Risk Parity Radio
Risk Parity Radio is a podcast about investing located at www.riskparityradio.com. RPR explores risk-parity style portfolios comprised of uncorrelated or negatively correlated asset classes -- stocks, selected bonds, gold, managed futures, and other easily accessible fund options for the DIY investor. The goal is to construct portfolios that are robust and can be drawn down on in perpetuity, and to maximize projected Safe Withdrawal Rates regardless of projected overall returns.
Risk Parity Radio
Episode 418: Different Drummers, Even More GDE, Nice Blogging When You Can Get It, And Portfolio Reviews As Of April 25, 2025
In this episode we answer emails from Jeff, Jenzo and Sam. We discuss spending money on relationships, a 72(t) situation, what to do with an unused Coverdell, GDE (again), a nice risk parity write-up and some random musings about the history of free speech and communications technologies.
And THEN we our go through our weekly portfolio reviews of the eight sample portfolios you can find at Portfolios | Risk Parity Radio.
Additional links:
Jenzo's GDE Backtest: testfol.io/?s=0SLNjC7As4b
Sam's Most Excellent Risk Parity Explication Blog Post: 15 Uncorrelated Assets | SSiS
Sam's Most Excellent Bill Of Rights Blog Post: Boxed In | SSiS
Breathless Unedited AI-Bot Summary:
When markets tumble and headlines scream doom, properly diversified portfolios reveal their quiet strength. This episode showcases exactly that phenomenon - while small cap value has plummeted 15.58% and the S&P 500 has shed 5.74% year-to-date, gold has soared a remarkable 25.87%, creating a balancing effect that keeps risk parity portfolios remarkably stable.
We dive into listener Jeff's retirement strategy, examining his use of 72T distributions and exploring whether his recent RV purchase makes financial sense. The answer turns out to be more about relationships than raw numbers. Research shows expenditures that facilitate meaningful connections tend to yield the greatest happiness returns - a powerful framework for evaluating major purchases in retirement.
The emerging world of composite leveraged ETFs takes center stage as we examine GDE, which combines S&P 500 exposure with gold allocation at 1.8x leverage. While innovative funds like these package risk parity principles into convenient solutions, they represent a tradeoff between simplicity and control. We explore whether these instruments belong in a sophisticated asset allocation strategy or if traditional single-asset funds still offer superior flexibility.
For investors fascinated by portfolio design theory, we tackle the question of just how many truly uncorrelated assets one needs. While hedge funds and endowments might pursue 15+ distinct asset classes, diminishing returns suggest a more practical approach for individual investors. The mathematical reality shows the incremental benefit of adding that 11th or 12th asset pales in comparison to the impact of moving from one or two assets to five diverse investments.
Our weekly portfolio review reveals the practical power of these principles. Despite market turmoil, most of our sample portfolios remain nearly flat or slightly positive for the year - precisely the stability risk parity promises. Whether you're just beginning your investment journey or fine-tuning an established strategy, this episode offers both theoretical frameworks and practical evidence for building resilient portfolios in uncertain times.
Ready to hear more? Subscribe, leave a review, and send your questions to frank@riskparityradio.com.
A foolish consistency, is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer, a different drummer.
Mostly Mary:And now, coming to you from dead center on your dial, welcome to Risk Parity Radio, where we explore alternatives and asset allocations for the do-it-yourself investor Broadcasting to you now from the comfort of his easy chair. Here is your host, frank Vasquez.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Thank you, Mary, and welcome to Risk Parity Radio. If you have just stumbled in here, you will find that this podcast is kind of like a dive bar of personal finance and do-it-yourself investing.
Voices:Expect the unexpected.
Mostly Uncle Frank:It's a relatively small place. It's just me and Mary in here and we only have a few mismatched bar stools and some easy chairs. We have no sponsors, we have no guests and we have no expansion plans.
Voices:I don't think I'd like another job.
Mostly Uncle Frank:What we do have is a little free library of updated and unconflicted information for do-it-yourself investors.
