Lazy Portfolios Thru August 2010
The Permanent Portfolio style lazy portfolios continue to do well. Listed below is a table of YTD results for 25 portfolios or funds that I am tracking. The contents of each portfolio are listed in an earlier post. The Paul Boyer Permanent Portfolio continues its lead, having returned 9.8% so far in 2010. It differs from the Harry Browne PP (up 8.9% YTD) in that instead of a total US Stock Market fund (VTI), it holds half of its stock allocation in US Small Cap (VBR) and half in emerging markets (VWO). Other than that, they both hold 25% in gold (GLD), 25% in long term US Treasury bonds (TLT), and 25% in cash (SHY). The Permanent Portfolio mutual fund (PRPFX) came in third place at 6.0%.
Most all of the other portfolios are stock-centric and while they may own some bonds, they are usually a mixed bond portfolio instead of purely long-term (20- to 30-year) US Treasuries. None of the other own gold.
| ID# | Portfolio Name | YTD Return |
| P2 | Paul Boyer Permanent Portfolio (ETF) | 9.8% |
| P1 | Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio (ETF) | 8.9% |
| P3 | Permanent Portfolio Fund | 6.0% |
| P14 | David Swensen’s Yale Endowment | 4.4% |
| P23 | Larry Swedroe Min Fat Tails | 3.0% |
| P11 | Bill Schultheis’ Coffeehouse Portfolio Vanguard | 2.8% |
| P19 | Scott Burns’ Four Square Portfolio | 2.6% |
| P20 | Scott Burns’ Five Fold Portfolio | 2.0% |
| P13 | David Swensen’s Lazy Portfolio | 1.8% |
| P12 | FundAdvice Ultimate Buy & Hold | 1.0% |
| P17 | Scott Burns’ Couch Potato Portfolio | 1.0% |
| P7 | William Bernstein’s No Brainer Cowards Portfolio | 0.6% |
| P22 | Larry Swedroe Simple | 0.5% |
| P25 | IFA Index Portfolio 50 | -0.2% |
| P10 | Ted Aronson’s Lazy Portfolio | -0.2% |
| P21 | Scott Burns’ Six Ways from Sunday Portfolio | -0.4% |
| P6 | Rick Ferri Core Four | -0.8% |
| P18 | Scott Burns’ Margarita Portfolio | -1.5% |
| P24 | IFA Index Portfolio 100 Bright Red | -2.1% |
| P9 | Dilbert World’s Simplest | -2.4% |
| P4 | Taylor Larimore 3 Fund | -2.4% |
| P5 | Taylor Larimore 4 Fund | -2.6% |
| P8 | William Bernstein’s Basic No-Brainer Portfolio | -2.8% |
| P15 | MMM Do It Yourself Funds | -3.0% |
| P16 | Vanguard Windsor | -6.7% |
Here are the individual component YTD results of the Paul Boyer Permanent Portfolio:
- Small Cap (VBR): -0.7%
- Emerging Market (VWO): -0.5%
- 20+ Treasury Bonds (TLT): 23.6%
- Gold (GLD): 13.8%
- Cash (SHY): 2.3%
It is amazing to note that Cash in the form of short term treasuries (SHY) outperformed all but 7 of the 25 lazy portfolios! And who would have thought that long term bonds would be up 23.6% after only 8 months? Not me. And that is why one invests in a Permanent Portfolio: No one can predict the future. So invest in all four economic possibilities: prosperity, inflation, deflation, and recession.
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