William Bernstein No Brainer Portfolio Review and ETFs

The William Bernstein No Brainer Portfolio may indeed be a no brainer. Here we’ll check out its components, historical performance, and the best ETFs to use in its construction.

// TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro
00:09 - Who Is William Bernstein?
01:02 - What Is the No Brainer Portfolio?
01:40 - Performance and Review
05:12 - How To Build the Portfolio with ETFs
05:58 - Outro

// SUMMARY:

William (Bill) Bernstein is a retired neurologist, financial theorist, and prolific investing author. Like the other voices of wisdom in the investing world, William Bernstein maintains that index investing is superior to stock picking, and that asset allocation is far more important than the selection of those assets or timing the buying and selling thereof. He delineates the details and reasoning behind this approach in his first book, The Intelligent Asset Allocator.

Bernstein is one of the most prolific investing authors out there. Math/theory nerds like me and armchair investors alike will enjoy and get something from all of his investing-related books.

As the name suggests, the No Brainer Portfolio was created by William Bernstein. It is considered a “lazy portfolio,” being easy to implement and manage. I’ve also seen it referred to as the “Simpleton’s Portfolio,” which makes sense, as this is arguably the simplest of all the portfolios Bernstein has created; no special asset classes here, and Bernstein admits he is an “asset class junkie.” Bill Bernstein also designed the Coward’s Portfolio.

The William Bernstein No Brainer portfolio is a diversified blend of 4 equally-weighted asset classes:
25% US Large Cap Blend
25% US Small Cap Blend
25% International Stocks
25% Short-Term Bonds

We can construct the No Brainer Portfolio with the following ETFs:
VOO – 25%
SPSM – 25%
VXUS – 25%
SCHO – 25%

#lazyportfolio #lazyportfolios #investingforbeginners

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// SOCIAL

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[OptimizedPortfolio]

What do you think of Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio?

[djayjp]

Superb analysis as always! I really hope this channel gets the audience it deserves, eventually!

[jkd]

Very good. Your presentation has come a long way.

[davidfolts]

Thanks for another great video, Optimized Portfolio. One of the smartest Bogleheads, William Bernstein, he is.

[williambaldridge]

Thank you for all of your research and hard work! I would love to watch a video on YOUR ideal "Optimized Portfolio" asset allocation.

[surfrduede]

Hey John, thanks for the informative content. Perhaps you’ve already done a video on it, but I’d be curious if any of the most popular “lazy portfolios” actually outperform the simple 3 fund portfolio over the past 30 years?

[lemonLime]

Gresg video - though I think it would have been helpful in the first chart to compare this portfolio to a 75/25 sp500/short term bonds portfolio to compare at a similar level of "risk."

[bendy]

Thanks for the great content as always! Unrelated question for you if its not too personal: Why do you personally invest in vanguard products for the blend portion of your ginger ale portfolio as apposed to avantis (VWO over AVEM, VEA over AVDE, VOO over AVUS)?

[Lee-fivo]

You are very analytical, and you dont pull punches when you say something is "irrational".

[AmanNair-rfgo]

Great video, I wasn't aware of this individual or his portfolio recommendations. I'm in my mid 20s and prefer to be 100% in equities so this approach doesn't appeal to me

[theotherview]

This seems to be good for someone young who might need some cash in the near future?

It’s a Boglehead 3 with a falir-Doesn’t seem to be novel. Invest in the stock market broadly both US and internationally and part of the funds in treasuries to ensure that if there is a crash well ar least part of it is still growing. It’s a fine portfolio but the philosophy behind it seems unclear.

[PassivePortfolios]

I had dinner with Bill Bernstein at the 2022 Bogleheads conference in Oak Brook. We chatted for over an hour. He was convinced that short term Treasuries are the way to go for the fixed income allocation, either as a fund, ETF or a Treasury ladder. The last two years have proven him to be right. Oh, and the discussion was memorable, but the food was not.

[stiffeification]

short term bonds are just now ok, they were completely stupid from 2008-2021 as they returned below inflation rate, so you effectively lost money. And it's not like you cant know that as they are directl tied to fed rate. It's plain and simply stupid. They will get bad as soon as rates fall again.