Voices:Now who's up for a trip to the library?
Mostly Uncle Frank:tomorrow. So please enjoy our mostly cold beer served in cans and our coffee served in old, chipped and cracked mugs, along with what our little free library has to offer. Welcome but now onward, episode 418 today on risk parity radio it's time for the grand unveiling of money which means we'll be doing our weekly portfolio reviews of the eight sample portfolios you can find at wwwriskparryradiocom on the portfolios page. And the stock market went up for once. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Voices:I think I've improved on your methods a bit too.
Voices:But before we get to that, I'm intrigued by this, how you say emails and First off.
Mostly Uncle Frank:First off, we have an email from Jeff and the subject is it's a nutty kind of email.
Voices:I used to be able to name every nut that there was, and it used to drive my mother crazy because she used to say, harlan pepper, if you don't stop naming nuts. And the joke was, of course, that we lived in pine nut and I think that's what put it in my head at that at that point. So I'd go to see she'd hear me in the other room and she would just start yelling. I'd say peanut, hazelnut, cashew nut and Jeff writes Hello Frank and Mary.
Mostly Mary:I've been considering writing in for a while, but after and during the long AI episode, I thought I'd go ahead and do it. That was brutal, by the way.
Mostly Uncle Frank:This is pretty much the worst video ever made.
Mostly Mary:Anyway, we made the decision to slow down the dog training business.
Voices:A bloodhound not only has a great nose, but he also they can talk. And so when he's doing that, he's talking, he's saying what you doing, he's saying what you doing, what you doing, what you doing, what you doing, and he's saying I'm ready. That's when you know he's ready for a show, because he says I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, see that. And I know he's ready. What's your point?
Mostly Mary:He says I'm ready, I've walked and I'm ready have a good night's sleep and then we'll get going and it'll be showtime for you, right? Of course, we didn't realize we were doing so in an environment that was going to cause a slowdown in the industry. So we're dealing with having to supplement the business with retirement funds, at least for a while, to keep our one employee paid and somewhat productive. I suspect later this year things will turn around and the business will once again be self-sufficient. We started a 72T last August, equating to about 1.3% of our invested portfolio. It looks like we're going to need to start another for approximately the same amount in April or May. At that point we'd be at about 2.6% of our invested portfolio.
Mostly Mary:For reference, the portfolio is in a modified golden ratio portfolio 25% total stock, 25% small cap value, 25 percent long-term treasuries, 15 percent gold, 5 percent commodities managed futures and 5 percent money market. I'm totally comfortable with the portfolio. Thanks to you and your tutoring, I've been able to analyze until my heart is content, so that I am comfortable moving forward. We're looking to do some RV traveling when our junior in high school graduates and we bought a brand new travel trailer in January for about 1.5% of our invested portfolio. Sweet, with that withdrawal I'll be up to 4.1% withdrawn in 2025, which I wasn't sure I'd ever feel comfortable with. I want to thank you for providing me with the knowledge and tools to become comfortable with enjoying the fruits of our labor at 53 and 50.
Voices:We had the tools, we had the talent.
Mostly Mary:I do have a question Is there any advantage to starting the second 72T on one of my wife's IRAs rather than on another one of mine? The obvious disadvantage is that we have to go three years longer with equal payments to get to 59 and a half. But as we're planning to continue to live off of these going forward, I can't imagine that it's that big of a deal. I'd love to hear your input, however.
Mostly Mary:Another question I have is regarding my kids' Coverdell college savings accounts. The freshman in college has about $80,000, and the junior in high school has about $70,000 in their Coverdells. It would appear, through academic scholarships, work-study programs and athletic scholarships, they won't have to use this money at all. Right now it's in an American Century Aggressive Mutual Fund. I never moved it to Fidelity when I moved all my retirement accounts. What would you suggest doing with this money, as I hope they can eventually use the money to get started with their lives? I know that the funds I initially invested after tax can be withdrawn without penalty or tax, while the earnings will be taxed and assessed a 10% penalty if not used for educational expenses. Again, I say thank you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and being so free with helping us feel comfortable with our retirement investments. I look forward to listening to each and every new podcast, Jeff.
