Lyn’s Model Portfolios Overview
This article provides a set of instructions and basic FAQ for using Lyn’s Google
Drive and accessing the model portfolios, stock lists, and annual international
report.
Premium Research Investing Philosophy
There are many types investment strategies that can be successful. Some
approaches are high turnover methods, while others are low turnover longer-
term investment strategies. Some people use fundamental research, while
others rely on technical analysis.
My strategy, at its core, is fundamental low-turnover investing with a global
macro overlay. I monitor global macroeconomic conditions and business
cycles to determine appropriate asset allocation levels and to find interesting
stock and ETF opportunities throughout the world. This generally leads to a
somewhat counter-cyclical investing approach, such as holding more
Treasuries and/or gold when equities are expensive, and subsequently adding
more equity exposure when they became more attractive after a sell-off.
I view my stock and ETF ideas like planting seeds. In many cases, the goal is
for them to grow and bear fruit over the long run, and my normal investment
time horizon is 3-5 years. Most of the investing world is focused on the short
run, but by having patience and focusing on a longer time horizon, you can
avoid a lot of the crowded trades and find a real intersection of quality and
value without the need for frequent trading.
Although I try to design portfolios to minimize volatility wherever possible,
investors must be able to hang on to their investments through volatile
periods, especially for individual stocks. That’s what makes a great value
investor: to do your homework on a company, make a decision, and then be
willing to ignore price fluctuations as long as your investment thesis on the
company remains intact.
This strategy, along with proper diversification and appropriate position
sizing, can help manage risk and gradually rotate capital away from
overvalued investments and toward undervalued investments.
Navigating Google Drive
Google Drive is a commonly-used cloud data storage system, and this
premium research service stores some frequently-updated information on
Google Drive. In particular, the model portfolios and top twelve stock list are
stored there as spreadsheets. In addition, I have the global opportunities
investment report PDF uploaded there.
To access the Google Drive for the model portfolio, top twelve stock list, or
global opportunities international report, click here.
The Top Twelve Stocks Sheet is a spreadsheet that contains 4 conservative
stocks, 4 aggressive stocks, and 4 high-yield stocks, that I consider to be good
opportunities at current prices from a long term perspective.
At the bottom of the spreadsheet, you’ll see two tabs. The first one shows the
Top Twelve Stocks, and the second one provides an overview of international
ETFs that I track with the global opportunities report.
The Model Portfolio Sheet contains the most recently updated versions of
my various real-money portfolios.
Each tab at the bottom corresponds to one of the portfolios. The newsletter
portfolio is the M1 portfolio that readers of my free newsletter are familiar
with. The Fortress Income portfolio is a secondary M1 portfolio that is unique
to this premium service. The Other Holdings tab lists my various investments
in my larger accounts.
Newsletter Portfolio (M1 Finance)
The Newsletter Portfolio is the portfolio I share in each issue of my free
newsletter that comes out every six weeks. The purpose of the portfolio is to
provide inspiration for investment ideas and to show how I am expressing
some of my market views in the context of a diversified portfolio. The goal is to
be diversified, and yet to use a counter-cyclical investment approach to lean
into areas that are undervalued and that may provide better forward returns.
I started it in 2018 with $10,000 and currently put in $1,000 each month. It’s
a low-turnover portfolio that sticks to liquid investments and is scalable to any
size.
I use M1 Finance as the platform for it.
M1 Finance is a simple investing platform that lets you manage portfolios on a
percentage basis, like a pie chart, rather than an individual share number
basis. The downsides are that they only work with liquid stocks and ETFs; no
options or over-the-counter securities.
Fortress Income Portfolio (M1 Finance)
The Fortress Income Portfolio is a real-money model portfolio that is unique
to this service.
It’s similar to my free newsletter model portfolio, but it’s a bit more
conservative, higher-yielding, and easier to follow, with fewer sub-categories.
I started it in 2019 with $10,000 in capital. I don’t add or subtract money from
it, and will simply use it as a model portfolio to help give context to my
investment views. Since it uses a low-turnover strategy and includes only
liquid investments, it is scalable to virtually any size.
ETF Portfolio (M1 Finance)
The ETF Portfolio is the simplest of my model portfolios.
I started it in 2020 with $10,000 and currently put in $1,000 each month. It
expresses a similar outlook as the Newsletter Portfolio and the Fortress
Income Portfolio, but with a handful of ETFs for maximum simplicity.
No Limits Portfolio (Interactive Brokers)
I initiated this portfolio with $100,000 in 2020, and am not adding or
subtracting capital from it.
This No Limits Portfolio, as the name suggests, has fewer restrictions than the
various M1 Finance model portfolios. It can invest in over-the-counter
securities, for example. It’s still a low-turnover portfolio that is scalable to a
very large size (and thus remains an “investment portfolio” rather than a
“trading account”), but it has a bit more flexibility in its security selection.
It will keep overall holdings to a modest number, with an emphasis on ETFs
for its core, and individual stocks to fill out some of the details.
Other Holdings (Fidelity, Schwab, and Retirement Account)
The Other Holdings tab is the catch-all for other portfolios that I have, which
pre-exist my website and are not really meant as model portfolios. They just
show other accounts I have had for years. Money is added at varying levels,
and unlike the other portfolios, I don’t disclose dollar amounts.
These portfolios include an index-only retirement account, an old Roth IRA at
Fidelity that I can’t contribute to anymore due to income limits, and a taxable
Schwab account that I still add to as my main account. For simplicity, I blend
the Schwab and Fidelity accounts together for disclosing active positions.
Legal Disclaimer
All of the analysis in this research service is presented for informational
purposes about investments in general, and does not constitute investment
advice.
Individuals have unique circumstances, goals, and risk tolerance, so you
should consult a certified investment professional and/or do you own due
diligence before making investment decisions. Certified professionals can
provide individualized investment advice tailored to your unique situation.
This research platform is for general investment information only, is not
individualized, and as such does not constitute investment advice.
Every effort is made to ensure that the research content on this platform is
accurate, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed and all information is presented
“as is”. Investors should consult multiple sources of information when
analyzing investments.
Investments may lose value. Investors should use proper diversification and
maintain appropriate position sizes when managing their investments.
Best regards,
