Balanced Allocation
Equity, gold and cash-like instruments held to target bands. The job here is a smaller drawdown rather than a bigger return, and the discipline being demonstrated is rebalancing rather than stock picking.
An index ETF has no moat, no promoter and no governance gate. Putting it through the scoring rulebook would produce a number that looks rigorous and means nothing. This product is judged on whether the allocation stayed inside its bands and whether I rebalanced when the rule said to, including when it was uncomfortable.
The mandate
| Objective | Steadier returns with smaller drawdowns |
|---|---|
| Benchmark | Blended 60/20/20 |
| Target | 60% equity, 20% gold, 20% cash-like |
| Bands | ±5 percentage points on each sleeve |
| Instruments | Index ETFs, gold ETF, liquid fund |
| Rebalance | When a sleeve leaves its band, checked quarterly |
| Excluded | Leverage, derivatives, single-stock positions |
How to judge this product
Not by its return against the equity market, which it will trail in a rising year by construction. Judge it on three things: whether the sleeves stayed inside their bands, whether every rebalance was triggered by the rule rather than by a view, and whether the drawdown was smaller than the equity product when the market fell.
Selecting instruments here means checking expense ratio, tracking difference, liquidity and fund size. It does not mean forecasting.
Allocation against bands
Q3 2026Dashed markers show the edges of each band. A bar crossing a marker is a rebalance signal.
Equity drifted to 63% on a strong quarter and cash-like fell to 16%. Both remain inside their bands, so the rule says do nothing and I did nothing. If equity crosses 65% at the next check, I sell down to 60% regardless of how the market looks at that moment.
Holdings
INSTRUMENTS| Instrument | Sleeve | Weight | Expense | Why this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 index ETF | Equity | 40.0% | 0.05% | Lowest tracking difference in its category |
| Nifty Next 50 index ETF | Equity | 23.0% | 0.10% | Broader exposure without single-stock risk |
| Gold ETF | Gold | 21.0% | 0.50% | Adequate liquidity, acceptable tracking |
| Liquid fund | Cash-like | 16.0% | 0.20% | Rebalancing reserve, low duration |
Performance
FROM MONEYCONTROL| Period | Product | Benchmark | Excess |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter | +1.9% | +2.1% | −0.2% |
| 1 year | +6.4% | +6.0% | +0.4% |
| Worst drawdown | −4.8% | −5.2% | +0.4% |
Rebalance log
EVERY CHANGE, WITH ITS TRIGGER| Quarter | Change | What triggered it |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-Q3 | No change | All three sleeves inside their bands |
| 2026-Q2 | Sold equity to 60%, bought cash-like | Equity reached 65.4%, above the band |
| 2026-Q1 | No change | All three sleeves inside their bands |
A log that mostly reads “no change” is the point. Rebalancing is a rule, not an opportunity to have a view.