Voices:The dog ain't gonna talk, but his mind is like a telepathy. Think what he says I want the best one here. I want the best one you've ever seen. And then the judge in his mind, because he can pick up on the lepers. They will sometimes give him blue ribbon. That's not a bad idea. Maybe I just should do that. Practice that right.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Well, I'm glad you're making good use of what we do here and that it's helping you spend mo' money.
Voices:Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Your RV purchase reminded me of part of the presentation I gave at the Economy Conference this year, which was about what things give you greater well-being in life if you spend money on them, and the primary one is actually relationships, and that comes from a lot of research by Daniel Crosby and others.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And that's the interesting thing about things like RVs, or something that you are likely to use for going to have fun in, or something that you are likely to use for going to have fun in, and the question in my mind always becomes is this purchase going to facilitate more fun or better relationships or not?
Mostly Uncle Frank:And the same thing could be a yes for one person and a no for another person, depending on what those relationships are and what the rest of their life looks like. And in your case, it's clearly a big thumbs up, since you and your wife want to do this. You're at an age when it's going to be the most fun in your 50s You're not 80 years old or even 70. And what's going to be the most fun now is actually planning some of these adventures, because the funny thing about travel is, if you can plan it well in advance, you actually get a psychic benefit from just anticipating doing it and talking about it with whomever you're going to go on the adventure with. But I think that's a good question to ask whenever you're considering some kind of large purchase in retirement or whether you should do something or not is what effect is this going to have on first the relationships I care about, and then would it facilitate me developing more relationships, positive relationships, not negative ones?
Voices:So, Brian, we're even now right Ready to start a new life in England. I've got my money. Your wounds have healed up nicely. What do you say? We let bygones be bygones. Hmm, you shot me in both my knees then lit me on fire.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And if you use that framing, then the only question on the purchase is does this fit into some kind of budget I've made out for myself?
Mostly Uncle Frank:And you stop thinking about things like, well, maybe I can cheap out on this in some way or save some money and on this in some way, when that's not the point. The point is, is this going to be relationship positive or not? But enough on that, at least for one podcast. Your questions your first one's about the second 72T and whether you should do it in your wife's IRAs or your IRAs, because there's a three-year difference and she would have to be on the plan a little bit longer. I don't think in this case it matters one way or the other. Forget about it. So if that's more convenient for you or just feels better, I would go ahead and do that. You're really not talking about much time and I'm sure this is not going to be a large portion of your assets overall, and if that's the case, I think you are correct to think that it's not a big deal, because I don't think it is.
Voices:You are correct, sir.
Mostly Uncle Frank:yes, your next question, or your other question, was about this Coverdale college savings accounts, and I looked into this briefly and I think what makes the most sense for money you're not going to be actually using is to roll that into a 529 plan, which is allowed. I think you can only do one rollover out of a Coverdell a year, but once it's in a 529 plan, then you get all of the more favorable 529 rules, including things like being able to change beneficiaries. So if you're thinking about really long-term planning, you may have grandchildren someday and you could leave this 529 you're creating in the name of your now children Well, I'm sure they'll still be your children later too With the idea that you're going to transfer that money to some other person for education. It has to be some other relative, but that person does not need to have been born right now and that now does not need to be used for just college education, but could be used for some kind of primary education or related schooling. There is also a provision now with 529s and being able to convert them in part to Roth IRAs.
Mostly Uncle Frank:I don't know if that would apply in this circumstance, because I think the 529 has to be open for 15 years and I don't know whether you'd get grandfathered in for the amount of time the Coverdell was open. I just don't know what the rules 15 years and I don't know whether you'd get grandfathered in for the amount of time the Coverdell was open. I just don't know what the rules are on that and I couldn't find anything quickly that would answer that question. But I think the first step would be to roll those things into 529s and then go from there. And finally, I just want to say I greatly appreciate your listenership and your contribution to this podcast.
