Projects

» Asset Allocation Ranges - Yearly | 2.07 Comparision of different asset class and asset mix returns from 1987 – 2005. Asset classes include large, mid and small cap domestic equities, international stocks, REITs, and stock/bond portfolios at different weightings.

» Return Grid - Yearly | 2.06 Historical returns by asset class layed out in a grid format for easy comparison.

» Correlation Grid  | 1.26.06
A graphical look at the historical correlations of different asset classes. The top section shows the correlations between the asset classes of equity, bonds, commodities, timber, and real estate. For equity I broke down by capitalization (large, mid and small cap), and style (growth vs. value). I also included international stocks(MCSI EAFE and Emerging Markets).

» Portfolio Depletion  | 7.6.05
How long will your money last? Here is a graphical analyisis of the effects of witrdrawals, inflation and taxes on your portfolio balance.

 » Interest Rate Project   | 3.13.05
Bond prices and interest rates are inversely related, meaning that as interest rates go down bond prices will rise. Here is a look at what this effect will have on bond prices.

Model Portfolio

  • Q4-08 Model Portfolio Update

    The 4th quarter, and all of 2008 for that matter, was an extremely difficult investing environment. There truely was no place to hide if you were not 100% in short term U.S. Treasurys.
    Performance:

    Aggressive -19.25% (Q4) & -32.77% (2008)
    Moderate -13.89% (Q4) & -24.86% (2008)
    Conservative -8.41% (Q4) & -15.51% (2008)

    Positives:
    For the full year only three investments [...]

  • Q3-07 Model Portfolio Update

    The third quarter of 2007 saw a return of volatility to the portfolio, but each portfolio had a positive return.  Below are the quarterly returns for each portfolio: 

    Aggressive + 2.07%
    Moderate + 2.18%
    Conservative + 2.45%

    Positives:
    For the first time in a long time, any growth domestic equity performed well.  Large, Mid, and Small Cap Growth all outperformed their [...]

  • Q2-07 Model Portfolio Update

     The second quarter of 2007 was a relatively good quarter with each model posting solid returns.

    Aggressive + 4.11%
    Moderate + 3.10%
    Conservative + 2.13%

    One asset class that showed disappointing returns as the REIT class.  The VNQ holding was down -9.35 for the quarter.   REIT’s have had quite a strong run over the past few years so this [...]

  • Q4-06 Model Portfolio Update

    The themes that have dominated over the past several years, value over growth, small/mid cap over large cap and international over domestic equities have continued into the 4th quarter of 2006.
    The 4th quarter for the models also saw an environment where no asset finished with negative performance. Leading the strong finish to 2006 was international [...]