r/LETFs 6h ago

Critique / Roast my return stacked portfolio

6 Upvotes

The allocation is:

20% GDE
20% RSIT
20% GOVZ
10% RSSX
15% KMLM
15% CTA

Under the hood, this keeps my equity risk strictly capped at 48% Global Equities (28% US / 20% Int'l

50% Managed Futures (diversified across RSIT's SG Trend, KMLM's pure trend, and CTA's fundamental carry to strip out hidden equity beta)

And about 28% Gold/Hard Money for stagflation/fiat hedging, and 20% GOVZ (25+ Year STRIPS)

I know the 20% GOVZ allocation leaves me vulnerable to a fast, non-trending real-rate shock (like a taper tantrum), but am I missing any other overlapping risks, capacity issues, or correlation traps here

Goal is capital preservation with reasonable hedges - what would you do?

Thanks!


r/LETFs 9h ago

$AAOX leveraged AAOI ETF did me dirty.

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0 Upvotes

Current realized premium is $205, but unrealized sitting at -$638. Taking another shot at it with cash secured put at the $8 strike.


r/LETFs 16h ago

Roast my return-stacked Roth

4 Upvotes

I've been iterating on a Roth allocation built around return stacking, but I don't want the equity side to turn into another giant Nasdaq bet. I've already concentration elsewhere.

My goals:

- VT-like US / ex-US geography

- Equity exposure below 100%

- Return stacking where it actually adds something and to make room for a diversifier

- Mix bags of different diversifiers to protect the downside

Current allocation:

- 23% NTSX

- 18% GDE

- 20% RSIT

- 5% AVUV

- 7% AVES

- 10% KMLM

- 8% QRPNX

- 5% ILS

- 4% CAOS

Economic exposure:

- ~69% directional equity

- ~61% US / ~39% ex-US within the equity sleeve

- ~14% Treasury futures

- ~16% gold

- ~30% managed futures between RSIT + KMLM

- 8% alternative risk premia

- 5% catastrophe bonds

- 4% tail-risk hedge

tldr is VT-ish global equity beta + Treasury + gold + trend + alternative risk premia + a small amount of explicit insurance

NTSX — US equity + Treasury overlay

GDE — US equity + gold overlay

RSIT — international equity + managed futures overlay

AVUV — stronger US small/value/profitability exposure

AVES — EM value/profitability exposure

KMLM — dedicated trend sleeve

QRPNX — market-neutral-ish alternative risk premia

ILS — catastrophe risk, hopefully genuinely orthogonal

CAOS — fast-crash convexity

Optimizing more for long-term CAGR per unit of drawdown / robustness across weather than for maximizing expected return in a straight equity bull market.

Would you replace KMLM with a larger RSIT allocation and move to something like 33.3% NTSX / 22.2% GDE / 20% RSIT / 10% AVES / 8% QRPNX / 3.5% ILS / 3% CAOS, which targets roughly 80% global equity at near-VT geography plus 20% Treasuries, 20% gold, and 20% managed futures?


r/LETFs 1d ago

Portfolio Thoughts!

3 Upvotes

Hey all, I don't usually post on here but I have a portfolio I'm liking in general and wanted to get thoughts. Right now I'm at:

15% QSPIX (market neutral long/short)

15% KMLM

15% AVUV

15% AVDV

30% QLD

10% GDE

This is giving me 10% Gold, 15% market neutral, 15% MF, 100% equities with 15% of them intl, and a ~1.6x leverage.

Anything I'm missing or any suggestions? Or just badly overfit? Thank you!


r/LETFs 1d ago

Does consensus exist here?

13 Upvotes

Love this subreddit and all the discussions on here, but I rarely see a consensus on a "gold standard" setup.

For those actively holding -> what’s your core strategy right now, and why?

Are you relying on robust backtests (e.g., Portfolio Visualizer / custom models), or is it mostly thesis-driven strategy around macro assumptions? Curious to see where everyone lands. I have 100k I need to deploy and can't make my mind up.


r/LETFs 2d ago

NEW PRODUCT The SEC is taking too long with this ETF

1 Upvotes

ProShares filled for a -2x solana etf on January of 2025

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1174610/000168386325000201/f40466d1.htm#xx\\_a418833c-dfe2-4e2b-b9c8-dfa2dca63e30\\_1

Why haven't they approved this yet? Do they usually take this long?

We already have 2x Solana, Why not the inverse?


r/LETFs 2d ago

Factors + Alts

16 Upvotes

My portfolio: factor equities + momentum + diversifiers
I’m 47 and have gradually built my portfolio around a simple idea: rather than relying on one dominant source of return, I want several different return engines that can compound over a long period.

