Not the average year. The breaking year. We design the portfolio against the moment its assumptions stop holding, because that is the moment that decides whether capital survives to compound.
An average weights a calm decade and a single crash the same. The fewer years behind it, the more one bad year can flatter or wreck the picture. A reassuring number can hide a fragile one.
We hold every estimate to how it behaves when markets turn, not to how neat it looks in a quiet sample. The estimates we keep are the ones that stay honest under stress.
An estimate you trust in calm weather is worth little. The estimate worth holding is the one that is still standing when the weather turns.
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best | Q | SC | SC | M | M | SC | M | M | Q | M | Q | V | Q | M |
| 2nd | M | EW | EW | LC | Q | V | Q | Q | LC | Q | V | SC | LC | LC |
| 3rd | LC | LC | M | EW | LC | EW | LC | LC | EW | LC | LC | M | SC | Q |
| 4th | V | M | Q | V | V | LC | EW | V | M | SC | EW | EW | EW | V |
| 5th | EW | V | V | Q | EW | Q | SC | EW | SC | EW | SC | LC | V | EW |
| Worst | SC | Q | LC | SC | SC | M | V | SC | V | V | M | Q | M | SC |
The chaotic pattern of colors demonstrates the challenge of trying to time factors. The top-performing factor changes almost every year, requiring a systematic, adaptive approach rather than static allocation.