Copernicus Portfolio Review: 24 February 2025

Mt Hood photo by John Fitzgerald. Excire Foto aesthetic rating of 91.9.

Copernicus is a high performing passive portfolio designed for investors with 15 or more years of future savings.  The basic idea of the Copernicus is to save as much as you can as early as you can (Golden Rule of Investing) and never sell unless there is a dire emergency.

There are variations to the asset allocation model.  However, it is important to concentrate on U.S. Equities and VOO is among the best of the best.  Keep plowing money into that ETF and let the market do its work.  Should there be a recession, and there will be, save even more if possible in order to purchase more shares at lower prices.  Those are the basic guidelines.   The Copernicus is set up to be as simple as possible to manage.  Of portfolios tracked here at ITA, only the Schrodinger is easier to manage as there are no management skills necessary for that portfolio.

Copernicus Portfolio Holdings

When I first launched the Copernicus I began with four ETFs, VTI, ESGV, SPY, and VOO.  Were I to begin today I would go with VOO and SHV as a cash holding ETF to increase dividends.

At this point I invest in VOO when there is sufficient cash available.  The owner of the Copernicus continues to add cash each month which allows for the addition of more shares of VOO or one of the other equity ETFs.

Copernicus Performance Data

Since 12/31/2021 the Copernicus continues to outperform all potential benchmark I am tracking.  I use the S&P 500 (SPY) benchmark for the Copernicus.  The huge difference is due to purchasing many shares during the 2022 down market.  This is known as dollar-cost-averaging, a powerful tool for disciplined investors.

Copernicus Risk Ratios

The Copernicus is not holding up so well when risk is taken into consideration.  Note the gradual decline in the Jensen Alpha graph.  Based on risk, the Copernicus is losing ground.  The same is true for the Information Ratio.  While the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is solid, the Copernicus is gradually losing ground to the S&P 500.

Comments and questions are always welcome.