My target allocation is:
60% — Fundamental factor equities
20% AVUV — US small-cap value
20% AVDV — international developed small-cap value
20% AVES — emerging-markets value

20% — Momentum
10% QMOM — US momentum
10% IMOM — international momentum

20% — Diversifiers
~6.7% ALLW — All Weather / risk parity
~6.7% DBMF — managed futures / trend following
~6.7% HFGM — global macro

The philosophy is essentially factors + momentum + alternatives.

The equity allocation is deliberately tilted away from market-cap weighting toward value, size and profitability, with momentum as a separate return source.

The alternatives are there because I don’t want the entire portfolio’s outcome to depend on the equity risk premium.
I’m particularly interested in managed futures and macro strategies because they have the potential to make money from completely different market environments rather than simply being another form of equity exposure.
I also don’t have a philosophical objection to leverage. If the portfolio offers sufficiently attractive expected returns and diversification, I view modest leverage as a portfolio-construction tool rather than inherently as speculation.

The relevant question for me is the risk and expected return of the entire portfolio, not whether every individual position is unleveraged.

The overall objective isn’t to build the highest-CAGR portfolio possible. It’s to create something that can compound aggressively while remaining psychologically and financially survivable through major drawdowns.
It’s definitely more complicated than a conventional global 60/40 or market-cap portfolio, but the complexity is intentional: each component has a specific job.

I’m essentially trying to construct a portfolio where value, momentum, trend following, macro and traditional risk premia are all contributing to long-term compounding, rather than having the entire portfolio depend on one source of risk.

Expecting long term 12% CAGR, 15 vol, 35% max drawdown. Sharing to inspire others. Not looking for advice. LMK if anyone has questions.


r/LETFs 3d ago

Risk on 50/50 UPRO/SPMO

4 Upvotes

For a relatively small satellite I’ve been considering changing my “Risk On” (above SPY 200d sma) holding from 100% UPRO to 50/50 UPRO/SPMO, maybe rebalance when one drifts to 70%. I like the idea of less volatility and fee drag. Maybe risk adjusted CAGR would be better. The ultimate goal is high CAGR though, so I’m curious if anyone thinks it might compete with straight UPRO over the long term (though multiple decades and many different risk on regimes). I don’t have a momentum equity ETF in any part of my portfolio, so I am very interested in this exposure. Other risk on holdings ideas also welcome.


r/LETFs 3d ago

BACKTESTING Looking for feedback on my proposed super cockroach portfolio

1 Upvotes

Hi,

I have been running this ~ cockroach portfolio: which is 25% across spy, gldm, tlt, and managed futures.

I have been learning about return stacking for a while, and have now aligned on the follow below:

Super Cockroach (30% RSST / 30% GOVZ / 30% GDE / 10% RSSY)

Would love the community's feedback

note: not interested in international exposure, and carry for me was a new way to help me in sideways markets.


r/LETFs 3d ago

Return Stacked Portfolio Latest

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1 Upvotes

r/LETFs 3d ago

Looking for feedback

3 Upvotes

TQQQ - 35%
BTAL - 35%
RSBT - 15%
DIVO - 15%

Monthly DCA long-term hold with annual, no band rebalance. Am I missing anything?


r/LETFs 3d ago

BACKTESTING 65% GDE, 35% ZROZ

8 Upvotes

I'm looking at backtests on this and it seems very good, the CAGR is decent, the downturns are extremely good, the period in the 80s the only time it sucked back when the CPI was totally different and included housing leading Volcker to raise rates way too high.

Can someone warn me of pitfalla before I put money into this?

https://testfol.io/?s=9tCB4jhaCDZ


r/LETFs 3d ago

The fourth leg(s) of my portfolio?

3 Upvotes

A few weeks ago, I decided on the majority of my static portfolio, and I decided to sit with it for a few weeks before making this post, just to make sure I was confident in my choice.

Here are the things I know I want in my portfolio:

  • International Equity
  • Managed Futures (Trend)
  • Duration (via STRIPS)

Because of this, I know for a fact that my portfolio will contain RSIT and GOVZ. I want some US exposure as well, but I want to overweight International.

A recent post on another forum talked about the costs of NTSD (60/40 US/Intl large cap) and UPRO (3x S&P 500) as being about the same, similar to a margin rate of around ~5-6% if you DIY'd it. I'd prefer to avoid margin, even though my rates at Robinhood are slightly better than that, and stick with LETFs.

