Noteworthy Portfolios: March 2026

Defense, gold, utilities, semiconductors, energy and banks make this a highly deliberate response to geopolitical and industrial change rather than a conventional market tracker. The striking feature is the combination of a 33.1% annual backtest return with just 13.7% volatility and an 11.5% maximum drawdown, although the short history and heavy thematic concentration warrant caution. Gold alone accounts for a fifth of the portfolio, giving the strategy a meaningful ballast if risk assets stumble.

There is no defensive sleeve here: the portfolio divides its entire allocation between US information technology and semiconductors. That focus delivered an impressive backtest, but the 32.4% maximum drawdown and 26.3% volatility show how quickly the ride can turn rough when growth stocks lose favour. It looks more suitable as a satellite allocation for investors who can tolerate a portfolio that behaves very differently from the wider market.

Equal weighting gives this infrastructure-rebuilding idea a clear, easy-to-understand structure, but it also leaves investors exposed to just five companies and one broad economic thesis. Its 5.7-year history makes the strong backtest more useful than a short recent run, while volatility above 20% confirms that the return came with substantial uncertainty. This is a focused industrial bet, not a replacement for a diversified core portfolio.

A large global-equity core is surrounded by small-cap, emerging-market, factor and regional allocations, with a modest Bitcoin position adding a distinctly speculative edge. The seven-year record is the longest among these picks, but its 34.8% maximum drawdown is a reminder that diversification does not eliminate equity risk. The portfolio is interesting because its satellite positions are small enough to avoid dominating the design while still giving it a more opinionated character than a plain world tracker.