Last Updated: 5 Comments – 2 min. read
M1 Finance's Expert Pies are pre-built portfolios in which you can invest for free. This is great for the investor who wants a lazy portfolio for the majority of their investing horizon. Their category of “General Investing” Expert Pies allow you to select a portfolio for broad market exposure based on risk tolerance. These are comprised of low-cost Vanguard ETF's. Here's my take on improving the “Aggressive” Expert Pie.
Here are my attempts at improving the other variations of M1's General Investing Expert Pies.
Interested in more Lazy Portfolios? See the full list here.
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M1 claims that these portfolios are mean-variance optimized (think Modern Portfolio Theory and Harry Markowitz). This ends up making them unnecessarily complicated in my opinion and results in uneven allocations and some strange asset choices. More specifically though, I believe these portfolios are suboptimal for the following reasons:
- They incorporate corporate bonds. We know treasury bonds are superior.
- They use small-cap growth stocks, which haven't paid a risk premium historically.
- Bond duration is skewed too short/low in my opinion for what is supposed to be an “aggressive” portfolio.
- Similarly, bond allocation, at 14%, is still too high in my opinion to be considered “aggressive.”
- The allocation to Emerging Markets pales in comparison to that of Developed Markets, but the former offers more of a diversification benefit by having a lower correlation to the U.S. market. Emerging Markets have also paid a significant risk premium historically.
At the time of writing, M1's Aggressive Portfolio pie looks like this:
- 29% VEA – Developed Markets
- 26% VOO – S&P 500
- 14% VB – Small-Cap Blend
- 11% VCIT – Intermediate-Term Corporate Bonds
- 6% VWO – Emerging Markets
- 6% VO – Mid-Cap Blend
- 5% VNQ – U.S. REITs
- 3% BNDX – Total International Bond Market
In improving this portfolio, we're essentially just going to fix the things I mentioned above:
- In avoiding small- and mid-cap growth stocks, we'll use their Value counterparts.
- We're going to use treasury bonds and eliminate corporate bonds.
- In making the portfolio truly more “aggressive,” bond holding will be set at 10% instead of 14%, and will utilize long-term treasury bonds with a longer average duration. We'll use VGLT for this. Since the portfolio has such a small allocation to bonds, we don't actually need any international bonds.
- We're going to use a 1:1 ratio of Developed to Emerging Markets.
My resulting improved Aggressive Portfolio then looks like this:
- 25% VOO
- 20% VEA
- 20% VWO
- 10% IVOV
- 10% VIOV
- 5% VNQ
- 10% VGLT
You can add this pie to your portfolio using this link.
Here are my improvements of the other variations of M1's General Investing Expert Pies.
What do you think of this attempt to improve M1's Aggressive Portfolio? Let me know in the comments.
Disclosure: I am long VOO and VWO in my own portfolio.
Interested in more Lazy Portfolios? See the full list here.
Disclaimer: While I love diving into investing-related data and playing around with backtests, this is not financial advice, investing advice, or tax advice. The information on this website is for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Investment products discussed (ETFs, mutual funds, etc.) are for illustrative purposes only. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or otherwise transact in any of the products mentioned. I always attempt to ensure the accuracy of information presented but that accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Do your own due diligence. I mention M1 Finance a lot around here. M1 does not provide investment advice, and this is not an offer or solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell any security, and you are encouraged to consult your personal investment, legal, and tax advisors. All examples above are hypothetical, do not reflect any specific investments, are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered an offer to buy or sell any products. All investing involves risk, including the risk of losing the money you invest. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of other parties mentioned. Read my lengthier disclaimer here.
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About John Williamson, APMA®
Analytical data nerd, investing enthusiast, fintech consultant, Boglehead, and Oxford comma advocate. I'm not a big fan of social media, but you can find me on LinkedIn and Reddit.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Scott saysWould VTV be redundant with VOO?
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- John Williamson says
VTV is value stocks – roughly 1/2 of VOO.
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- MICHAEL says
I currently have the “Aggressive Portfolio.” I am going to use your improved portfolio and see how that goes in comparison. There is an overlap of VOO and VNQ, but the other 60% is different. Good idea? Thanks for the feedback.
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- Henry says
I like this portfolio, but would you say that the simple path would be a better choice for someone in their early 20s who is getting started investing? Let’s say 80% total US stock market & 20% total international stock market.
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- John Williamson says
Hey Henry, yea I’d probably prefer to keep it simple with an 80/20 US/int’l allocation like you suggested.
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