Learn how Portfolio Shield generated 11.81% per year* over the past 5 years with 27% less risk** than the S&P 500®.

Review 5 premium Morningstar® reports that compare Portfolio Shield to the S&P 500®

Compare its returns to the S&P 500®.

Compare its risk to the S&P 500®.

You’ll see why investors are making the switch to Portfolio Shield.

The Morningstar® Fact Sheets

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Accredited Investor Questionnaire

 Previously available to select clients of my firm. Now available to YOU!

A Unique Investment Strategy

Portfolio Shield™ is a unique investment strategy designed to take risk when the equity markets are rising and reduce risk when the equity markets are falling. It is a formula-based long-only equity strategy that has a unique hedging mechanism to reduce the downside risk of the strategy when markets get volatile, or worse, during Bear markets.

There are five Portfolio Shield™ models to choose from depending on your investment goals and risk tolerance level.

Adapts to Changing Market Conditions

Portfolio Shield™ is a dynamic strategy that adapts to changing market conditions monthly.

During Bull markets, when stock prices are rising, Portfolio Shield™ will adjust the portfolio to take advantage of rising stock prices.

During Bear markets, when stock prices are falling, Portfolio Shield™ will take a defensive allocation by reducing its equity exposure and increasing the portfolio’s allocation to bonds and cash.

A Simple Design

Portfolio Shield™ is a simple, easy-to-understand investment strategy that invests in the S&P 500® and Nasdaq-100, and utilizes a long-term Treasury bond fund to potentially deliver higher investment returns with less risk (based on the Beta) compared the S&P 500®.

Portfolio Shield™ Growth, Balanced, Income, and Conservative models add a bond layer that can rotate between high-yield, intermediate-term Treasuries, and short-term Treasuries.

With Less Risk

Portfolio Shield™ has two unique features to reduce risk and volatility, based on Standard Deviation and Beta:

On the first trading day of each month, two formulas are run, and all models are rebalanced according to the results.

The first formula looks at the relationship between stock prices and Treasury yields, since Treasury yields generally lead stock prices lower, on average, by three months. Should the market conditions warrant, the first formula will recommend the models reduce their equity exposure with a long-term U.S. government bond fund, or as I refer to it as hedging the strategy.

By adding, increasing, decreasing, or removing the Treasury bond fund from the allocation, Portfolio Shield™ can improve upside performance during Bull markets and reduce downside risk during Bear markets or volatile periods.

The second formula allocates each position in the strategy based on the individual volatility, or fluctuations, of each position. A greater percentage is given to the positions with the least volatility.

Why It Is Better

Most investment strategies available today were either developed decades ago or were designed to work under a specific set of conditions. Portfolio Shield™ was designed to work within the constructs of our monetary system and is optimized to work in today’s financial markets.

How Does It Compare?

Portfolio Shield™ takes the best aspects of low-cost index investing and incorporates a unique way to reduce risk when equity markets are falling.

When compared to a traditional diversified portfolio, a volatility-controlled portfolio, or a “robot” advisory portfolio, Portfolio Shield’s unique design and hedging strategy allow Portfolio Shield™ to potentially generate higher returns for less risk (based on the Beta) when compared to investing in the S&P 500®.

How It Works

The strategy is designed to allocate itself to the S&P 500® and the Nasdaq-100. When the equity markets slow down or start to correct, the portfolio reduces its equity exposure by adding a long-term U.S. Treasury fund to the allocation.

The Treasury fund acts as a brake to reduce the downside risk of the portfolio when stocks go down. This works because when stocks fall, bonds typically rise. The bond allocation has the potential to offset a large portion of the fall in the equity allocation.

Why It Works

Portfolio Shield™ was designed around our monetary system, along with the business and credit cycles. With a deep understanding of how the stock and bond markets work inside our monetary system, the strategy can adjust between both as economic conditions change.

The Four ETFs

Portfolio Shield™ can use six highly liquid, low-fee ETFs. Large market makers back each ETF to provide maximize liquidity during the monthly rebalancing and to provide daily liquidity to meet client needs.

SPDR® S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ)

iShares 20+ Treasury Bond Bond ETF (TLT)

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF)

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG)

iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)

Easy to Understand Statements

With a limited number of potential investments in the allocation, investors will be able to easily determine how their portfolio is allocated.

Reports by Morningstar®

Each month Morningstar® provides an updated Investment Detail Report on the Portfolio Shield™ strategy. Morningstar® is the premier provider of data and analytics for the financial services industry.

Formula Driven but Future Proof

Portfolio Shield™ is a formula-based strategy that is rebalanced on the first trading day of each month based on its formulas. The formulas are not overridden regardless of market conditions.

Future changes to the monetary system, such as a repeal of parts of the Federal Reserve Act to allow direct monetization of debt, may require changes to the strategy.

The Fees

The advisory fee to manage Portfolio Shield™ is 1% per year on household accounts under $2 million and 0.5% per year on the total amount for household accounts over $2 million.

Fees are billed quarterly in advance and any unused days are refunded.

The expense ratio for each ETF used by Portfolio Shield™ is stated in the prospectus of each ETF. The returns of each ETF are net of their expense ratio.

