Copernicus Portfolio Update: 12 February 2026

Depoe Bay Walkway.

Copernicus, the all equity portfolio, is back for an update or review.  I’ve backed off from investing only in VOO or the S&P 500.  Ten of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500 make up 39.1% of the entire index.  Let one of the ten (10) sneeze and the S&P 500 index will come down with the flu.  That in turn will trigger at least a market correction if not worse.  For this reason I am diversifying or placing more emphasis on mid- and small-cap stocks with the RSP Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).  In addition I am also diversifying among the best dividend paying stocks with investments in VIG, VYM, and SCHD.  Yes, there is overlap of stocks within these three ETFs, but that does not bother me.

Copernicus Security Holdings

Below are the “new” holdings in the Copernicus.  Over in the right-hand column is information as to how out of balance are specific ETFs.  Rather than sell shares of SHV, VOO, and VYM, which will incur some taxable events, I plan to use new cash deposits and dividends to build up the ETFs most under target.  VIG is currently that ETF.  The owner of this portfolio is good about adding cash each month.  This method of dollar-cost-averaging is why the portfolio has been such a good performer over the past four years.

The majority of available cash is allocated to limit orders (there are several) to purchase shares of VIG.

Copernicus Performance Data

Since 12/31/2021 the Copernicus has outperformed all tracked benchmarks.  Fresh cash added during the downturn in 2022 is the primary reason this portfolio is topping the S&P 500.  Dollar-cost-averaging worked to the benefit of this portfolio over the past four years.

Copernicus Risk Ratios

All four risk ratios are above where they were last February.  While the Jensen Performance Index is not as high as it was last September, 11.55 is still a very high value.

Even if the broad market cools, the Copernicus should perform above average since the three dividend oriented ETFs are heavily weighted toward stocks classified as value stocks.  During rough market times value stocks outperform growth stocks.

Comments are encouraged and always welcome.