This post is inspired by Optimized Portfolio’s totally on-point version of the “distracted boyfriend” meme. AVGE, Avantis’s All Equity Markets ETF, has gotten a lot of buzz lately - does it deserve a strong wandering eye from the Risk Parity investor as well?
Even if you get the top spot, there’s no guarantee that you will stay there. In September, I declared VUG as my preferred asset for Large-Cap Growth, but suggestions from two readers bring two new challengers: will QQQM or IWY prove a better fit in a Risk Parity portfolio?
After an anti-climactic Round Two which saw no low(er) beta equity fund emerge with any type of advantage, the search returns, this time with dividend-focused ETFs. Will they make a difference? Does a special allocation to low(er) beta or dividend funds make sense in a RP portfolio?
VPU won the last round in my search for low(er) beta equity funds against PFF and USMV, and now faces off against two more contenders: a consumer staples sector fund (VDC) and a financial industry preferred shares fund (PGF)... And the winner is…it’s complicated.
This one is really an experiment - comparing three equity funds, VPU, PFF and USMV, with somewhat low correlation with the S&P 500. Putting them through their paces to get a sense of whether low(er) beta equity funds may be another arrow in the RP quiver.
