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any experience with the gone fishin' portfolio?
user
yes, the "based on" claim appears to be true – but the nobel laureate did not personally design that specific investment portfolio ;-) it looks like the gone fishin' portfolio is made up of a selection of low-fee stock and bond index funds, diversified by geography and market-capitalization, and regularly rebalanced.  excerpt from another article, dated 2003: the gone fishin’ portfolio  [circa 2003] vanguard total stock market index (vtsmx) – 15%   vanguard small-cap index (naesx) – 15%   vanguard european stock index (veurx) – 10%   vanguard pacific stock index (vpacx) – 10%   vanguard emerging markets index (veiex) – 10%   vanguard short-term bond index (vfstx) – 10%   vanguard high-yield corporates fund (vwehx) – 10%   vanguard inflation-protected securities fund (vipsx) – 10%   vanguard reit index (vgsix) – 5%   vanguard precious metals fund (vgpmx) – 5%   that does appear to me to be an example of a portfolio based on modern portfolio theory (mpt), "which tries to maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk" (per wikipedia).  mpt was introduced by harry markowitz, who did go on to share the 1990 nobel memorial prize in economic sciences.  (note: that is the economics equivalent of the original nobel prize.) you'll find more information at nobelprize.org - the prize in economics 1990 - press release. finally, for what it's worth, it isn't rocket science to build a similar portfolio.  while i don't want to knock the gone fishin' portfolio (i like most of its parts), there are many similar portfolios out there based on the same concepts.  for instance, i'm reminded of a similar (though simpler) portfolio called the couch potato portfolio, made popular by moneysense magazine up here in canada. p.s. this other question about asset allocation is related and informative.
assistant