ETF	Foreign Small & Mid Cap Equities	5%
IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	Small Cap Growth Equities	11%
RPV Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF	All Cap Equities	11%
SPTI SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF	Government Bonds	10%
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF	Government Bonds	6%
VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF	REIT	11%
VTIP Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF	Inflation-Protected Bonds	4%

Benchmark

Rebalance

Performance

Performance Chart

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The earliest data available for this chart is Sep 26, 2019, corresponding to the inception date of AVUS

Returns By Period

	YTD	1M	6M	1Y	5Y*	10Y*
^GSPC S&P 500	-0.64%	8.97%	-2.62%	11.90%	15.76%	10.69%
Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio	2.79%	8.03%	-1.17%	8.12%	13.61%	N/A
Portfolio components:
AVUS Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	-0.63%	10.33%	-3.93%	9.80%	18.33%	N/A
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	-6.73%	13.56%	-13.78%	-1.31%	24.05%	N/A
RPV Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF	2.86%	7.73%	-1.53%	9.54%	20.25%	7.63%
IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	-6.40%	12.69%	-13.79%	0.69%	15.14%	7.86%
VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF	1.62%	7.14%	-4.20%	12.57%	9.56%	5.17%
SPTI SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF	2.81%	0.60%	2.61%	5.99%	-1.13%	1.19%
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF	1.77%	0.20%	2.44%	5.49%	1.11%	1.45%
AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	8.33%	10.78%	4.58%	8.63%	11.13%	N/A
AVDE Avantis International Equity ETF	14.57%	9.47%	11.09%	13.09%	13.94%	N/A
AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	13.88%	9.60%	13.05%	15.96%	16.54%	N/A
DFIVX DFA International Value Portfolio	15.48%	9.46%	12.35%	13.17%	18.78%	5.87%
FNDC Schwab Fundamental International Small Co. Index ETF	13.71%	8.68%	11.02%	12.78%	11.68%	5.37%
VTIP Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF	2.91%	0.32%	3.18%	6.45%	3.90%	2.77%

*Annualized

Monthly Returns

The table below presents the monthly returns of Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio, with color gradation from worst to best to easily spot seasonal factors. Returns are adjusted for dividends.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2025	2.27%	-0.22%	-1.57%	-1.01%	3.39%								2.79%
2024	-1.78%	2.02%	3.56%	-3.93%	3.84%	-0.82%	5.47%	0.87%	1.46%	-2.34%	4.96%	-4.69%	8.28%
2023	7.77%	-3.01%	-1.72%	0.19%	-3.11%	5.59%	4.01%	-2.92%	-3.57%	-3.53%	7.51%	7.16%	13.96%
2022	-2.98%	-0.53%	1.02%	-5.04%	1.48%	-7.97%	5.98%	-3.28%	-8.74%	7.04%	6.53%	-3.77%	-11.26%
2021	1.57%	5.50%	3.82%	3.08%	2.48%	-0.44%	-0.32%	1.65%	-2.21%	3.29%	-2.63%	4.33%	21.65%
2020	-2.99%	-7.19%	-16.55%	10.12%	3.62%	2.37%	2.78%	4.20%	-2.70%	-0.07%	12.41%	4.95%	7.81%
2019									-0.21%	1.96%	1.60%	2.67%	6.14%

Expense Ratio

Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio has an expense ratio of 0.19%, which is considered low. Below, you can find the expense ratios of the portfolio's funds side by side and easily compare their relative costs.

FNDC

Schwab Fundamental International Small Co. Index ETF

AVDV

Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF

RPV

Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF

AVEM

Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF

DFIVX

DFA International Value Portfolio

AVUV

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF

AVDE

Avantis International Equity ETF

AVUS

Avantis U.S. Equity ETF

VNQ

Vanguard Real Estate ETF

IJR

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF

SPTI

SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF

VGSH

Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

VTIP

Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank

The current rank of Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio is 34, indicating average performance compared to other portfolios on our website. Here’s a breakdown of how it compares using common performance measures.

Overall Rank

Sharpe Ratio Rank

Sortino Ratio Rank

Omega Ratio Rank

Calmar Ratio Rank

Martin Ratio Rank

The risk-adjusted ranks indicate the investment's position relative to the market. A rank closer to 100 signifies top-performing investments, while a rank closer to 0 might suggest underperformance, based on the selected ratio. The values are calculated based on the past 12 months of returns.

