Conservative Portfolio
This conservative portfolio consists of four ETFs, diversified across domestic and international equity and bond markets. It emphasizes capital preservation and income generation with a higher allocation to bonds (60%) than equities (40%). Exposure to domestic and international assets offers diversification benefits, while the relatively lower allocation to equities reduces overall risk and volatility. This portfolio is suitable for risk-averse investors seeking modest growth and income over the long term.
Asset Allocation
| Position | Category/Sector | Target Weight |
|---|---|---|
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | Total Bond Market | 48% |
IGOV iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | International Government Bonds | 12% |
VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | Foreign Large Cap Equities | 14% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | Large Cap Growth Equities | 26% |
Performance
Performance Chart
Loading data...
The earliest data available for this chart is Jan 29, 2009, corresponding to the inception date of IGOV
Returns By Period
As of May 31, 2025, the Conservative Portfolio returned 4.71% Year-To-Date and 4.97% of annualized return in the last 10 years.
| YTD | 1M | 6M | 1Y | 5Y* | 10Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^GSPC S&P 500 | 0.51% | 6.15% | -2.00% | 12.92% | 14.19% | 10.85% |
| Conservative Portfolio | 4.71% | 1.96% | 2.05% | 9.55% | 4.69% | 4.97% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 16.76% | 5.13% | 12.67% | 14.08% | 11.40% | 6.14% |
IGOV iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | 8.69% | -0.38% | 4.61% | 8.34% | -3.44% | -0.49% |
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 2.49% | -0.67% | 0.77% | 5.82% | -1.00% | 1.54% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.38% | 6.25% | -2.68% | 13.67% | 15.23% | 12.13% |
Monthly Returns
The table below presents the monthly returns of Conservative 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 | 1.75% | 0.94% | -1.31% | 1.31% | 1.96% | 4.71% | |||||||
| 2024 | -0.34% | 1.00% | 1.84% | -3.17% | 2.88% | 0.91% | 2.45% | 2.00% | 1.53% | -2.57% | 2.35% | -2.54% | 6.27% |
| 2023 | 5.09% | -3.04% | 2.91% | 0.99% | -1.33% | 2.41% | 1.36% | -1.63% | -3.50% | -2.03% | 6.61% | 4.56% | 12.47% |
| 2022 | -3.42% | -1.72% | -0.90% | -6.13% | 0.57% | -4.72% | 4.61% | -3.92% | -6.60% | 2.49% | 5.87% | -2.48% | -15.95% |
| 2021 | -0.79% | 0.10% | 0.48% | 2.36% | 0.82% | 0.70% | 1.30% | 0.73% | -2.45% | 2.15% | -1.01% | 1.30% | 5.75% |
| 2020 | 0.63% | -2.29% | -6.38% | 5.83% | 2.71% | 1.58% | 3.14% | 2.20% | -1.42% | -1.25% | 5.90% | 2.40% | 13.09% |
| 2019 | 3.97% | 1.14% | 1.46% | 1.32% | -1.44% | 3.57% | 0.00% | 0.76% | 0.43% | 1.24% | 0.96% | 1.30% | 15.63% |
| 2018 | 1.73% | -2.31% | -0.05% | -0.41% | 0.61% | -0.09% | 1.10% | 0.89% | -0.20% | -3.72% | 0.95% | -1.88% | -3.48% |
| 2017 | 1.25% | 1.40% | 0.49% | 1.18% | 1.36% | 0.44% | 1.47% | 0.58% | 0.60% | 0.68% | 1.07% | 0.90% | 12.04% |
| 2016 | -1.53% | 0.39% | 3.61% | 0.89% | 0.12% | 1.13% | 2.07% | -0.18% | 0.43% | -1.87% | -0.89% | 0.96% | 5.13% |
| 2015 | 0.21% | 1.56% | -0.41% | 0.81% | -0.34% | -1.45% | 1.08% | -2.66% | -0.74% | 3.00% | -0.42% | -0.79% | -0.27% |
| 2014 | -0.75% | 2.53% | 0.03% | 0.79% | 1.30% | 1.02% | -1.15% | 1.68% | -1.90% | 0.93% | 0.98% | -0.60% | 4.88% |
Expense Ratio
Conservative Portfolio has an expense ratio of 0.07%, 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.
Risk-Adjusted Performance
Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank
With an overall rank of 79, Conservative Portfolio is among the top 21% of portfolios on our website when it comes to balancing risk and reward. Below is a breakdown of how it compares using common performance measures.
