Ahead of SPY at 16 of 60 month-ends.
Same starting value · dividends reinvested
Selected allocation CAGR +7.0%
SPY CAGR +12.0%
Shaded: major market crises Bear Market (2022)
Ivy Portfolio
5 ETFs · Fixed income · Commodities · International equity
View holdings
Fixed income · Commodities · International equity · REITs & real estate · U.S. total market
Where this allocation comes from
Mebane Faber and Eric Richardson · The Ivy Portfolio · 2009
Also known as: The Ivy Portfolio · Mebane Faber Ivy Portfolio · Simple Ivy Portfolio · Ivy 5
US stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, REITs and commodities at 20% each: the Harvard and Yale endowment idea in five ETFs.
| Asset in the source | Weight | Lifolio ETF |
|---|---|---|
| US total stock market | 20% | VTI |
| International stocks (all-world ex-US) | 20% | VEU |
| US aggregate bonds | 20% | BND |
| US REITs | 20% | VNQ |
| Commodities | 20% | DBC |
Uses the book's ETF table (VTI, VEU, BND, VNQ, DBC). This is the buy-and-hold version, not the 10-month moving-average timing version the book also describes.
Source: books.google.com mebfaber.com portfoliocharts.com
Lifolio is not affiliated with or endorsed by the people or organizations cited. Figures are historical simulations under Lifolio's standard conditions. Sources checked 2026-11-01.
- $10,000 lump sum
- Monthly rebalancing
- Dividends reinvested
- Benchmark: SPY
- No taxes or fees
- $10,000 became
- $14,028 SPY alone: $17,597 −$3,569 vs SPY
- Annual return
- +7.0% SPY +12.0% -5.0pp vs SPY
- Max drawdown (month-end)
- -16.9% SPY -23.9% +7.1pp vs SPY Regained 18 mo after the low
- Below the high at period end
- -0.3% 2026-10
Key points for this allocation
- By asset class: equities 40% · bonds 20% · commodities 20% · real estate 20%.
- Its dividend yield over the last 12 months was 2.7%; the results reinvest dividends.
- During the Bear Market (2022) it returned -14.9%, while SPY returned -19.7%.
Overview ⌄
Compare allocations
The same holdings at different splits. Pick a row to update everything below.
Exploration on Lifolio; these counts do not establish investment performance or preference.
Growth
Starting from $10,000, shown with SPY over the same window. Shaded bands mark major market crises.
Declines and recoveries
Month-end decline from the previous high. Closer to 0% means a smaller fall.
The deepest fall was -16.9%, regained 18 months after the low.
Values below 0% are loss periods
Calendar-year returns
Only years with all twelve months. The table also lists the deepest fall within each year (the in-year low).
Of 4 complete years: 1 with a loss, 1 ahead of SPY.
Show as a table
| Year | Selected allocation | SPY | In-year low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | +13.4% | +17.7% | -2.8% |
| 2024 | +7.6% | +24.9% | -3.1% |
| 2023 | +10.6% | +26.2% | -7.8% |
| 2022 | -11.6% | -18.2% | -16.9% |
Depending on when you bought
Every month in the window taken as a start, held one, three or five years.
Observed windows overlap and are not independent samples. These shares are not probabilities of future gains.
Holdings
Holdings of the selected split and what each one is.
- BNDVanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF Shares 20%
An ETF investing across the U.S. bond market.
- DBCInvesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund 20%
- VEUVanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares 20%
- VNQVanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF Shares 20%
An ETF investing in U.S. real estate equities.
- VTIVanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF 20%
An ETF investing across the U.S. equity market.
Questions & methodology
Review calculation settings and how to interpret the selected allocation.
What does the Ivy Portfolio hold?
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF Shares (BND): An ETF investing across the U.S. bond market. Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC) Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares (VEU) Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF Shares (VNQ): An ETF investing in U.S. real estate equities. Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): An ETF investing across the U.S. equity market.
What were the return and risk of the Ivy Portfolio?
From 2021-10-29 to 2026-10-30, the annualized return was +7.0%, maximum drawdown was -16.9%, and Sharpe ratio was 0.32.
How did it compare with holding SPY alone?
From 2021-10-29 to 2026-10-30, the annual return was +7.0% for this split and +12.0% for SPY. Over the same window the maximum drawdown was -16.9% for this split and -23.9% for SPY.
How far did the Ivy Portfolio fall, and how long did it take to get back?
Over the selected 5 years, the largest month-end decline was -16.9%, from a high in 2022-03 to a low in 2022-09. It regained the old high 18 months after the low.
How many losing years did the Ivy Portfolio have?
1 of 4 complete calendar years ended with a loss. The worst was 2022 (-11.6%).
Are dividends, taxes and exchange rates included?
Dividends are reinvested and results are in USD. Taxes, currency moves against your home currency and trading fees are not included. These results use US-listed ETFs; Korea-listed ETFs such as KODEX and TIGER can be added in the backtest.
The server calculates portfolio examples and actual user allocations with the same period, starting balance and settings. Validated metrics and their supporting charts are shown together.
Price data through: 2026-10-30