Pinwheel Portfolio
The Pinwheel Portfolio is a lazy portfolio created by Tyler from PortfolioCharts.com. It uses all four equally-weighted core asset classes: U.S. stocks, international stocks, bonds, and real estate. Each asset class is then enhanced with a performance tilt to optimize performance and reduce volatility and risk.
Asset Allocation
Performance
Performance Chart
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The earliest data available for this chart is Oct 22, 2012, corresponding to the inception date of IEFA
Returns By Period
As of May 11, 2025, the Pinwheel Portfolio returned 3.94% Year-To-Date and 6.52% 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% |
| Pinwheel Portfolio | 3.94% | 6.67% | 0.98% | 10.73% | 9.47% | 6.52% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | -3.75% | 7.98% | -5.68% | 9.17% | 15.27% | 11.77% |
IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 13.69% | 11.67% | 9.95% | 10.61% | 11.70% | 5.67% |
USRT iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF | -0.64% | 8.31% | -6.19% | 11.98% | 10.00% | 5.88% |
SLYV SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF | -12.52% | 9.54% | -17.22% | -4.17% | 13.37% | 6.66% |
IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 6.34% | 10.73% | 1.62% | 7.45% | 7.84% | 3.53% |
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 3.17% | 0.55% | 2.79% | 6.40% | -0.96% | 1.32% |
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF | 1.97% | 0.20% | 2.56% | 5.69% | 1.16% | 1.48% |
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 Pinwheel 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 | 2.43% | 0.72% | -0.69% | 0.31% | 1.14% | 3.94% | |||||||
| 2024 | -1.60% | 1.89% | 2.88% | -2.86% | 3.24% | 0.75% | 3.98% | 2.18% | 2.25% | -1.84% | 2.32% | -3.25% | 10.02% |
| 2023 | 7.06% | -3.42% | 1.46% | 0.65% | -1.92% | 3.25% | 2.88% | -2.58% | -3.99% | -1.85% | 6.70% | 5.52% | 13.69% |
| 2022 | -3.52% | -0.94% | 0.69% | -4.87% | -0.62% | -5.37% | 4.50% | -3.74% | -7.78% | 3.80% | 6.74% | -2.69% | -13.88% |
| 2021 | 0.39% | 1.93% | 1.95% | 3.23% | 2.14% | -0.10% | 0.55% | 1.23% | -2.99% | 2.98% | -1.64% | 3.39% | 13.66% |
| 2020 | -0.63% | -4.54% | -10.61% | 7.01% | 2.65% | 2.64% | 4.12% | 2.68% | -2.39% | -0.85% | 7.92% | 4.23% | 11.25% |
| 2019 | 6.60% | 1.35% | 0.71% | 1.57% | -2.91% | 4.38% | 0.01% | 0.26% | 1.38% | 2.03% | 0.37% | 2.29% | 19.25% |
| 2018 | 1.97% | -3.72% | 0.54% | 0.13% | 1.18% | -0.11% | 1.25% | 0.61% | -0.87% | -4.46% | 1.83% | -3.90% | -5.71% |
| 2017 | 1.92% | 2.00% | 0.46% | 1.14% | 0.69% | 0.63% | 1.84% | 0.49% | 1.09% | 0.70% | 1.34% | 0.91% | 14.02% |
| 2016 | -2.53% | 0.95% | 5.47% | 0.76% | -0.30% | 2.32% | 3.03% | -0.68% | 0.65% | -2.46% | -0.10% | 1.45% | 8.61% |
| 2015 | 1.35% | 1.35% | -0.31% | 0.36% | 0.00% | -1.85% | -0.11% | -3.80% | -1.24% | 4.52% | -0.75% | -1.12% | -1.81% |
| 2014 | -1.24% | 3.87% | 0.04% | 0.67% | 1.27% | 1.87% | -1.52% | 2.15% | -3.83% | 2.30% | 0.91% | -0.49% | 5.93% |
Expense Ratio
Pinwheel Portfolio has an expense ratio of 0.09%, 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 80, Pinwheel Portfolio is among the top 20% 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 0.47 | 0.83 | 1.12 | 0.51 | 1.94 |
IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 0.62 | 1.05 | 1.14 | 0.84 | 2.45 |
USRT iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF | 0.64 | 1.05 | 1.14 | 0.65 | 2.25 |
SLYV SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF | -0.19 | -0.03 | 1.00 | -0.11 | -0.34 |
IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 0.41 | 0.73 | 1.09 | 0.34 | 1.33 |
VGIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF | 1.35 | 2.06 | 1.24 | 0.53 | 3.24 |
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF | 3.38 | 5.63 | 1.75 | 5.85 | 16.82 |
IAU iShares Gold Trust | 2.41 | 3.33 | 1.43 | 5.34 | 14.29 |
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Dividends
Dividend yield
Pinwheel 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% | 2.66% | 2.41% | 1.97% | 1.84% | 1.80% | 2.29% | 2.65% | 2.30% | 2.11% | 2.46% | 2.51% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||||||||
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% |
IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | 3.05% | 3.47% | 3.20% | 2.70% | 3.32% | 1.90% | 3.18% | 3.46% | 2.57% | 2.96% | 2.63% | 3.10% |
USRT iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF | 2.84% | 2.85% | 3.18% | 3.47% | 2.27% | 3.12% | 3.34% | 5.66% | 3.43% | 3.98% | 3.59% | 3.46% |
SLYV SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF | 2.65% | 2.30% | 2.11% | 1.47% | 1.94% | 1.40% | 1.66% | 2.14% | 5.53% | 2.18% | 6.55% | 7.50% |
IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF | 3.01% | 3.20% | 2.89% | 2.70% | 3.06% | 1.87% | 3.15% | 2.76% | 2.34% | 2.28% | 2.52% | 2.30% |
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% |
VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF | 4.18% | 4.19% | 3.32% | 1.15% | 0.66% | 1.75% | 2.28% | 1.79% | 1.10% | 0.84% | 0.71% | 0.46% |
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 Pinwheel 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 Pinwheel Portfolio was 23.65%, occurring on Mar 23, 2020. Recovery took 97 trading sessions.
