Strategic Allocation

Does adding an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or note (ETN) to the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) boost performance via consideration of more trending/diversifying options? To investigate, we add the following 24 ETF/ETN asset class proxies one at a time to the base set and measure effects on the Top 1, equally weighted (EW) Top 2 and EW Top 3 SACEMS portfolios:

AlphaClone Alternative Alpha (ALFA)
JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index (AMJ)
VanEck Vectors BDC Income (BIZD)
Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND)
SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond (BWX)
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM)
iShares MSCI Frontier 100 (FM)
First Trust US IPO Index (FPX)
iShares iBoxx High-Yield Corporate Bond (HYG)
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF)
iShares Latin America 40 (ILF)
iShares National Muni Bond ETF (MUB)
Invesco Closed-End Fund Income Composite (PCEF)
Invesco Global Listed Private Equity (PSP)
IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker (QAI)
Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)
SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate (RWX)
ProShares UltraShort S&P 500 (SDS)
iShares Short Treasury Bond (SHV)
iShares TIPS Bond (TIP)
United States Oil (USO)
Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP)
ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures (VIXY)
ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures (VIXM)

We focus on gross compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and gross maximum drawdown (MaxDD) as key performance statistics, ignoring monthly reformation costs. Using end-of-month, dividend-adjusted returns for all assets as available during February 2006 through May 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

Are all of the potentially trending/diversifying asset class proxies used in the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) necessary? Might one or more of them actually be harmful to performance? To investigate, we each month rank the nine SACEMS assets based on past return with one excluded (nine separate test series) and reform the Top 1, equally weighted (EW) Top 2 and EW Top 3 SACEMS portfolios. We focus on gross compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and gross maximum drawdown (MaxDD) as key performance statistics, ignoring monthly portfolio reformation costs. Using end-of-month, dividend-adjusted returns for SACEMS assets during February 2006 through May 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

A subscriber requested review of the Golden Butterfly (GB) portfolio, which assigns equal weights to the total stock market, small-capitalization value stocks, long-term government bonds, short-term government bonds and gold. To investigate, we use the following exchange-traded funds (ETF) as asset class proxies, respectively:

• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTI)
• iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value Fund (IJS)
• iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
• iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond (SHY)
• SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)

We consider either monthly or annual rebalancings to equal weight, ignoring associated trading frictions. Using monthly dividend-adjusted prices for the five ETFs during November 2004 (limited by GLD) through May 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

Homes typically represent a substantial fraction of investor wealth. Are there reliable relationships between U.S. home prices and the U.S. stock market? For example, does a rising stock market stimulate home prices? Do falling home prices point to offsetting liquidation of equity positions. Do homes effectively diversify equity holdings? Measurements are:

• Monthly levels of the non-seasonally adjusted S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (Home Price Index) during January 1987 through February 2021 (34 years), with release lag about two months.
• Annual median sales prices for existing homes pieced from from RealEstateABC.com [no longer available], National Association of Realtors and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis during 1968 through 2020 (53 years).
• Annual median sales prices for new homes during 1963 through 2020 (58 years), and contemporaneous levels of the S&P 500 Index.

Using these sources, we find that:

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We have updated monthly allocations and performance data for the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) and the Simple Asset Class ETF Value Strategy (SACEVS). We have also updated performance data for the Combined Value-Momentum Strategy.

We have updated the Trading Calendar to incorporate data for May 2021.

The home page, Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) and Simple Asset Class ETF Value Strategy (SACEVS) now show preliminary positions for June 2021. Allocations probably will not change by the close.