Voices:That's gold, jerry gold.
Mostly Uncle Frank:There are a number of different categories of people that listen to this podcast, and I feel you fall into the category I like to think of as my different drummers named after the quote for Thoreau.
Voices:If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Which are people who have forged their lives through non-standard career paths or just ways of approaching life that don't follow other people's conventions.
Voices:ways of approaching life that don't follow other people's conventions. It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses Hit it.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And you are generally people that just don't like other people telling them what to do, but really don't want to fight about it either.
Voices:You just want to go off and do what you want to do. We few, we happy few.
Mostly Uncle Frank:We band of brothers and I identify with that, and so I'm very happy to Be able to facilitate that in your lives.
Voices:For he, today that sheds His blood with me, shall be my brother. Be he ne'er so vile. This day shall gentle his condition.
Voices:And gentlemen in England Now abed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here and hold their manhoods cheap whilst any speaks that thought with us upon St Presbyterian Day.
Mostly Uncle Frank:So thank you very much for your listenership and thank you for your email.
Voices:Macadamia nut. That was the one that was sent her into a gone crazy. She said you stop naming nuts and Hubert used to be able to make the sound and he wasn't talking, but he used to go. That sounded like macadamia nut, Iron nut, which is a nut, but it's also the name of the town, Pistachio nut. Red pistachio nut. Natural, all natural white pistachio nut.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Second off. Second off. We have an email from Jenzo.
Voices:It's showtime.
Mostly Mary:I'll sacrifice your swordsman of Lansdor and I'll summon Jenzo.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And Jenzo writes.
Mostly Mary:Second, a riddle what product has 1.8 times exposure, a 0.2% expense ratio? The underlying assets are critical components of a risk parity portfolio and has matched the performance of these underlying assets with basically zero volatility drag since inception. Surprise, it's GDE. Take a look at this backtest of GDE. Compared to a VOO slash, GLDM equivalent, it is pretty remarkable.
Voices:Inconceivable.
Mostly Mary:The fund still only has $61 million in assets under management as of mid-February, but what a run. The only other leveraged product I have found that has been able to keep up with the underlying assets is RSSB 2X, global Stocks and Treasuries, but nothing like GDE. I think it's been a few years since you had examined it on the podcast. I hope you'll be able to get on the bike soon as the thawing continues. Best Genzo.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Well GDE.
Voices:Genzo, strut your stuff.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Yes, I hadn't talked about this for a while, but it's come up a lot recently. I think it's become very popular, since gold has been outperforming these days. Just so people know, gde is a composite fund with leverage in it that combines the S&P 500 and an allocation to gold.
Voices:You're insane gold member.
Mostly Uncle Frank:So it is kind of like holding a leveraged form of VOO and GLDM together, as Genso has observed, and I will put your link in the show notes to the test folio analysis. We'll put your link in the show notes to the test folio analysis. So we originally talked about this back in episodes 167 and 170 when the fund was new, but have more recently talked about it in episodes 407 and 415, which I do not wish to repeat. Everything I said there. The thing is your email came in before those episodes went out, since we have about a two-month delay on the emails here, so I won't repeat all that.
Mostly Uncle Frank:I'll just say that these composite funds can be used to construct risk parity style portfolios, particularly if you're doing some kind of leveraged or return-stacked kind of setup where you have multiple assets within the same fund. It's still my preference to have each fund represent only one asset, because I think it facilitates rebalancing in a better way and it's harder to set the whole thing up in terms of macro allocations when you have multiple assets in one fund. But it's not insurmountable, it's just a function of algebra. And you also mentioned the fund RSSB, which is one of the newer return stack funds from Corey Hofstein, which has the same kind of principles. So all these are relatively new and I'm interested to see how people are going to be using them, because there does seem to be a good future here for these sorts of things. However, for us old fogies who just want to stick with some simple one asset funds, you know, at my age the mind starts playing tricks.