Risk-Adjusted Performance Indicators

This table presents a comparison of risk-adjusted performance metrics for positions. Risk-adjusted metrics are performance indicators that assess an investment's returns in relation to its risk, enabling a more accurate comparison of different investment options.

Portfolio components

	Sharpe ratio	Sortino ratio	Omega ratio	Calmar ratio	Martin ratio
AVUS Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	0.49	0.88	1.13	0.54	1.99
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	-0.05	0.16	1.02	-0.02	-0.05
RPV Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF	0.53	0.94	1.12	0.71	2.25
IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	0.03	0.26	1.03	0.05	0.14
VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF	0.71	1.19	1.16	0.60	2.61
SPTI SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF	1.29	1.90	1.22	0.50	3.02
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF	3.27	5.35	1.71	5.66	16.17
AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	0.45	0.80	1.10	0.52	1.53
AVDE Avantis International Equity ETF	0.77	1.23	1.17	1.05	3.38
AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	0.87	1.35	1.19	1.19	4.17
DFIVX DFA International Value Portfolio	0.79	1.25	1.18	1.02	3.87
FNDC Schwab Fundamental International Small Co. Index ETF	0.79	1.29	1.17	1.13	2.83
VTIP Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF	3.19	4.90	1.72	6.72	22.10

The Sharpe ratio helps investors understand how much return they're getting for the level of risk taken. A higher Sharpe ratio indicates better risk-adjusted performance, meaning more reward for each unit of risk.

Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio Sharpe ratios as of May 11, 2025 (values are recalculated daily):

1-Year: 0.58
5-Year: 0.91
All Time: 0.48

These values reflect how efficiently the investment has delivered returns relative to its volatility over different time periods. All figures are annualized and based on daily total returns (including price changes and dividends).

Compared to the broad market, where average Sharpe ratios range from 0.41 to 0.94, this portfolio's current Sharpe ratio falls between the 25th and 75th percentiles. This indicates that its risk-adjusted performance is in line with the majority of portfolios, suggesting a balanced approach to risk and return—likely suitable for a wide range of investors.

The chart below shows the rolling Sharpe ratio of Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio compared to the selected benchmark. This view highlights how the investment's risk-adjusted performance has changed over time. For deeper analysis or to customize the calculation, use the Sharpe ratio tool.

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Dividends

Dividend yield

Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio provided a 2.67% dividend yield over the last twelve months.

	TTM	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
Portfolio	2.67%	2.68%	2.50%	2.32%	1.79%	1.64%	1.51%	1.54%	1.20%	1.23%	1.19%	1.11%
Portfolio components:
AVUS Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	1.32%	1.27%	1.41%	1.60%	1.08%	1.19%	0.35%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	1.77%	1.61%	1.65%	1.74%	1.28%	1.21%	0.38%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
RPV Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF	2.27%	2.16%	2.38%	2.29%	1.92%	2.11%	2.28%	2.49%	1.73%	1.73%	2.39%	1.57%
IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	2.20%	2.05%	1.31%	1.41%	1.53%	1.11%	1.44%	1.58%	1.20%	1.21%	1.48%	1.23%
VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF	4.05%	3.85%	3.95%	3.91%	2.56%	3.93%	3.39%	4.74%	4.23%	4.82%	3.92%	3.60%
SPTI SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF	3.79%	3.77%	2.99%	1.45%	0.53%	0.75%	2.02%	1.97%	1.46%	1.23%	1.18%	1.05%
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF	4.19%	4.19%	3.32%	1.15%	0.66%	1.75%	2.28%	1.79%	1.10%	0.84%	0.71%	0.46%
AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	2.93%	3.17%	3.06%	2.77%	2.61%	1.60%	0.35%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
AVDE Avantis International Equity ETF	2.88%	3.29%	3.01%	2.79%	2.46%	1.63%	0.29%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	3.78%	4.31%	3.29%	3.17%	2.39%	1.67%	0.36%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
DFIVX DFA International Value Portfolio	3.45%	3.94%	4.40%	3.78%	4.27%	2.43%	3.70%	3.31%	2.85%	3.37%	3.45%	4.89%
FNDC Schwab Fundamental International Small Co. Index ETF	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
VTIP Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF	2.77%	2.70%	3.36%	6.84%	4.68%	1.20%	1.95%	2.45%	1.52%	0.76%	0.00%	0.82%

Drawdowns

Drawdowns Chart

The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.

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Worst Drawdowns

The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.

The maximum drawdown for the Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio was 32.98%, occurring on Mar 23, 2020. Recovery took 166 trading sessions.