The current Pinwheel Portfolio drawdown is 0.44%.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -23.65% | Feb 21, 2020 | 22 | Mar 23, 2020 | 97 | Aug 10, 2020 | 119 |
| -21.05% | Nov 16, 2021 | 230 | Oct 14, 2022 | 363 | Mar 27, 2024 | 593 |
| -11.53% | Apr 29, 2015 | 184 | Jan 20, 2016 | 108 | Jun 23, 2016 | 292 |
| -11.2% | Jan 29, 2018 | 229 | Dec 24, 2018 | 66 | Apr 1, 2019 | 295 |
| -9.83% | Feb 19, 2025 | 35 | Apr 8, 2025 | — | — | — |
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 8 assets, with an effective number of assets of 7.69, reflecting the diversification based on asset allocation. This number of effective assets indicates a moderate level of diversification, where some assets may have a more significant influence on overall performance.
Asset Correlations Table
| ^GSPC | IAU | VGSH | VGIT | USRT | IEMG | SLYV | IEFA | VTI | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ^GSPC | 1.00 | 0.00 | -0.13 | -0.17 | 0.57 | 0.69 | 0.76 | 0.80 | 0.99 | 0.86 |
| IAU | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.34 | 0.37 | 0.10 | 0.17 | 0.00 | 0.13 | 0.01 | 0.26 |
| VGSH | -0.13 | 0.34 | 1.00 | 0.80 | 0.10 | -0.06 | -0.13 | -0.06 | -0.13 | 0.05 |
| VGIT | -0.17 | 0.37 | 0.80 | 1.00 | 0.11 | -0.10 | -0.18 | -0.10 | -0.17 | 0.02 |
| USRT | 0.57 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 1.00 | 0.42 | 0.57 | 0.51 | 0.59 | 0.74 |
| IEMG | 0.69 | 0.17 | -0.06 | -0.10 | 0.42 | 1.00 | 0.58 | 0.78 | 0.70 | 0.80 |
| SLYV | 0.76 | 0.00 | -0.13 | -0.18 | 0.57 | 0.58 | 1.00 | 0.68 | 0.80 | 0.81 |
| IEFA | 0.80 | 0.13 | -0.06 | -0.10 | 0.51 | 0.78 | 0.68 | 1.00 | 0.80 | 0.87 |
| VTI | 0.99 | 0.01 | -0.13 | -0.17 | 0.59 | 0.70 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 1.00 | 0.87 |
| Portfolio | 0.86 | 0.26 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.74 | 0.80 | 0.81 | 0.87 | 0.87 | 1.00 |
AI Insight on Diversification
The portfolio is moderately diversified with a mix of asset classes that exhibit varying degrees of correlation, which supports risk management but also reveals some concentration risks.
Notably, the highest correlations are observed among equity positions: VTI (a broad U.S. stock ETF), SLYV (small-cap value stocks), IEFA (developed international stocks), and IEMG (emerging markets stocks) all show strong positive correlations ranging from 0.68 to 0.87 with each other and with the portfolio overall. This cluster of equities dominates the portfolio’s behavior, as evidenced by their high correlations with the portfolio itself (0.8 to 0.87), indicating that the portfolio’s returns are largely driven by these equity holdings.
On the other hand, the fixed income positions VGSH (short-term Treasuries) and VGIT (intermediate-term Treasuries) have moderate correlations with the portfolio (0.05 and 0.02 respectively), and relatively low correlations with the equity ETFs, especially negative correlations with some equity segments (e.g., VGIT and SLYV at -0.18). This suggests that these bond holdings provide some diversification benefits by reducing overall portfolio volatility and acting as a buffer during equity market downturns.
IAU (gold) has low to moderate positive correlations with the portfolio (0.26) and low correlations with most other assets, which supports its role as a diversifier. Its modest correlation with VGSH and VGIT (~0.34-0.37) indicates some shared sensitivity to macroeconomic factors but generally it behaves differently from stocks and bonds.
USRT (U.S. real estate) shows moderate correlations with equities (around 0.5-0.6) and the portfolio (0.74), suggesting it behaves somewhat like an equity proxy but with distinct characteristics. It adds a unique risk-return profile that is neither fully correlated with stocks nor bonds.
In summary, while the portfolio benefits from including bonds and gold to reduce correlation and enhance diversification, the heavy concentration in correlated equity positions means that the portfolio is somewhat equity-centric and could be vulnerable to broad equity market movements. The portfolio is not overly concentrated in a single position but is dominated by equity exposure, which drives its overall risk and return profile. Further diversification could be achieved by increasing allocations to lower-correlated assets or alternative investments.