Mostly Uncle Frank:So, ah, death, that's only the cat, oh it's probably not something I'm going to incorporate in something I'm doing, which doesn't mean that it's not appropriate for you to use in your own personal situation. It's also funny you mention the bike, because in February it was difficult to get out on the bike here, but I've had a lot more success recently. I'm trying to ride at least 100 miles a week. I've only got 10 miles left for this week, so we'll see if we can keep that up if you don't start making more sense, we're gonna have to put you in a home.
Voices:You already put me in a home, then we'll put you in the crooked homies.
Mostly Uncle Frank:On 60 minutes I'll be good I don't think there'll be any riding today, Saturday, since it's raining outside.
Voices:Not going to do it Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.
Mostly Uncle Frank:But probably tomorrow when this podcast comes out. Hopefully that helps Check out those episodes if you haven't yet 407 and 415. And 170 and 167. And thank you for your email.
Voices:Not Jinzo, that's right pal.
Mostly Mary:And I bet you know what that means. It's time to say goodbye to every trap card you have on the field. It's a trap, it's a trap, it's a trap, it's a trap, it's a trap.
Mostly Uncle Frank:It's a trap, it's a trap. It's a trap, it's a. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap, it's a, it's a trap, last off. Last off is an email from Sam.
Voices:Yosemite Sam, it's Yosemite Sam. Yosemite Sam, yosemite Sam, yeah, yosemite Sam. No-transcript. Yosemite Sam, yeah, yosemite Sam. The roughest, toughest key man, stuffest hombre has ever crossed the Rio Grande, and I ain't no man be pandy.
Mostly Mary:And Sam writes Frank, thanks to your diligent effort spreading the word on risk parity investing with some comedic clips interjected. More Seinfeld, please.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Yada, yada, yada, Yada, yada yada.
Mostly Mary:Y. No need to read this email on the podcast, but it would be great to hear your general thoughts on finding 15 truly uncorrelated assets in the public markets. Not able to find anything specifically on this topic online, here's a post where I tried to break down the opportunities and challenges of this investing strategy, leveraging the work of you and others in the efficient and diversified ETF space, of you and others in the efficient and diversified ETF space. Also, as a lawyer, feel free to review this research piece on the US Bill of Rights and how these core tenets have changed over the course of history, based on various legislative actions, sometimes bubbling all the way up to the Supreme Court. Looking forward to hearing your next podcast on a disjointed cadence about random topics. That's exactly what retirement projects should be about. Thanks, sam.
Voices:I speak softly, but I carry a big stick. Oh yeah, well, I speak loud and I carry a bigger stick and I use it too.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Well, thanks for writing in Sam. Sam has linked to a couple of posts on his blog, and the first one is all about the risk parity ideas from Ray Dalio and gives a history of the concepts and there are some nice graphs in there. I do think if you're interested in this, you should check this post out, because it's a very nice summary of a lot of things and there is a nice four quadrant model or graph with, like a target imposed over it, with assets on the graph showing which ones perform well in increasing inflation or decreasing inflation, increasing growth or decreasing growth in those four quadrants, and I think that's a nice way to visualize the concepts that we're using here and the kind of diversification we're looking for. So I probably will be referring people to that when they ask me if I've written up posts about summaries of this material, and the answer is, of course, not. I'm a podcaster, not a writer.
Voices:I don't think I'd like another job.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Now, as your question about my general thoughts on finding 15 truly uncorrelated assets in the public markets, I think that would be very difficult to do, and that is what hedge funds try to do and why they might invest in, also private markets. That is also what endowments do famously David Swenson at Yale and the people that have followed those ideas but on the other hand, I don't think that's necessary for what we're trying to accomplish here, because in those circumstances, they just have a lot more resources. They are planning on using leverage in various ways and also doing analyses to change the composition of the portfolios over time. Fortunately, we don't need to do all that. All we need to do is find something that has a high safe withdrawal rate, because that's what we're actually using these things for.
