Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio
The Desert Portfolio is a 3-asset lazy portfolio proposed on the forums at Gyroscopic Investing. It consists of 60% intermediate-term bonds, 30% stocks, and 10% gold.
Asset Allocation
| Position | Category/Sector | Target Weight |
|---|---|---|
IAU iShares Gold Trust | Precious Metals, Gold | 10% |
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | Government Bonds | 60% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | Large Cap Growth Equities | 30% |
Performance
Performance Chart
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The earliest data available for this chart is Nov 23, 2009, corresponding to the inception date of VGIT
Returns By Period
As of May 15, 2025, the Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio returned 3.70% Year-To-Date and 5.62% of annualized return in the last 10 years.
| YTD | 1M | 6M | 1Y | 5Y* | 10Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^GSPC S&P 500 | 0.19% | 9.00% | -1.55% | 12.31% | 15.59% | 10.78% |
| Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio | 3.70% | 2.45% | 3.39% | 10.55% | 5.64% | 5.62% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 2.37% | -0.38% | 2.55% | 5.26% | -1.18% | 1.18% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.21% | 9.56% | -1.64% | 13.05% | 16.81% | 12.09% |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 21.13% | -1.02% | 23.42% | 34.55% | 12.51% | 9.76% |
Monthly Returns
The table below presents the monthly returns of Gyroscopic Investing Desert 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 | 1.93% | 0.76% | -0.40% | 1.10% | 0.26% | 3.70% | |||||||
| 2024 | 0.36% | 0.73% | 2.16% | -2.21% | 2.42% | 1.51% | 2.52% | 1.57% | 1.81% | -1.23% | 2.13% | -1.76% | 10.31% |
| 2023 | 4.08% | -2.73% | 3.44% | 0.85% | -0.64% | 1.11% | 1.28% | -0.81% | -2.95% | -0.57% | 4.89% | 3.31% | 11.46% |
| 2022 | -2.93% | -0.37% | -0.88% | -4.41% | 0.00% | -2.92% | 3.68% | -3.13% | -5.11% | 1.80% | 3.94% | -2.00% | -12.09% |
| 2021 | -0.69% | -0.50% | 0.34% | 2.28% | 1.10% | 0.09% | 1.48% | 0.67% | -2.27% | 1.71% | -0.27% | 1.26% | 5.26% |
| 2020 | 1.77% | -1.18% | -2.06% | 4.57% | 2.21% | 1.05% | 3.13% | 1.93% | -1.52% | -1.02% | 3.12% | 2.17% | 14.84% |
| 2019 | 3.12% | 0.94% | 1.31% | 1.03% | -0.59% | 3.44% | 0.38% | 1.62% | -0.25% | 1.06% | 0.58% | 1.04% | 14.49% |
| 2018 | 1.03% | -1.66% | -0.11% | -0.48% | 1.18% | -0.08% | 0.57% | 1.28% | -0.44% | -2.03% | 1.20% | -0.82% | -0.43% |
| 2017 | 1.30% | 1.70% | 0.03% | 0.96% | 0.66% | -0.21% | 1.05% | 1.00% | -0.13% | 0.46% | 0.75% | 0.60% | 8.45% |
| 2016 | 0.13% | 1.64% | 1.98% | 0.60% | -0.22% | 2.19% | 1.44% | -0.69% | 0.38% | -1.50% | -1.03% | 0.35% | 5.33% |
| 2015 | 1.54% | 0.10% | -0.10% | 0.08% | 0.40% | -1.15% | 0.37% | -1.56% | -0.25% | 2.25% | -0.70% | -0.71% | 0.21% |
| 2014 | 0.40% | 2.26% | -0.60% | 0.40% | 0.97% | 1.31% | -1.25% | 1.95% | -1.61% | 1.17% | 1.14% | 0.07% | 6.31% |
Expense Ratio
Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio has an expense ratio of 0.06%, 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 92, Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio is among the top 8% 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 1.14 | 1.82 | 1.21 | 0.47 | 2.88 |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.65 | 1.08 | 1.16 | 0.71 | 2.68 |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 1.96 | 2.62 | 1.33 | 4.21 | 11.01 |
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Dividends
Dividend yield
Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio provided a 2.65% dividend yield over the last twelve months.
| TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 2.65% | 2.58% | 2.07% | 1.54% | 1.38% | 1.77% | 1.87% | 1.84% | 1.52% | 1.59% | 1.61% | 1.46% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||||||||
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 3.77% | 3.67% | 2.73% | 1.74% | 1.69% | 2.23% | 2.24% | 2.05% | 1.67% | 1.69% | 1.69% | 1.54% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1.30% | 1.27% | 1.44% | 1.67% | 1.21% | 1.42% | 1.78% | 2.04% | 1.71% | 1.92% | 1.98% | 1.76% |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
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 Gyroscopic Investing Desert 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 Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio was 16.15%, occurring on Oct 14, 2022. Recovery took 349 trading sessions.
The current Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio drawdown is 0.34%.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -16.15% | Nov 10, 2021 | 234 | Oct 14, 2022 | 349 | Mar 7, 2024 | 583 |
| -8.85% | Feb 21, 2020 | 19 | Mar 18, 2020 | 29 | Apr 29, 2020 | 48 |
| -4.37% | Feb 20, 2025 | 34 | Apr 8, 2025 | 13 | Apr 28, 2025 | 47 |
| -4.26% | Aug 30, 2018 | 80 | Dec 24, 2018 | 24 | Jan 30, 2019 | 104 |
| -4.25% | May 9, 2013 | 32 | Jun 24, 2013 | 60 | Sep 18, 2013 | 92 |
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 3 assets, with an effective number of assets of 2.17, 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 | IAU | VGIT | VTI | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ^GSPC | 1.00 | 0.04 | -0.24 | 0.99 | 0.75 |
| IAU | 0.04 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 0.05 | 0.46 |
| VGIT | -0.24 | 0.30 | 1.00 | -0.24 | 0.31 |
| VTI | 0.99 | 0.05 | -0.24 | 1.00 | 0.75 |
| Portfolio | 0.75 | 0.46 | 0.31 | 0.75 | 1.00 |
AI Insight on Diversification
The portfolio is moderately diversified, showing a balanced mix of correlations among its positions. The individual assets IAU (gold), VGIT (intermediate-term government bonds), and VTI (total stock market) exhibit relatively low to moderate correlations with each other, which supports diversification. Specifically, the correlation between IAU and VTI is very low (0.05), and VGIT even has a slight negative correlation with VTI (-0.24), both of which enhance diversification by reducing overall portfolio volatility.
No pair of positions is heavily correlated to the extent that it would significantly diminish diversification. The highest correlation among individual assets is between IAU and VGIT at 0.3, which is moderate and does not indicate redundancy. The portfolio’s correlations with individual positions reveal that VTI has the strongest influence on the portfolio (0.75), suggesting that equities are a dominant driver of portfolio performance and risk. IAU and VGIT have lower correlations with the portfolio (0.46 and 0.31 respectively), indicating they contribute to risk reduction and diversification.
Overall, the portfolio is not overly concentrated in any single asset class, but the relatively high correlation with VTI signals that equity exposure is a key factor in portfolio behavior. The inclusion of gold and bonds with low to moderate correlations to equities helps maintain a diversified risk profile, making the portfolio well balanced rather than concentrated.