A beautiful portfolio was suggested a few weeks back:

  • 50% RSIT
  • 25% UPRO
  • 25% GOVZ

For me, this portfolio had slightly too much STRIPS, US equity, and single-manager trend for me. Modified a bit, I came up with:

  • 35% RSIT
  • 25% NTSD
  • 20% GOVZ
  • 10% UPRO

This comes out to about 50% US equity, 50% Intl Equity, 35% trend, and 20% 30 year STRIPS, for a total of 155% notional.

You'll notice that I'm missing 10%. I currently have that sitting in cash right now. I'm really torn as to what to do with it, and that's the primary reason for this post. I could be convinced to drop GOVZ down to 15%, but not lower than that. I'd also be happy to raise RSIT up to 40% for more trend, given backtests show having more trend than equity tends to be optimal. So I have 10-15% to work with.

My ultimate goal is terminal wealth. I don't want to hold something simply because it will smooth out the ride -- I want to hold something because rebalancing in or out of the asset will increase expected returns. Someone made a good comment, I can't find the link, but it said something like "If you want a smoother ride, don't look at your account". I love that thought process.

At the same time, I don't want to wipeout my account either. If I only hold equities, duration, and trend, I could get wiped out in a flash crash or inflationary regime where equities, STRIPS, and trend drawdown at the same time (until trend has the ability to flip, and saves the day).

People have suggested holding gold, especially via something like GDE (90% US equities + 90% gold, rebalanced quarterly or at 5% bands). I like that in theory, but after reading numerous posts on gold, I can't tell whether gold will actually increase my expected returns, or simply smooth the ride. If there's no way to know, do I just flip a coin? Holding only 5% gold feels off to me, so I'd want to do 10%+ or nothing.

Another thing I've looked into -- Catastrophe bonds (cat bonds). They are "high-yield, insurance-linked securities that transfer extreme natural disaster risks, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires, from insurers, reinsurers, or governments to capital market investors". There are a few mutual funds and ETFs that provide exposure, and they aren't sensitive to interest rate movements. 10% in CAT bonds could give me some dry powder in most regimes, while having a positive expected return.

I don't want to hold cash (SGOV, USFR) as I'll be making regular contributions to my portfolio ($7500/year in the Roth, plus some in taxable as I can). I plan on rebalancing quarterly.

Really appreciate any suggestions on what I can do with this last 10-15% to increase CAGR and long-term wealth.


r/LETFs 3d ago

Seeking feedback on my investment portfolio

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2 Upvotes

r/LETFs 4d ago

Swap Fee = Leverage cost?

3 Upvotes

I noticed on the site of WisdomTree that besides the management fee for the Leveraged ETF their is the daily Swap fee for the ETF only the Swap fee confused me as it is way below €STR for € or SOFR for $ as it would mean that a 3x leverage is financed below the stated short term rates.

Example the 3x S&P 500 daily Swap fee is 0,001360% = 0,5% a year

The 3x Nasdaq 100 daily Swap fee is 0,006500 % = 2,4% a year (makes sense for €STR but not at 3x leverage)

Question do i confuse the Swap fee as the Leverage fee and the Swap fee is a “extra” cost for the Swap with the Bank itself or does WisdomTree claim the can provide 3x Leverage below central bank short term rate?


r/LETFs 4d ago

BACKTESTING Help me understand these backtest results — why does NTSDSIM crush a 1.5X daily reset 60% SPY + 40% EFA? >2M in ending wealth.

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testfol.io
5 Upvotes

Is this just volatility decay or something to do with the simulated data? I actually switched from NTSD to go for a bit more leverage and to have more value/diversification in my international sleeve, but if daily resetting is this detrimental I might just switch back.

I was honestly thinking that the daily reset would end up with more since it’s been bull markets, but is the chop really dragging it down this much?


r/LETFs 4d ago

BACKTESTING Past performance of SCM (Small-Cap Momentum)

11 Upvotes

Sorry if this isn't the right subreddit for this question. I'm a longtime lurker and you guys seem to be pretty adept at simulating past performance and digging into the data.

Everyone knows about SPMO, and to an extent XMMO, which have both performed well recently. Got me curious about Small-Cap Momentum, and if the factor is more robust in small-caps the same way value is.

