The most popular investing strategy in U.S. history made a comeback in 2023. After a carousel of articles labeled it “dead” due to years of underperformance, the vaunted “60-40” portfolio—which allocates 60% of its holdings to stocks and 40% to bonds—has returned more than 11% to investors so far this year. That’s nearly double its 6.4% average annual return between 2012 and 2022.
George Ball, chairman of the large private wealth manager Sanders Morris Harris, told Fortune last December that people would regret neglecting the old standby. “It was only recently when the death of the 60-40 [portfolio] was widely reported, and generally when you get that sort of headline it’s ill-timed and ill-advised,” he said in a prophetic interview.