A subscriber inquired whether a longer test of the “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy” (SACEMS) is feasible using mutual funds rather than exchange-traded funds (ETF) as asset class proxies. To investigate, we consider the following set of mutual funds (partly adapted from the paper summarized in “Asset Allocation Combining Momentum, Volatility, Correlation and Crash Protection”):

1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor Shares (VTSMX)
2. Vanguard Small Capitalization Index Investor Shares  (NAESX)
3. Fidelity Diversified International (FDIVX)
4. Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Investor Shares (VUSTX)
5. Fidelity New Markets Income Fund (FNMIX)
6. Vanguard REIT Index Investor Shares (VGSIX)
7. First Eagle Gold A (SGGDX)
8. Oppenheimer Commodity Strategy Total Return A (QRAAX) until in October 2011, and BlackRock Commodity Strategies Portfolio Institutional Shares (BICSX) thereafter
9. 3-month U.S. Treasury bills (Cash)

We rank mutual funds based on total (dividend-adjusted) returns over past (lookback) intervals of one to 12 months. We consider portfolios of past mutual fund winners based on Top 1 and on equally weighted (EW) Top 2 through Top 5. We consider as benchmarks: an equally weighted portfolio of all mutual funds, rebalanced monthly (EW All); buying and holding VTSMX; and, holding VTSMX when the S&P 500 Index is above its 10-month simple moving average (SMA10) and Cash when the index is below its SMA10 (VTSMX:SMA10). Using monthly dividend-adjusted closing prices for the above mutual funds and the yield for Cash during March 1997 through April 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

A subscriber suggested review of “Accelerating Dual Momentum [ADM] Investing”, which allocates all funds to U.S. stocks, international (ex-U.S.) small-capitalization stocks or long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, as follows:

1. Each month, calculate for each of the two equity assets the sum of its 1-month, 3-month and 6-month past returns.
2. If both sums are negative, buy U.S. Treasury bonds.
3. If both sums are not negative, buy the equity asset with the higher sum.

To investigate, we apply these rules to three exchange-traded funds (ETF):

• SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) to represent U.S. stocks.
• iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF (SCZ) to represent international small stocks.
• iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) to represent long-term U.S. Treasury bonds.

Using end-of-month dividend-adjusted prices of these ETFs during December 2007 (limited by SCZ) through April 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

A subscriber requested evaluation of a streamlined version of the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) that considers only three exchange-traded funds (ETF):

• SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
• iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
• iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)

To evaluate, we test a strategy that each month picks the one of these ETFs with the highest total return over a set momentum ranking (lookback) interval. We call the strategy Very SACEMS (VSACEMS) Top 1. We consider lookback intervals of one to 12 months. We then select one of these lookback intervals and generate performance statistics similar to those for SACEMS. We consider three benchmarks:

1. SPY – buy and hold SPY.
2. SPY:SMA10 Cash – Hold SPY (3-month U.S. Treasury bills) when SPY is above (below) its 10-month simple moving average (SMA10) at the end of the prior month.
3. SPY:SMA10 TLT – Hold SPY (TLT) when SPY is above (below) its SMA10 at the end of the prior month.

Using monthly dividend-adjusted prices for the above three assets during July 2002 (limited by TLT and LQD) through April 2021, we find that: Keep Reading

How can retirees estimate whether their investment strategy will sustain all the withdrawals they expect to make in retirement? In his February 2021 paper entitled “The Sustainability of (Global) Withdrawal Strategies”, Javier Estrada  presents two tools to monitor retirement plans for early signs of trouble:

1. One evaluates sustainability of an existing withdrawal strategy.
2. The other calculates the sustainable level of inflation-adjusted withdrawals at any given point during retirement.

Both change over time according to (1) deviations of actual returns from those used in modeling the retirement portfolio and (2) the number of years left in retirement. He also illustrates these tools for a sample of 21 countries and the world over a 120-year period assuming a 30-year retirement with 30 annual withdrawals at the beginning of each year. The terminal value one year after the final withdrawal is the bequest. All returns and portfolio values are in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. Using annual real total returns for stocks and government bonds for 21 countries in local currencies/inflation rates and the world in U.S. dollars/inflation rate from the Dimson-Marsh-Staunton database during 1900 through 2019, he finds that: Keep Reading