Voices:You don't even know what a write-off is, do you? No, I don't, but they do, and they're the ones writing it off.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And, as you can imagine, the incremental value of adding another asset to a portfolio goes down with the number of assets you already have. So going from one or two to five makes a big difference, but going from 10 to 15 probably isn't going to make much of a difference, and that actually does come through in the mathematics of it. I'll also link to that short video from Ray Dalio where he explains the Holy Grail Principle. But that's why we have three principles and not just one the Holy Grail Principle, the Macroallocation Principle and the Simplicity Principle. You want to go back to episode 7 to go through all three of those, but we talk about them frequently here. I also did take a look at your research piece on the US Bill of Rights, and the First Amendment in particular. I have to confess I haven't read the whole thing because it's quite a tome.
Voices:It's like you're unraveling a big cable knit sweater that someone keeps knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting.
Mostly Uncle Frank:But, yes, that has been subject to many applications and interpretations over time, and it's really more only in the 20th century that we have the kind of First Amendment jurisprudence that people were familiar with, starting with Oliver Wendell Holmes, I believe, and discussions about whether you could be prohibited from yelling fire in a crowded theater Fire, fire.
Voices:Fire, fire.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And the answer is yes, but that's really not the subject matter of this podcast. I did have one musing when I was reading it, or one recollection that I'll share with you. It's kind of a little bit off the subject, but related.
Voices:You are talking about the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And that is how the injection of new technologies in communications often change the way people actually communicate, what kinds of ideas are communicated, and then leading to the Signal and the Noise, which is a book that Nate Silver wrote about 10 years ago. But he was just recounting how, when the printing press was invented, people thought that well, this is going to lead to an expansion of knowledge and a golden era of people sharing things and knowing things. And oftentimes these technologies don't work out that way, because what the printing press led to was a lot of conflicts and eventually wars, which ended with a 30 years war in the 17th century. Those were religious wars. It also led to the popularity of witch hunting in the Middle Ages and, in particular, the publication of a book, a notorious book called the Malleus Maleficarum, which was all about witchcraft and how to identify witches and how to torture them properly to get confessions and all kinds of nefarious ideas.
Voices:Tell me, what do you do with witches Burn?
Voices:And what do you burn, apart from witches, poor witches.
Voices:Wood. So why do witches burn? Because they're made of wood. Good, so how do we tell whether she is made of wood?
Voices:Build a bridge out of her? Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of?
Voices:stone, oh yes. Does wood sink in water? No, no, it floats, it floats.
Voices:Throw her into the pool. Throw her into the pool.
Voices:What also floats in water Bread.
Voices:Apples, very small rocks, cider, gravy, cherries, mud Churches.
Voices:Churches Lead, lead A duck, exactly, exactly.
Voices:So, logically, if she weighs the same as a duck. She's made of wood and therefore away.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And that stuff persisted for hundreds of years. But essentially, I mean this is a cautionary tale that the technology that we have now the invention of the internet and then all of these different ways of popularizing or spreading ideas is very helpful for many people. But it's not all for the good, and it's kind of naive to think that if anybody can say anything at any time, anywhere, and all these ideas are put out there, that the best ones are going to rise to the top and the bad ones are going to go away, because that's not how this actually works, that's not how this actually works.
Mostly Mary:That's not how it works.
Mostly Uncle Frank:That's not how any of this works what happens is that the ideas that are attached to the most attractive stories, movements or ideas tend to be the ones that are preeminent, or become preeminent, at least for a while, and some of those are good things and some of those are bad things, because, as Yuval Harari observed in the book Sapiens, humans are essentially animals that tell stories, and so it's the most attractive stories that tend to win the day, not the best or most rational arguments. Win the day, not the best or most rational arguments. I find your arguments strewn with gaping defects in logic.