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.
| Sharpe ratio | Sortino ratio | Omega ratio | Calmar ratio | Martin ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 0.83 | 1.18 | 1.16 | 0.98 | 2.96 |
IGOV iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | 0.87 | 1.21 | 1.14 | 0.24 | 1.65 |
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 1.10 | 1.60 | 1.19 | 0.47 | 2.79 |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.68 | 0.98 | 1.14 | 0.63 | 2.36 |
Loading data...
Dividends
Dividend yield
Conservative Portfolio provided a 2.59% dividend yield over the last twelve months.
| TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 2.59% | 2.63% | 2.30% | 2.10% | 1.75% | 1.72% | 2.22% | 2.39% | 2.08% | 2.22% | 2.19% | 2.46% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||||||||
VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF | 2.81% | 3.36% | 3.16% | 2.91% | 3.16% | 2.04% | 3.04% | 3.35% | 2.77% | 3.05% | 2.92% | 3.68% |
IGOV iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | 0.54% | 0.59% | 0.00% | 0.11% | 0.39% | 0.00% | 0.24% | 0.31% | 0.19% | 0.69% | 0.22% | 1.28% |
BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | 3.74% | 3.67% | 3.09% | 2.60% | 1.97% | 2.22% | 2.72% | 2.81% | 2.54% | 2.51% | 2.57% | 2.79% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1.29% | 1.27% | 1.44% | 1.67% | 1.21% | 1.42% | 1.78% | 2.04% | 1.71% | 1.92% | 1.98% | 1.76% |
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.
Loading data...
Worst Drawdowns
The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the Conservative 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 Conservative Portfolio was 22.18%, occurring on Oct 14, 2022. Recovery took 462 trading sessions.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -22.18% | Nov 10, 2021 | 234 | Oct 14, 2022 | 462 | Aug 19, 2024 | 696 |
| -15.68% | Feb 20, 2020 | 20 | Mar 18, 2020 | 55 | Jun 5, 2020 | 75 |
| -9.93% | Feb 10, 2009 | 19 | Mar 9, 2009 | 23 | Apr 9, 2009 | 42 |
| -8.07% | Jan 29, 2018 | 229 | Dec 24, 2018 | 58 | Mar 20, 2019 | 287 |
| -7.26% | Jul 25, 2011 | 50 | Oct 3, 2011 | 83 | Feb 1, 2012 | 133 |
Volatility
Volatility Chart
The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.
Loading data...
Diversification
Diversification Metrics
Number of Effective Assets
The portfolio contains 4 assets, with an effective number of assets of 3.01, reflecting the diversification based on asset allocation. This number of effective assets suggests a highly concentrated portfolio, where a few assets dominate the allocation, potentially increasing the portfolio's risk due to lack of diversification.
Asset Correlations Table
| ^GSPC | BND | IGOV | VTI | VEA | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ^GSPC | 1.00 | -0.12 | 0.12 | 0.99 | 0.83 | 0.86 |
| BND | -0.12 | 1.00 | 0.44 | -0.12 | -0.08 | 0.22 |
| IGOV | 0.12 | 0.44 | 1.00 | 0.13 | 0.33 | 0.47 |
| VTI | 0.99 | -0.12 | 0.13 | 1.00 | 0.83 | 0.87 |
| VEA | 0.83 | -0.08 | 0.33 | 0.83 | 1.00 | 0.88 |
| Portfolio | 0.86 | 0.22 | 0.47 | 0.87 | 0.88 | 1.00 |
AI Insight on Diversification
The portfolio is moderately diversified with a mix of fixed income and equity positions that exhibit varying degrees of correlation. The bond ETFs BND and IGOV show a moderate positive correlation (0.44), which is typical for fixed income assets but does not significantly reduce diversification on its own. The equity ETFs VTI and VEA are highly correlated (0.83), indicating that these two equity positions move very similarly, which somewhat limits diversification within the equity portion of the portfolio.
The correlations between bonds and equities are low to slightly negative (e.g., BND with VTI at -0.12 and with VEA at -0.08), which helps the portfolio’s overall risk reduction by providing some balance between asset classes. The portfolio’s correlation with individual positions reveals that it is most closely tied to the equity holdings—VTI (0.87) and VEA (0.88)—suggesting that equities dominate the portfolio’s behavior and returns. The bond positions have lower correlations with the portfolio (BND at 0.22 and IGOV at 0.47), indicating they contribute to diversification but have less influence on overall portfolio movements.
Given the high correlation between the two equity ETFs and their strong influence on the portfolio, the equity portion is somewhat concentrated, reducing the benefits of diversification within equities. However, the inclusion of bonds with low or negative correlations to equities enhances the portfolio’s overall diversification. In summary, the portfolio is balanced between fixed income and equities but leans heavily on equities for performance, with moderate diversification benefits primarily coming from the bond allocations.