This is the article displaying the portfolio by Scott Adams called the Dilbert portfolio. Here you will find a description, performance, and resources for the portfolio as well as detailed information on how to implement it yourself.
Article Contents
Tell me what you need, and I’ll tell you how to get along without it.
– Dilbert
Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio, crazy high returns, but there’s a catch
Scott Adams is the author of the wildly popular comic strip Dilbert. He is also the author of quite a few books. I want to highlight one of those books as it is a huge influencing effect on my thinking. It is called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life. Half cherry-picked biography and self-improvement and half business book (Dilbert math). The book will show you how failure is the only option when you are looking to succeed.
Success is a terrible teacher as they say.
I like reading books by Scott Adams as he deals with reality in a real way. He is knowledgeable about a lot of topics and can talk intelligently, humbly and thoughtful about them. This makes him a joy to listen to and to read.
Scott Adams and DilbertThe book is a #1 bestseller at the moment, so Scott Adams must have hit a chord with a lot of people. I highly recommend it. It is one of the most elegant and on-point arguments for the fail often, fail early philosophy.
Description of the Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio
Scott Adams’ portfolio is as interesting as his own life has been. He suggested this simple portfolio on his blog a while back. It has crazy returns but it has also crazy volatility. Yes, crazy is an academic financial term.
High volatility means that you can expect that the value of the portfolio will bounce around a lot. The portfolio has only two asset classes. They are emerging markets and total U.S. stocks. Simple right?
I should note here that it would be extraordinarily unwise to base any of your investments on what you read in a cartoonist’s blog. This is just a mental exercise.
– Scott Adams
Performance of the Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio
| Portfolio name | Asset class count | 1 year return (2019) | Year to date | 10 year return | CAGR since 1989 | Drawdown | Risk Level | Expense ratio | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (Benchmark) | 1 | 31.46% | 3.69% | 13.52% | 10.54% | -37.63% | 5 - very high risk | 0.04% | 1.79% |
| Scott Adams Dilbert's Portfolio | 2 | 25.56% | 0.69% | 8.63% | 10.92% | -44.87% | 5 - very high risk | 0.08% | 2.46% |
That’s some high returns but they come at a price. High drawdown and high volatility. It may look like it is crazy but who wouldn’t want those juicy returns?
Asset Allocation for the Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio
- 50.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
- 50.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
Check the best mutual funds and ETFs here.
Resources for the Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio
You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.
– Dilbert
Scott Adams’ website featuring Dilbert.
Scott Adams’ personal blog. Here is also a link to his podcast.
3 very good books by Scott Adams:
- How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
- Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America
- Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter
Conclusion
The Scott Adams Dilbert portfolio offers high returns if you can stomach the wild swings.
What’s your risk tolerance?
Do you think you could hold a portfolio like Scott Adams’ Dilbert portfolio?