The current Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio drawdown is 3.57%.

Depth	Start	To Bottom	Bottom	To Recover	End	Total
-32.98%	Jan 21, 2020	44	Mar 23, 2020	166	Nov 16, 2020	210
-20.17%	Jan 5, 2022	183	Sep 27, 2022	313	Dec 26, 2023	496
-13.42%	Dec 2, 2024	87	Apr 8, 2025	—	—	—
-5.92%	Nov 9, 2021	16	Dec 1, 2021	23	Jan 4, 2022	39
-5.61%	Aug 1, 2024	3	Aug 5, 2024	14	Aug 23, 2024	17

Volatility

Volatility Chart

The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.

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Diversification

Diversification Metrics

Number of Effective Assets

The portfolio contains 13 assets, with an effective number of assets of 11.34, reflecting the diversification based on asset allocation. This number of effective assets suggests that the portfolio's investments are spread across a variety of assets, indicating a well-diversified allocation. However, true diversification also depends on the correlations between assets.

Asset Correlations Table

The table below displays the correlation coefficients between the individual components of the portfolio, the entire portfolio, and the chosen benchmark.

	^GSPC	VGSH	SPTI	VTIP	VNQ	AVEM	RPV	DFIVX	AVUV	IJR	AVDV	FNDC	AVDE	AVUS	Portfolio
^GSPC	1.00	-0.03	-0.03	0.17	0.67	0.68	0.71	0.71	0.73	0.79	0.72	0.76	0.78	0.96	0.84
VGSH	-0.03	1.00	0.85	0.59	0.13	-0.01	-0.10	-0.01	-0.08	-0.04	0.03	0.05	0.02	-0.05	0.01
SPTI	-0.03	0.85	1.00	0.58	0.15	-0.03	-0.13	-0.05	-0.12	-0.05	-0.00	0.03	0.00	-0.07	-0.01
VTIP	0.17	0.59	0.58	1.00	0.24	0.16	0.12	0.21	0.15	0.16	0.25	0.25	0.23	0.17	0.22
VNQ	0.67	0.13	0.15	0.24	1.00	0.47	0.65	0.56	0.63	0.70	0.58	0.61	0.61	0.69	0.76
AVEM	0.68	-0.01	-0.03	0.16	0.47	1.00	0.55	0.74	0.59	0.60	0.76	0.80	0.79	0.69	0.72
RPV	0.71	-0.10	-0.13	0.12	0.65	0.55	1.00	0.76	0.91	0.87	0.71	0.71	0.73	0.83	0.91
DFIVX	0.71	-0.01	-0.05	0.21	0.56	0.74	0.76	1.00	0.76	0.73	0.93	0.91	0.94	0.77	0.86
AVUV	0.73	-0.08	-0.12	0.15	0.63	0.59	0.91	0.76	1.00	0.96	0.74	0.73	0.74	0.87	0.94
IJR	0.79	-0.04	-0.05	0.16	0.70	0.60	0.87	0.73	0.96	1.00	0.73	0.74	0.75	0.90	0.95
AVDV	0.72	0.03	-0.00	0.25	0.58	0.76	0.71	0.93	0.74	0.73	1.00	0.96	0.96	0.77	0.86
FNDC	0.76	0.05	0.03	0.25	0.61	0.80	0.71	0.91	0.73	0.74	0.96	1.00	0.97	0.80	0.87
AVDE	0.78	0.02	0.00	0.23	0.61	0.79	0.73	0.94	0.74	0.75	0.96	0.97	1.00	0.82	0.88
AVUS	0.96	-0.05	-0.07	0.17	0.69	0.69	0.83	0.77	0.87	0.90	0.77	0.80	0.82	1.00	0.94
Portfolio	0.84	0.01	-0.01	0.22	0.76	0.72	0.91	0.86	0.94	0.95	0.86	0.87	0.88	0.94	1.00

The correlation results are calculated based on daily price changes starting from Sep 27, 2019

Performance Analysis

Risk Analysis

Optimization

Factor Model

Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio

Asset Allocation

Performance

Performance Chart

Returns By Period

Monthly Returns

Expense Ratio

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank

Risk-Adjusted Performance Indicators

Dividends

Dividend yield

Drawdowns

Drawdowns Chart

Worst Drawdowns

Volatility

Volatility Chart

Diversification

Diversification Metrics

Number of Effective Assets

Asset Correlations Table

Performance Analysis

Risk Analysis

Optimization

Factor Model

Portfolios

Screeners

Community