Prebuilt portfolios

Steady

Thirty per cent shares, seventy per cent bonds and gold. The one that moves least, and gains least.

6 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+102.35% since 2014 · 5.69% a year · worst fall −20.56%

Balanced

Sixty per cent shares, forty per cent bonds — the split a pension fund would recognise, spread across US, developed and emerging markets.

7 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+159.22% since 2014 · 7.77% a year · worst fall −22.94%

Adventurous

Ninety per cent shares. More of everything, in both directions — a long horizon and a strong stomach.

6 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+269.58% since 2014 · 10.81% a year · worst fall −31.23%

Three Funds

The whole listed world in three decisions: US shares, shares everywhere else, and bonds. Nothing clever, and hard to beat.

4 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+212.09% since 2014 · 9.35% a year · worst fall −29.86%

Weatherproof

Built to lose less when shares fall rather than to win when they rise: a third in shares, the rest in long treasuries, corporate bonds and gold. The idea Bridgewater made famous, at index-fund prices.

5 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+114.94% since 2014 · 6.19% a year · worst fall −27.25%

Four Quarters

A quarter each in shares, long treasuries, gold and short-dated municipal bonds — one for each thing an economy can do to you. Harry Browne's idea, and the simplest allocation anybody has defended for fifty years.

4 holdings · 25.0% each · from Index funds, fixed weights

+133.43% since 2014 · 6.88% a year · worst fall −20.61%

Income

For a portfolio meant to pay out rather than grow: corporate and municipal bonds, property, and enough shares to keep up with prices.

5 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+93.05% since 2014 · 5.30% a year · worst fall −24.02%

Whole World

Every listed company on earth in one fund, with bonds behind it. The least opinionated portfolio it is possible to hold: no view on which country wins.

3 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+145.82% since 2014 · 7.32% a year · worst fall −22.15%

Dividend

Companies with a record of paying and raising dividends, plus property and bonds. For a portfolio meant to hand you something while you wait.

5 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+194.82% since 2014 · 8.87% a year · worst fall −26.11%

Inflation Guard

The things that tend to hold their value when money does not: inflation-linked bonds, commodities, gold and property, with shares for the long run.

6 holdings · from Index funds, fixed weights

+154.67% since 2014 · 7.62% a year · worst fall −20.88%

The federal contractors

The twenty listed companies paid the most by the federal government, equally weighted.

20 holdings · 5.0% each · from USAspending contract awards

What Congress is buying

The twenty companies members of Congress disclosed buying most of over the last year, equally weighted. Not one member's book — all of them at once.

20 holdings · 5.0% each · from House and Senate periodic transaction reports

What the whales hold

The twenty largest positions across every 13F we track, equally weighted — where the big institutional money actually sits.

20 holdings · 5.0% each · from Quarterly 13F filings

Washington's biggest lobbyists

The twenty listed companies that spent the most lobbying Congress, equally weighted — the ones paying most to be heard.

20 holdings · 5.0% each · from Senate lobbying disclosures

The best-paid bosses

The twenty companies with the largest single-year chief executive package on file, equally weighted. Whether that is a sign of confidence or of excess is the interesting part.

20 holdings · 5.0% each · from Pay-versus-performance tables in proxy statements