NTSX and slight Golden Butterfly Lever

General Discussion on the Permanent Portfolio Strategy

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John34
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NTSX and slight Golden Butterfly Lever

Post by John34 »

Hello Everyone,

I was curious about your thoughts on using NTSX to slightly lever up an approximate Golden Butterfly Portfolio without using daily reset Levered ETFs or Margin. I used AI to do these calculations, but checked them over and they seem right. For instance:

Allocations
NTSX: 31.5%
AVUV: 22.5%
ZROZ: 6%
GLD: 30%
SGOV: 10%
(Total = 100%)

Effective Exposures from NTSX
NTSX ≈ 90% equity and 60% Treasury exposure per 100% invested.
For 31.5% NTSX:
Equity =  31.5% × 0.9 = 28.35% 
Treasuries =  31.5% × 0.6 = 18.9%

Direct Exposures
AVUV: 22.5% equities
ZROZ:  6.0% LTT
SGOV: 10.0% Treasuries
GLD:  30.0% gold

Total Effective Allocation
Equities: 28.35% from NTSX + 22.5% AVUV = 50.85%
Treasuries: 18.9% from NTSX + 6.0% ZROZ + 10.0% SGOV = 34.9%
Gold: 30.0%
(Total ≈ 116%)

Weighted Average Treasury Duration
Treasury components:
NTSX  = 18.9%, duration = 7 years
ZROZ = 6.0%, duration = 25 years
SGOV = 10.0%, duration = 0.1 years
Effective Treasury Duration ≈ 8.1 years (similar effective duration as the 50/50 Golden Butterfly LTT/STT barbell)


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This ends up being a bit more equity and gold heavy and a bit less Treasury heavy than the Golden Butterfly, sort of a hybrid between the Golden Butterfly and the BelangP portfolio.

You can tweak these allocations to make the proportions between Large-Cap Growth/SCV and Equity/Treasuries even closer to the Golden Butterfly. For instance:

Allocations
NTSX: 26.5%
AVUV: 22.5%
ZROZ: 6%
GLD: 30%
SGOV: 15%
(Total = 100%)

Effective Exposures from NTSX
NTSX ≈ 90% stock and 60% Treasury exposure per 100% invested.
For 26.5% NTSX:
Equity =  26.5% × 0.9 = 23.85% 
Treasury =  26.5% × 0.6 = 15.9% 

 Direct Exposures
AVUV =  22.5% equities
ZROZ =  6.0% LTT
SGOV = 15.0% Treasuries (ultra‑short, ~0.1 yrs duration)
GLD =  30.0% gold

Total Effective Allocation
Equities:  23.85% from NTSX + 22.5% AVUV  = 46.35% 
Treasuries:  15.9% from NTSX + 6.0% ZROZ + 15.0% SGOV = 36.9% 
Gold: 30.0%
(Total ≈ 113%)

Weighted Average Treasury Duration
Treasury components:
NTSX = 15.9% (duration = 7 yrs)
ZROZ = 6% (duration = 25 yrs)
SGOV = 15% (duration = 0.1 yrs)
Effective Treasury Duration ≈ 7.1 years (similar effective duration as the 50/50 Golden Butterfly LTT/STT barbell)


You can play around with the ZROZ, Gold, and Cash %’s (and maybe also use a mix of ZROZ and TLT) to get the Treasury exposure more equal to the equity exposure like the Golden Butterfly, while keeping the effective bond duration around 7-8 years like it is for the 50/50 LTT/STT barbell (or use more ZROZ and less SGOV to increase the effective Treasury duration to balance out the heavier equity exposure).
Last edited by John34 on Fri Dec 19, 2025 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dualstow
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Re: NTSX and slight Golden Butterfly Lever

Post by dualstow »

bump
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn/
your hands are cold but your lips are warm
_ . /
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