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 11, 2025, the Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio returned 3.39% Year-To-Date and 5.68% of annualized return in the last 10 years.
| YTD | 1M | 6M | 1Y | 5Y* | 10Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^GSPC S&P 500 | -3.77% | 7.44% | -5.60% | 8.37% | 14.12% | 10.46% |
| Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio | 3.39% | 3.14% | 2.26% | 10.56% | 5.49% | 5.68% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 3.17% | 0.55% | 2.79% | 6.40% | -0.96% | 1.32% |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | -3.75% | 7.98% | -5.68% | 9.17% | 15.27% | 11.77% |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 26.78% | 4.95% | 23.81% | 40.49% | 14.17% | 10.36% |
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% | -0.04% | 3.39% | |||||||
| 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% | 11.45% |
| 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% | -2.05% | 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% | 1.32% | 1.03% | -0.59% | 3.44% | 0.38% | 1.62% | -0.25% | 1.06% | 0.58% | 1.04% | 14.49% |
| 2018 | 1.02% | -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 93, Gyroscopic Investing Desert Portfolio is among the top 7% 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 | 1.35 | 2.06 | 1.24 | 0.53 | 3.24 |
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.47 | 0.83 | 1.12 | 0.51 | 1.94 |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 2.41 | 3.33 | 1.43 | 5.34 | 14.29 |
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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 | 3.74% | 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 | 1.35% | 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 0.25%.
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 |
| -4.38% | 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 | 0.05 | -0.24 | 0.99 | 0.75 |
| IAU | 0.05 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 0.05 | 0.47 |
| 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 | 0.47 | 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 correlation matrix reveals that none of the individual positions are heavily correlated with each other, which supports diversification. For instance, IAU (gold) and VTI (total stock market) have a very low correlation of 0.05, indicating that these assets move largely independently and thus help reduce overall portfolio risk. VGIT (intermediate-term government bonds) has a slightly negative correlation with VTI (-0.24), which also contributes positively to diversification by offsetting some stock market volatility.
The portfolio's correlation with individual positions varies, with the highest correlation being 0.75 with VTI, suggesting that the total stock market exposure has a dominant influence on the portfolio's overall behavior. IAU and VGIT have lower correlations with the portfolio at 0.47 and 0.31, respectively, indicating they provide meaningful diversification benefits and do not dominate the portfolio’s returns.
There are no pairs of positions exhibiting very high correlations that would undermine diversification. The moderate correlations between the portfolio and each position imply that while the portfolio is somewhat influenced by the stock market (VTI), it maintains meaningful exposure to gold and bonds, which tend to behave differently under various market conditions.
Overall, the portfolio is neither highly concentrated nor overly fragmented. It strikes a reasonable balance by combining assets with low to moderate correlations, which helps manage risk through diversification while still allowing for growth potential primarily driven by equities.