Global Tactical Asset Allocation - Agg. 3 by Meb Faber

Details

The Global Tactical Asset Allocation strategy was developed by Meb Faber and detailed in his paper A Quantitative Approach to Asset Allocation.

The paper covers multiple variations and this is a backtest of the Aggressive 3 variation.

On average, the strategy holds 58% in equities, 18% in bonds, and 24% in REITS, Commodities, Gold, and Cash.

Average Asset Allocation & Recommended ETFs

Weight
Ticker
ETF Name
Sector
13%
MTUM
iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF
Equity, U.S. Large Cap, Momentum
13%
EEM
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF
Equity, Emerging Markets, Large Cap
10%
IWN
iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF
Equity, U.S., Small Cap, Value
10%
VNQ
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF
Real Estate, U.S.
8%
TLT
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Bond, U.S., Long-Term
8%
IWM
iShares Russell 2000 ETF
Equity, U.S., Small Cap
8%
EFA
iShares MSCI EAFE ETF
Equity, Inter. Developed, Large Cap
7%
DBC
Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund
Commodity, Diversified
6%
IWD
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF
Equity, U.S., Large Cap, Value
6%
GLD
SPDR Gold Trust
Commodity, Gold
4%
IEF
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF
Bond, U.S., Intermediate-Term
4%
BWX
SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond
Bond, International, All-Term
2%
LQD
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Bond, U.S., All-Term
1%
BIL
SPDR Blmbg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
Bond, U.S., Ultra Short-Term

Performance Metrics

All Data
Annual Return
12.9%
Sharpe Ratio
0.72
10 Year Annual Return
7.3%
Volatility (annualized)
12.5%
Max Drawdown
-20.7%
Positive Periods
63.7%
Dot Com Annual Return
0.4%
Great Financial Crisis Return
17.1%
Trade Frequency
Monthly
Ulcer Performance Index
1.5

Strategy Rules

This strategy trades once per month.

  1. On the last trading day of the month, calculate the 1, 3, 6, and 12-month returns for all of the asset classes above and take the average of the four time periods
  2. Invest the portfolio equally in the 3 assets with the highest average performance.
    • If any of the top 3 assets will close below their 10-month moving average, invest that portion of the portfolio in cash.
  3. Hold all positions until the final trading day of the next month.  Rebalance the portfolio regardless of whether there are any position changes.

How to Invest in the Global Tactical Asset Allocation - Agg. 3 Portfolio

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Global Tactical Asset Allocation - Agg. 3 Rolling Returns

Low
Average
High
1-Year
-14.8%
13.5%
57.9%
3-Year
0.4%
13.0%
30.7%
5-Year
1.6%
12.8%
25.9%
10-Year
4.1%
12.6%
18.1%

Charts

Portfolio vs. 60/40 vs. S&P 500

All Data
Portfolio
60/40
S&P 500
Annual Return
12.9%
9.3%
10.3%
10Y Annual Return
7.3%
7.9%
12.2%
Sharpe Ratio
0.72
0.51
0.43
Max Drawdown
-20.7%
-29.7%
-50.97%
Volatility (annualized)
12.5%
9.9%
15.4%
Dot Com Annual Return
0.4%
-4.2%
-14.60%
Great Financial Crisis Annual Return
17.1%
-0.3%
-5.66%
Positive Periods
63.7%
65.8%
63.3%

**S&P 500 backtest to 1972 and 60/40 backtest to 1970

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