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 31, 2025, the Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio returned 4.82% Year-To-Date and 5.80% 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% |
| Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio | 4.82% | 1.35% | 2.98% | 12.20% | 5.40% | 5.80% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 3.53% | -0.82% | 2.37% | 6.83% | -0.96% | 1.36% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.38% | 6.25% | -2.68% | 13.67% | 15.23% | 12.13% |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 25.55% | -0.02% | 23.70% | 40.51% | 13.46% | 10.41% |
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% | 1.35% | 4.82% | |||||||
| 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 94, Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio is among the top 6% 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 | 1.49 | 2.24 | 1.27 | 0.59 | 3.53 |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.68 | 0.98 | 1.14 | 0.63 | 2.36 |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 2.29 | 2.98 | 1.38 | 4.85 | 13.25 |
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Dividends
Dividend yield
Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio provided a 2.63% dividend yield over the last twelve months.
| TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 2.63% | 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 | 3.73% | 3.67% | 2.72% | 1.74% | 1.69% | 2.23% | 2.24% | 2.05% | 1.67% | 1.69% | 1.69% | 1.54% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 1.29% | 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.
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, with a mix of assets showing varying degrees of correlation that both support and limit diversification benefits. The correlation matrix reveals that IAU (gold) and VGIT (intermediate-term government bonds) have a moderate positive correlation of 0.3, which suggests some shared movement but not enough to significantly reduce diversification. VTI (total stock market) exhibits very low correlation with IAU (0.05) and a slight negative correlation with VGIT (-0.24), indicating that equities provide meaningful diversification relative to bonds and gold.
The portfolio’s correlation with individual positions shows that it is most closely aligned with VTI at 0.75, implying that equities have a dominant influence on the portfolio’s overall behavior. IAU and VGIT have lower correlations with the portfolio at 0.46 and 0.31 respectively, reflecting their smaller or less impactful weightings or more independent price movements.
No pair of positions is heavily correlated to the extent that it would severely hurt diversification, but the relatively high correlation between the portfolio and VTI suggests a concentration toward equities. The presence of low or negative correlations between VTI and VGIT, as well as the low correlation between VTI and IAU, helps reduce overall portfolio volatility and enhances risk mitigation.
In summary, the portfolio balances exposure across asset classes with some concentration in equities. It is not highly concentrated nor fully diversified but occupies a middle ground where diversification benefits exist, primarily through the inclusion of bonds and gold, which have low to moderate correlations with the dominant equity position.