Steven Van Metre

Several people have reached out to me expressing concerns about the returns over the past couple of weeks as we have seen both stocks and bonds decline in value. For strategies such as Portfolio Shield™ which invests in both stocks and bonds, this hurts returns in the short run. I think it’s important to understand … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. Portfolio Shield™ maintained the same percentage to its long-term bond hedge (TYA) for January. There were only very slight changes between the two equity positions (SPD & QQD) for the month. Due to the very slight change this month, you may … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. Based on how the markets are performing, I anticipate Portfolio Shield™ will remain hedged into early next year, which I think is good. From a return perspective, the strategy hedging has been effective. With the additional downside protection through the use … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. When I designed Portfolio Shield™ I wanted a strategy that attempted to anticipate volatile or bear markets by reducing risk before a large move lower occurs rather than a reactionary strategy that adjusts after stock prices start to plunge. While Portfolio … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. With the rebalance to the new allocation is complete I want to address a question that has come up about the daily tracking of SPD and QQD. One aspect that makes the Portfolio Shield™ strategy great is its ability to control … Read more

I’m very excited to share with you how Portfolio Shield™ is going to get even better! Simplify Asset Management and I have formed a strategic partnership to improve the original design of Portfolio Shield™. By replacing the existing ETFs with ETFs from Simplify and making a slight change to the allocation the strategy will improve … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. Portfolio Shield™ began hedging the equity allocation this month. It reduced its allocation to the S&P 500 (SPY) and the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) by 17% to add long-term U.S. Treasury bonds (TLT) to the equity allocation across all models. Hedging Expectations: For … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. The allocation to the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) and the Russell 2000 (IWM) were reduced to increase the allocation to the S&P 500 (SPY) across all Portfolio Shield™ models for August. Several have inquired when Portfolio Shield™ may begin hedging its equity exposure. To … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. The allocation in the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) was reduced slightly and the allocation in the Russell 2000 (IWM) was increased slightly across all Portfolio Shield™ models for July. As a reminder, all strategies are rebalanced on the first trading day of each … Read more

Linked below are the latest Morningstar® Investment Detail Reports for the Portfolio Shield™ family. There were slight changes to the Portfolio Shield™ allocation for June. As a reminder, all strategies are rebalanced on the first trading day of each month and at that time, any new monies are invested according to the model strategy you … Read more