David Swensen Six Asset Individual Investor Plan
Investment Model Portfolios
Investment Model Portfolios
Latest update on 1/14/2013: We now add short term and intermediate term treasury bonds to fixed income portion.
David Swensen, the Yale Endowment Manager, proposed this one size fit in all model portfolio for individual investors. The major difference between this portfolio and other conventional portfolios is that it emphasizes international equities (including emerging market equities) as well as real estate investment. Compared with various diversified portfolios, an interesting asset class missing is the commodities, which has been considered to be an excellent anti-inflation diversifier. This is complemented with its emphasis on the inflation-protected treasury bonds. We assume annual rebalance although Swensen actually pointed out that in Yale’s institutional portfolio, they rebalanced daily, which, by his estimate, gave about 1-2% of excessive returns vs. annual rebalancing.
Compared with the Simpler Is Better (SIB) portfolios discussed in an article, one can see that Swensen's six assets exclude the commodities while putting emphasis on using fixed income for the purpose of inflation protection and hedging.
Note: it has been confusing whether Swensen advocated using long term treasury bonds or just an average duration treasury bonds. In his book Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment, he wrote "The purity of noncallable, long-term, default-free Treasury bonds provides the most powerful diversification to investor portfolios". Based on this sentence, it has been interpreted that he meant to use the long term treasury bond. However, recently, a reader posted a reply from David Swensen on this question in morningstar.com, which indicates the average duration of treasury bonds.
The portfolio consists of the following:
- 30% in Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX)
- 20% in Vanguard REIT Index (VGSIX)
- 20% in Vanguard Total International Stock (VGTSX) or (15% in VGTSX and 5% in VEIEX)
- 15% in Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities (VIPSX)
- 15% in Vanguard Long Term Treasury Index (VUSTX)
The above model portfolio should be compared with the moderate model portfolios in this plan.
One can construct an ETF based plan that mostly uses mostly Vanguard ETFs.
Plan investment options
| Asset Class | Ticker | Description | Rating | Expense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following is a moderate-risk model portfolio constructed from the investment options of David Swensen Six Asset Individual Investor Plan.
This portfolio is proactively monitored and rebalanced on a monthly basis when needed, ensuring it remains in line with its target allocation. We offer customization features, allowing subscribers to tailor the portfolio to align with their own risk tolerance and return expectations by changing risk profile parameter.
Our model portfolio is rooted in the MyPlanIQ Asset Allocation Composite (AAC) strategy. This dynamic (tactical) asset allocation and quantitative fund selection algorithm prioritize risk management by dynamically adjusting stock allocations based on prevailing asset momentum. Extensive research has shown that this momentum-based tactical approach can potentially reduce temporary losses while maintaining or outperforming traditional buy-and-hold strategies.
Both historical back test and real-time portfolio return and risk data are shown in the table on this page. These metrics are compared with stock and moderate allocation index funds.
Furthermore, subscribers have the option to explore alternative strategies such as Strategic Asset Allocation Optimal (SAA) and Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) to further customize their model portfolio. See our investment methodology for more details on the investment strategies
Puzzled on what to invest?
- We ask a few questions to decide your personal return and risk expectations
- We build a custom portfolio for your plan (401(k), 403(b), 529 ...) or for a brokerage account
- We monitor and send timely rebalance emails on what investment funds to buy and sell