Voices:Maybe, but you can't evaluate a man by logic alone. He has avoided two appointments that I've made for his physical exam without reason. That's not at all surprising, doctor.
Mostly Uncle Frank:He's probably terrified of your beads and rattles. Anyway, sorry to go off on this tangent, but that's what your second post reminded me of most when I was reading it. You never know what you're going to get, so hopefully you're enjoying my disjointed cadence about random topics.
Voices:And thank you for your email. I start off with curls. That's good for the bicep. I do ten reps, two sets. That's fantastic. You work out with weights? No, I don't, you should.
Voices:Why have you decided?
Voices:Oh, get the swordfish, best swordfish in the city.
Voices:The best, jerry, I'll have the salmon and you.
Voices:Uh, you know what? I think I'm just gonna have soup.
Voices:Yeah, I'll save the meal for another time. Another time, what other?
Voices:time I had a hot dog earlier.
Voices:I'm not that hungry. No, no, Ben, you know this is the dinner. The soup counts.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Now we're going to do something extremely fun, and the extremely fun thing we get to do now is our weekly portfolio reviews. Of the eight sample portfolios you can find at wwwriskparryradiocom on the portfolios page. And this was actually a recovery week for most things, including mostly the stock market, even though it's still down a bunch for the year, as you might expect these days, since gold seems to be moving opposite the stock market most of the time. Gold was the only thing that was down this week, although not down anything substantial. It's still up ridiculous amounts for the year. But, going through the markets, the S&P 500, represented by VOO, is down 5.74% for the year so far. The NASDAQ 100, represented by QQQ, is down 7.43% for the year so far. Small cap value, represented by the fund VIOV, is the big loser this year. So far it's down 15.58%. It's looking like a rebalancing opportunity when we get there. It's looking like a rebalancing opportunity when we get there and that will be rebalanced, most likely out of gold. The representative fund, gdlm, is up 25.87% for the year so far.
Voices:I love gold.
Voices:And that's after being up about 25% last year.
Mostly Uncle Frank:And that's the way. Uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it. Far. Commodities, represented by the fund PDBC, are down 1% for the year so far. Preferred shares, represented by the fund PFFV, are down 0.04% for the year so far and managed futures, represented by the fund DVMF, are down 2.03% for the year so far.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Now moving to these sample portfolios. First one's an all-seasons portfolio. It is a reference portfolio that's only 30% in stocks and a total stock market fund, 55% in intermediate and long-term treasury bonds and the remaining 15% in commodities and gold. This is also modeled in that last post I was referring to From the last EU mailer. It is down 0.91% month to date, but it's up 1.71% year to date and up 10.41% since inception in July 2020.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Now, moving to the kind of bread and butter portfolios. First one's Golden Butterfly. This one's 40% in stocks divided into a total stock market fund and a small cap value fund, 40% in treasury bonds divided into long and short, and the remaining 20% in gold GLDM. It is down 0.31% month to date. It's up 1.85% year to date and up 36.4% since inception in July 2020. Next one's the golden ratio. This one is 42% in stocks in a large-cap growth fund and a small-cap value fund 26% in long-term treasury bonds, 16% in gold, 10% in a managed futures fund and 6% in a money market in cash. It is down 0.12% month to date. It's down 0.16% year to date and up 29.75% since inception in July 2020. Next one's the risk parity ultimate. I won't go through all 14 of these funds. It is down 1.1% month to date. It's down 0.04% year to date it's almost flat and up 20.57% since inception in July 2020. Now, moving to these experimental portfolios.
Voices:Look away, I'm hitting you.
Mostly Uncle Frank:They all involve leveraged funds. Don't try this at home.
Voices:Well, you have a gambling problem.
