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FactorAggressive risk

Paul Merriman 4 Fund Portfolio

Paul Merriman

In brief

Four equal U.S. equity styles emphasize small and value stocks.

Profile sources: Paul Merriman

Published
Last reviewed

At a glance

4 asset sleeves

Review annually and rebalance when allocations drift materially.

Growth assets

0%

Bonds & reserves

0%

Other diversifiers

100%

Target allocation

What the portfolio holds

U.S. large blend

VOO

25%

U.S. large value

AVLV

25%

U.S. small blend

VB

25%

U.S. small value

AVUV

25%

Tickers are liquid U.S.-listed examples, not recommendations or exact historical fund selections.

Allocation sources: Paul Merriman

Decision context

Potential advantages and trade-offs

These observations follow from the displayed allocation and implementation. They are not a recommendation or a prediction of future performance.

Potential advantages

  • Spreads its target allocation across 4 distinct sleeves rather than relying on a single holding.
  • Makes its factor tilts explicit rather than hiding them inside a broad-market allocation.
  • Publishes explicit target weights, making drift and rebalancing decisions measurable.

Important trade-offs

  • Aggressive risk means losses and drawdowns can be substantial even when the long-term thesis remains unchanged.
  • Approximately 100% of the displayed allocation is equity-like, leaving limited conventional bond ballast.
  • The displayed equity allocation has no dedicated international sleeve and is exposed to U.S.-market concentration.
  • Factor tilts can lag broad markets for long periods and require tolerance for persistent tracking error.

Portfolio Visualizer

Compare historical performance

Backtest this allocation beside two familiar U.S. equity benchmarks. The comparison starts with $10,000, reinvests dividends, and rebalances annually.

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Growth of $10,000

Monthly total returns · maximum available history

PortfolioSPYQQQ
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4 holdings

Portfolio 1

Paul Merriman 4 Fund Portfolio

Target allocation from this profile

100%

Portfolio 2

S&P 500

SPY benchmark

100%

Portfolio 3

Nasdaq-100

QQQ benchmark

Portfolio Visualizer opens in a new tab because its site does not support embedded frames. Results begin at the latest common inception date for the selected funds.

Sources and context

Target allocations are educational examples, not personalized advice. Fund availability, taxes, trading costs, account type, time horizon, and capacity for loss can all change the appropriate implementation. Historical diversification does not guarantee future results.

Sources document the strategy, underlying methodology, or the representative funds used here. ETF tickers are illustrative U.S.-listed implementations and may differ from an originator’s original funds or current model.