Golden Butterfly Portfolio

Background

The Golden Butterfly Portfolio was created by Tyler from the website Portfolio Charts as a modern evolution of Harry Browne’s Permanent Portfolio. While Browne’s original design focused primarily on wealth preservation, the Golden Butterfly adds a modest tilt toward growth. The goal is to create an “all-weather” portfolio that performs reliably across economic cycles—offering protection during recessions and inflationary periods while still capturing long-term market growth. The name reflects its balance and symmetry, with assets spread evenly across both defensive and growth-oriented investments.

Primary Goals

The primary goal of the Golden Butterfly Portfolio is to provide steady, inflation-adjusted returns with low volatility. It aims to combine the stability of the Permanent Portfolio with slightly higher long-term performance by adding more equity exposure. The secondary goal is simplicity and emotional resilience—giving investors a diversified mix that performs well enough in most environments to encourage consistent, long-term holding without the need for prediction or constant rebalancing.

The portfolio is designed to remain balanced across the four major macroeconomic regimes:

• Economic expansion: Stocks—particularly small-cap value—capture growth and rising profits.
• Inflationary environments: Gold preserves purchasing power as currency values weaken and commodity prices rise.
• Deflation or economic contraction: Long-term Treasury bonds appreciate as interest rates fall and capital moves toward safety.
• Recession or uncertainty: Short-term Treasury bonds provide liquidity, stability, and rebalancing opportunities.

Together, these elements work to reduce volatility and deliver consistent returns regardless of shifting economic conditions.

Construction

The Golden Butterfly Portfolio allocates assets evenly across five key asset classes, striking a balance between growth and safety:

• U.S. total stock market: Broad exposure to the overall American economy, providing long-term growth and participation in expanding corporate profits.
• U.S. small-cap value stocks: A targeted slice of smaller, value-oriented companies that historically offer higher returns during periods of economic growth and recovery.
• Short-term Treasury bonds: Provide stability and liquidity, acting as a safe reserve that buffers volatility and funds rebalancing during downturns.
• Long-term Treasury bonds: Offer strong protection in deflationary environments and during equity market declines, as interest rates typically fall in recessions.
• Gold: Serves as a hedge against inflation, currency risk, and systemic uncertainty, maintaining value when paper assets falter.

A representative allocation often used to model the Golden Butterfly includes approximately 20% U.S. stocks, 20% small-cap value stocks, 20% short-term Treasuries, 20% long-term Treasuries, and 20% gold. This even weighting creates a durable, diversified portfolio designed to perform consistently across economic cycles while keeping risk and complexity low.

Performance & Returns

Total Return by Period

Updated: Nov 07, 2025

1 Day	1 Week	28 Days	90 Days	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
0.36%	-0.41%	0.69%	5.76%	11.10%	41.44%	35.79%	87.91%

Total Return by Year

2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
11.20%	11.90%	-13.25%	8.69%	14.67%	17.70%	-3.76%	10.93%	9.86%	-3.24%

10 Year Performance

Total Return	Annualized Return	CAGR	Max Drawdown	Sharpe Ratio	Sortino Ratio	Calmar Ratio	Ulcer Index
87.91%	6.70%	6.53%	-31.78%	0.43	0.56	0.21	0.06

Asset Allocation

Symbol	Description	Weight %
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	20.0
VBR	Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF	20.0
SHY	iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF	20.0
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	20.0
GLD	SPDR Gold Shares	20.0

Total Return Graph

Comparisons with Other Portfolios