"Among the most painful of the stock market's ironies is this: One of the clearest signals that you are wrong about an investment is having a hunch that you’re right about it. Often the more convinced you are that your hunch will pay off big, the more money you are likely to lose”
Jason Zweig Your Money & Your Brain

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In this week’s newsletter we have included a link to the latest of our Boot Camp series. This recording is noted as being the 9th in the series as it is focused on helping you determine what ETFs to use to fund your chosen portfolio.

If you are following our series you are aware that we jumped from #3 (Sound Investing Portfolios) to #9 (Best In Class ETFs). We did that because we know that those who are using Chris' recommendations wanted his updates ASAP.

Now I will go back to finish #4 through #8. In the meantime we will be adding the updated tables many of you are waiting to review.

I am looking for questions on all of the Boot Camp presentations. We will start posting those questions and answers on each page in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Presentation on March 13

I will be addressing “12 Things Most Investors Don’t Know About Long-Term Investment Success.” I’m working from a list of 17 items so I’ve got some work to do. Click here to sign up.

Truth Tellers

The people who follow our work are generally looking for the best evidence to understand the investment process. A handful of our TTs do a marvelous job of giving us the most important statistical evidence. I think the best of the bunch is Ben Carlson. The article, “How Often Are We in a Recession or Bear Market?” is a great example.

Latest Podcast- Bootcamp Episode #9 - Best-in-Class ETF Recommendations

⁠Watch Video here⁠

Chris Pedersen updates his recommendations and describes his selection process in an interactive presentation with Paul and Daryl along for the ride.

This "Best In Class ETFs Recommendations" presentation is the 9th in the Boot Camp Series. (We have not completed some of the earlier presentations due to the high interest in Chris' Best In Class Recommendations).

The focus of each the Boot Camp presentation is to help investors make the best of what we consider to be the biggest long term decisions they will make.

Of course we cannot know the ETFs that will produce the highest returns but we can measure the likely impact of the factors that Chris discusses during his presentation.

On behalf of all of the people who find this work helpful, as well as Daryl Bahls and myself, I want to thank Chris Pedersen for all he has done to help us understand the potential long term advantage of his analysis. It is our hope that his work will give investors the confidence and commitment to “stay the course" in the normal ups and downs of the market.

00:00:00 - Intro

00:07:15 - Changes

00:12:31 - Factor Basics

00:18:00 - Selection Criteria

00:20:21 -- Quantifying Differences

00:24:32 -- Comparing in an Asset Class

00:31:10 -- More than just numbers

00:32:12 -- BIC ETFs on Website

00:33:05 -- US Large Cap Blend

00:34:33 -- US Large Cap Value

00:37:40 -- US Small Cap Blend

00:42:30 -- Int'l Large Cap Value

00:43:30 -- Int'l Small Cap Blend

00:44:15 -- Em. Mkts Small Cap Blend

00:44:50 -- Portfolio Configurator

00:46:25 -- Roboadvisor ETFs

00:51:06 -- Versus Russell 2,000?

00:54:00 -- Avantis & DFA Advantage

01:03:36 -- Analysis Timeframes

01:04:44 -- Closing Remarks

Links:

⁠Best-in-Class ETF Recommendations Page⁠

⁠Portfolio Configurator⁠

⁠Sound Investing Portfolios Bootcamp Page⁠

Testimonial

"Paul, Daryl and Chris - you guys are beyond amazing. I have been listening to you guys for the last 4 years and you have been phenomenally consistent in your messaging. Based on your podcasts, I have somewhat adopted the method Chris' daughter is using - US total market, US SCV, International total market & International SCV. The good news is that I have stuck with it for the last 2 years or so. My returns are not nearly as good as that of S&P 500, but I am old enough (61 yo) to understand that I am in it for the long run (20 plus years) and so I am not bothered by the performance of my portfolio so far."

Bootcamp Episode #9 - Best-in-Class ETF Recommendations

In This Edition Bootcamp 2025Upcoming PresentationTruth TellersLatest PodcastTestimonial

In This Edition
Bootcamp 2025
Upcoming Presentation
Truth Tellers
Latest Podcast
Testimonial

Bootcamp #9 - Best In Class ETFs