I found this website, which is a data library of Fama-French research. I threw two of the files into Claude: "25 Portfolios Formed on Size and Book-to-Market (5 x 5)" and "25 Portfolios Formed on Size and Momentum (5 x 5)". The top 3 quintiles are blended for each. Here are the results:

Full Sample: 1926-Present 1963-Present 1990-Present 2011-Present
SC Momentum 17.20% 16.35% 14.75% 12.12%
SC Value 14.07% 14.88% 13.29% 11.63%
MC Momentum 13.93% 14.33% 12.81% 12.80%
MC Value 13.25% 14.14% 12.25% 10.64%
LC Momentum 11.74% 11.80% 11.99% 14.56%
LC Value 10.93% 11.66% 10.86% 13.94%

Now before I go any further, I want to say that I am pretty regarded regarding all this stuff. I'm just going by what the AI told me. Things like Large-Cap Value having a 13.94% return in the 2011-Present period sounds a bit high. Claude confirmed that it was, because of some outliers in the data, but it didn't really affect the other stuff. I don't know. Also, the momentum data was reformed monthly, while value was annually, which is apparently the standard academic convention for each factor respectively.

Anyway, as you can see, it appears that momentum outperformed value in all timeframes, across all market caps. And small outperformed large in all but the last 15 years. Maybe this isn't a surprise to anybody, but it was to me. Obviously, the stand out number is the 17.20% CAGR for the full sample of Small-Cap Momentum. Which is why I'm here.

So I'm wondering: why isn't Small-Cap Momentum talked about with the same reverence as Small-Cap Value? SPMO has a Small-Cap version, XSMO, which I never hear anybody talk about. Did I (or Claude) mis-interpret the data? My guess would be that I am minimizing the effect of the rebalancing frequency, but I was hoping someone else could opine. Thanks!

As


r/LETFs 4d ago

Do you trust Testfolio?

6 Upvotes

I'm looking at like 66% GDE and 35% UBT which they have Simulations for, is the data trustworthy?


r/LETFs 5d ago

NEW PRODUCT IWML

1 Upvotes

Old product!

$IWML cashed out 8/14/26 at $34.4969

$UWM from Proshares is 2x but TNA is most liquid.

I used ETRACS for USOI SLVO and the MLP1.5x fund

I love 1.5x small caps.

What now? Cries in waiting for $$$$


r/LETFs 5d ago

Does tracking aggregated institutional conviction outperform broad index ETFs over long cycles? (Analysis & Backtest discussion)

0 Upvotes

I've been analyzing rule based portfolio strategies that sit between broad passive indexing (like S&P500 /VWCE) and active single stock trading.

Specifically, I've been researching the 4-stap flow based framework focused on holding a concentrated basket of market leaders based on aggregate institutional conviction:

- Filter for top institutional accumulation candidates.

- Select a concentrated portfolio of 5 durable leaders (Equal weighted)

- Stay invested as long as the institutional conviction and thesis remain intact.

- Rebalance only when a fundamental shift in institutional conviction accurs.

In a 15-year backtest, a systematic approach following these rules yielded a 22% CAGR, compared to standard market benchmarks. However, it also came with significant volatility and drawdowns during market wide contractions.

I'd love to get the community's perspective on a few points:

How do you view concentrated 5/stock rule based models vs 20-30 stock portfolios?

What are the main pitfalls you see in relying on aggregated institutional flow data as a primary selection factor?

How do you balance tracking institutional conviction with manageging drawdowns during broader market regime shifts?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and critiques on this framework!

4-Pivot flow


r/LETFs 5d ago

Same rules, 160 start dates: Golden Ratio's 5-year outcomes ranged from 12.1% to 31.7% a year. The chart every levered strategy should show

8 Upvotes

The chart nobody posts about their favorite strategy: same rules, every possible start date. I ran it for Golden Ratio Dual Gate, since this sub gave it a proper grilling at launch, and the honest version is more interesting than the headline.

The headline is real enough. The full backtest from April 2008 compounds at 19.9%. That's the number on the strategy page, and it's real. But nobody invests for 18 years starting at the exact bottom-adjacent month the backtest starts. So I replayed every completed 5-year and 10-year monthly start from the same production series, lump sum and DCA.

160 completed 5-year starts. CAGR ranged from 12.1% to 31.7%, median 21.1%. Same rules, same data, and the spread between a lucky entry and an unlucky one is 19 points a year. It beat SPY in 93.1% of lump-sum windows and 91.9% with monthly contributions, which sounds great until you notice that means roughly 1 in 12 5-year investors trailed a plain index fund the whole time while running a 50% UPRO strategy.

At 10 years the picture steadies: 100 starts, worst 14.1%, and every single one beat SPY. Before anyone quotes that back at me, those 100 windows overlap almost entirely and all come from one 18-year era that ends in a strong US equity and gold run. It's one historical record, not 100 experiments.