Timely Updates

Updates on the strategy are made publicly available following each monthly rebalance on Steve’s website under the Portfolio Shield™ category.

Minimum Investment

The minimum investment is $150,000 per household (multiple accounts may be opened or transferred to meet the minimum investment requirement).

For Long-Term Investors

Portfolio Shield™ is only suitable for investors with a minimum investment timeline of 3-5 years (or longer). By design, momentum strategies perform better over longer time frames (due to the look-back period associated with using academically-supported time frames) and are only suitable for investors with a long-term investment objective who can stay invested during volatile periods that are less favorable to momentum strategies.

More Questions?

The Complete Guide has answers!

The Complete Guide to Portfolio Shield

This is the complete 12-page guide (PDF) to the most common questions asked about Portfolio Shield™, including fees, the minimum investment, the custodian, liquidity, account access, the inception date, and how to start investing with Portfolio Shield™.

Click Here to Get the Complete Guide!

Even More Questions?

Schedule an appointment!

Introductory Meeting

To schedule an introductory meeting to go over Portfolio Shield™ and answer any questions you might have, please complete the Contact Form and check the box for Portfolio Shield™, e-mail Steve at his Atlas Financial e-mail address available on his Contact Page or call Steve's office at (661) 398-9900.

Ready To Get Started?

Here's what to do next!

Step 1

Open an Account

The minimum investment is $150,000 per household (multiple accounts may be opened or transferred to meet the minimum investment requirement).

Portfolio Shield™ is only suitable for investors with a minimum investment timeline of 3-5 years (or longer). By design, momentum strategies perform better over longer time frames (due to the look-back period associated with using academically-supported time frames) and are only suitable for investors with a long-term investment objective who can stay invested during volatile periods that are less favorable to momentum strategies.

Send an e-mail to Steve at his Securities e-mail address available on his Contact Page with the subject: New Portfolio Shield Account. (Portfolio Shield™ is currently only available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents with a U.S. address.) To open a new account, include all names as they should be on the account, type of account (Individual, Joint, Trust, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, etc.), and an e-mail addresses for each person. To transfer an existing account, attach all pages of the most recent quarterly or monthly statement for the account you wish to transfer and include instructions if the entire account should be moved, or if it is a partial transfer. Steve's assistant will send you all of the paperwork to review and sign by DocuSign.

Step 2

Select a Portfolio Shield™ Strategy

Once your DocuSign application has been received by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. for processing, Steve will send you an e-mail asking which which Portfolio Shield™ strategy you would like to invest in based on your answers to the risk tolerance questionnaire. You may select one Portfolio Shield™ strategy per account.

Step 3

Create Your Online Account

Once your new Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. account has been opened, Steve will send you instructions to create your online account.

Step 4

Fund Your Account

Unless your account is being funded by a transfer or rollover from an existing account, Steve will enable the option for you to deposit funds from your bank account. Transfers or rollovers from an existing account can take several weeks or more.

Step 5

Get Invested

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. automatically notifies Steve anytime new funds are deposited or transferred in. Funds are invested within 2-3 business days of deposit unless they are recurring contributions which are held until the next monthly rebalance.

Step 6

Stay Connected

Stay connected with Portfolio Shield™ with our timely updates following each monthly rebalance. You can find the current update a few days after each monthly rebalance and an archive of prior updates on Steve’s website under the Portfolio Shield™ category. The latest Morningstar® factsheets along with an updated video walkthrough of the factsheets will be posted here each month. You can also stay connected with your account online through your Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. client portal.

Footnotes

*Returns as of 3/1/2024. Gross of advisory and transaction fees.

**Risk is based on the Beta.

Disclosures

The hypothetical back-tested information provided herein is illustrative only and derived from a proprietary Model Strategy designed with the benefit of hindsight based on certain data (which may or may not correspond with the data that someone else would use to back-test) and, market or economic condition assumptions, and estimates (not all of which may be specified herein and which are subject to change without notice). The hypothetical returns are (i) gross of annual advisory fee of 1%, (ii) do not take index fees or transaction costs into account, and (iii) do not reflect the reinvestment of dividends or other earnings. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. Atlas Financial Advisors, Inc. makes no assurance that the Model Strategy will achieve its investment objectives.

Advisory services offered by Atlas Financial Advisors Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory firm. The opinions expressed on this site are those solely of Steven Van Metre and do not necessarily represent those of Steven Van Metre Financial or Atlas Financial Advisors, Inc. (AFA). This website is made available for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Steven Van Metre is an insurance broker (FL License #W863771) and Investment Advisory Representative (CRD #4994543) of Atlas Financial Advisors, Inc. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a complete description of the investment services or performance of Steven Van Metre Financial or Atlas Financial Advisors, Inc. Nothing on this website should be interpreted to state or imply that past results are an indication of future performance. A copy of AFA’s Part II of Form ADV and privacy policy is available upon request. This website is in no way a solicitation or an offer to sell securities or investment advisory services.

Steven Van Metre and AFA disclaim responsibility for updating information and disclaim responsibility for third-party content, including information accessed through hyperlinks. Prior to making any investment decisions, one should seek qualified financial, tax or legal advice as it pertains to their situation and not base any decisions on a blog post, online review or third-party content.

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