Mostly Uncle Frank:First one's the Accelerated Permanent Portfolio. This one is 27.5% in a levered bond fund TMF, 25% in a leveraged stock fund UPRO, 25% in PFFV, a preferred shares fund, and 22.5% in gold GLDM. It is down 3.32% month-to-date. It's up 0.53% year-to-date and up 1.57% since inception in July 2020. Next one is our most levered and least diversified of all these portfolios and worst performer as well. It's called the aggressive 50-50, half stocks and half bonds. Really, it is one-third in a levered stock fund, upro, one-third in a levered bond fund, tmf and the remaining third in ballast in a preferred shares fund and an intermediate treasury bond fund, shares fund and an intermediate treasury bond fund. It is down 5.96% month to date. It's down 7.41% year to date and down 18.45% since inception in July 2020.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Next one's the levered golden ratio. One has some of those composite levered funds in it at least one of them and that fund is NTSX. It's 35% of this portfolio. It's a S&P 500 and treasury bonds combined, levered up 1.5 to 1. It's got 20% in gold GLDM, 15% in a international small cap value fund, avdv, 10% in KMLM, which is a managed futures fund, 10% in a levered bond fund, tmf, and the remaining 10% divided into a levered Dow fund and a levered utility fund, udao and UTSL 5% each. For those it is down 1.05% month-to-date but it's up 1.34% year-to-date and down 3.14% since inception in July 2021.
Mostly Uncle Frank:It's a year younger than the first six and our last one is the Optra portfolio one portfolio to rule them all which we just started last July as a return stacked kind of portfolio. It has 16% in a levered stock fund, upro, 24% in a composite worldwide value fund, avgv, 24% in a treasury strips fund, govz, and the remaining 36% divided into gold and managed futures. It is down 1.61% month to date. It's down 0.6% year to date and up 2.29% since inception in July 2024. So it's funny, after all the turmoil in the markets this year, so far these portfolios actually haven't moved a whole lot. Boring. Most of them are almost flat for the month of April, which has otherwise been a horrible month for the stock market in particular, and most of them are flatter up slightly for the year. Boring, but that's the kind of performance you're hoping for when things go poorly in the stock market that your diversified assets will come in and ameliorate that.
Voices:All we need to do is get your confidence back, so you can make me more money.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Which they have done quite well this year, especially the holdings in gold.
Voices:This is gold, Mr Bond. I think you've made your point. Goldfinger, Thank you for the demonstration. Do you expect me to talk?
Voices:No, mr Bond, you expect me to talk. No, mr bond, I expect you to die now will this all continue.
Mostly Uncle Frank:Well, we can go consult our crystal ball again my name's sonja.
Mostly Mary:I'm going to be showing you um the crystal ball and how to use it, or how I use it but you know what our crystal ball always says when we ask it about what's going to happen next we don't know.
Voices:What do we know?
Mostly Uncle Frank:you don't know, I don't know, nobody knows the more things change, the more they remain the same I could have told you that but now I see our signal is beginning to fade.
Mostly Uncle Frank:If you have comments or questions for me, please send them to frank at riskparityradiocom. That email is frank at riskparityradiocom. Or you can go to the website, wwwriskparityradiocom. Put your message into the contact form and I'll get it that way. If you haven't had a chance to do it, please go to your favorite podcast provider and like subscribe. Give me some stars, a follow, a review. That would be great. Okay, Thank you once again for tuning in. This is Frank Vasquez with Risk Parity Radio signing off.
Voices:ZOINKS, it's the witches. Easy guys, it's just the Hex Girls.
Voices:I'm gonna cast a spell on you. You're gonna do what I want you to Mix it up here in my little bowl, say a few words and you'll lose control. I'm a hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you. I'm gonna put a spell on you. I'm a hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you. Put a spell on you.
Voices:Earth, wind, fire and air. We may look bad, but we don't care. We ride the wind, we feel the fire. To love the Earth is our one desire. To love the Earth is our one desire. Scooby-dooby-doo.
Mostly Mary:The Risk Parody Radio Show is hosted by Frank Vasquez. The content provided is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment tax or legal advice. Please consult with your own advisors before taking any actions based on any information you have heard here, making sure to take into account your own personal circumstances.