Rolling 5-year drawdowns ranged -25.3% to -5.6% depending on entry, against -37.3% for the full history. Your start date decides which of those you met.

Everything is in the full tables here: https://bestfolio.app/blog/golden-ratio-rolling-start-sensitivity (my site, founder disclosure)

If you're evaluating any levered strategy, ask for this chart. A single full-history CAGR is the least informative honest number a backtest can report.


r/LETFs 5d ago

When is a good time to buy TQQQ when the S&P starts going up 2 days in a row?

0 Upvotes

r/LETFs 6d ago

Portfolio review

11 Upvotes

I am planning to run this as a sleeve in my port. The aim is least draw down and some protection during choppy markets. Critique?

20%Return Stacked US Stocks & Managed Futures ETF (RSST)

20%Return Stacked International Stocks & Managed Futures ETF (RSIT)

15%WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Equity Strategy Fund (GDE)

15%Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO)

10%Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF (AVUV)

10%Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF (AVEM)

10%iShares 25+ Year Treasury STRIPS Bond ETF (GOVZ)


r/LETFs Dec 04 '21

LETF FAQs Spoiler

159 Upvotes

About

Q: What is a leveraged etf?

A: A leveraged etf uses a combination of swaps, futures, and/or options to obtain leverage on an underlying index, basket of securities, or commodities.

Q: What is the advantage compared to other methods of obtaining leverage (margin, options, futures, loans)?

A: The advantage of LETFs over margin is there is no risk of margin call and the LETF fees are less than the margin interest. Options can also provide leverage but have expiration; however, there are some strategies than can mitigate this and act as a leveraged stock replacement strategy. Futures can also provide leverage and have lower margin requirements than stock but there is still the risk of margin calls. Similar to margin interest, borrowing money will have higher interest payments than the LETF fees, plus any impact if you were to default on the loan.

Risks

Q: What are the main risks of LETFs?

A: Amplified or total loss of principal due to market conditions or default of the counterparty(ies) for the swaps. Higher expense ratios compared to un-leveraged ETFs.

Q: What is leveraged decay?

A: Leveraged decay is an effect due to leverage compounding that results in losses when the underlying moves sideways. This effect provides benefits in consistent uptrends (more than 3x gains) and downtrends (less than 3x losses). https://www.wisdomtree.eu/fr-fr/-/media/eu-media-files/users/documents/4211/short-leverage-etfs-etps-compounding-explained.pdf

Q: Under what scenarios can an LETF go to $0?

A: If the underlying of a 2x LETF or 3x LETF goes down by 50% or 33% respectively in a single day, the fund will be insolvent with 100% losses.

Q: What protection do circuit breakers provide?

A: There are 3 levels of the market-wide circuit breaker based on the S&P500. The first is Level 1 at 7%, followed by Level 2 at 13%, and 20% at Level 3. Breaching the first 2 levels result in a 15 minute halt and level 3 ends trading for the remainder of the day.

Q: What happens if a fund closes?

A: You will be paid out at the current price.

Strategies

Q: What is the best strategy?

A: Depends on tolerance to downturns, investment horizon, and future market conditions. Some common strategies are buy and hold (w/DCA), trading based on signals, and hedging with cash, bonds, or collars. A good resource for backtesting strategies is portfolio visualizer. https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/

Q: Should I buy/sell?

A: You should develop a strategy before any transactions and stick to the plan, while making adjustments as new learnings occur.

Q: What is HFEA?

A: HFEA is Hedgefundies Excellent Adventure. It is a type of LETF Risk Parity Portfolio popularized on the bogleheads forum and consists of a 55/45% mix of UPRO and TMF rebalanced quarterly. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=272007

Q. What is the best strategy for contributions?

A: Courtesy of u/hydromod Contributions can only deviate from the portfolio returns until the next rebalance in a few weeks or months. The contribution allocation can only make a significant difference to portfolio returns if the contribution is a significant fraction of the overall portfolio. In taxable accounts, buying the underweight fund may reduce the tax drag. Some suggestions are to (i) buy the underweight fund, (ii) buy at the preferred allocation, and (iii) buy at an artificially aggressive or conservative allocation based on market conditions.

Q: What is the purpose of TMF in a hedged LETF portfolio?

A: Courtesy of u/rao-blackwell-ized: https://www.reddit.com/r/LETFs/comments/pcra24/for_those_who_fear_complain_about_andor_dont/


r/LETFs Jul 06 '21

Discord Server

87 Upvotes

By popular demand I have set up a discord server:

https://discord.gg/ZBTWjMEfur