Back in early 2015 I created a U.S. stock portfolio for my wife and me. It’s a real public portfolio available on Seeking Alpha. I have done several updates on Cut The Crap Investing, as well. The strategy was to create a stock portfolio with a quality skew. I skimmed the Dividend Achievers Index that required 10 years of dividend growth. The index also applied quality screens. I purchased 15 of the largest cap holdings, so I applied a large cap (blue chip) bias. I wanted a portfolio that would be more retirement-ready, with lower draw downs in severe market corrections.
As always, the following is not advice.
The strategy was not to create a portfolio that outperforms the market (S&P 500) but that event has been a welcome and surprise. That said, much of the outperformance is courtesy of Apple that was in an overweight position and was allowed to run. A few shares were sold on a couple of occasions to create income.
The portfolio
The 15 companies are Pepsi (PEP), CVS Health Corporation (CVS), Walmart (WMT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Qualcomm (QCOM), United Technologies (UTX), Lowe’s (LOW), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), Medtronic (MDT), Nike (NKE), Abbott Labs (ABT), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Texas Instruments (TXN) and Microsoft (MSFT) and 3M (MMM).
Those stocks were added to 3 U.S. stock picks – – Apple (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) and BlackRock (BLK).
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United Technologies (UTX) merged with RTX Corp (RTX) and then spun off Carrier Global Corporation (CARR) and Otis Worldwide (OTIS). We continue to hold and add to all three and they have been wonderful additions to the portfolio.
Portfolio deletions
Walgreens was taken private in 2025. 3M was an initial small position (no new money was ever added), it performed poorly and became insignificant in the portfolio mix. It was removed. Nike was a top performer over the first several years …
Given that the portfolio is designed and held to eventually create retirement income, Nike was harvested (sold) aggressively from 2020 to 2022 with the profits moved to short term U.S. bonds. The valuation did not make sense and company’s prospects had turned. After share sales it was a small amount and insignificant within the portfolio. I sold all and parted ways with this wonderful company with a wonderful brand. Nike was my only foray into active management, though we can call it aggressive rebalancing, ha. 🙂
It was a good move, as was ditching the small 3M holding.
Given all of the above for this evaluation I am unable to add Walgreens (no longer a public stock) or UTX and I will not include Nike or 3M.
The UTX group of RTX, OTIS and CARR is only available from 2000 and will be addressed separately.
U.S. portfolio performance
Growth stocks: Apple, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Berkshire Hathaway, Lowe’s and BlackRock.
Stocks that received the most money (reinvestments): Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (our largest position) and Lowe’s.
Defensive Stocks: Walmart, Colgate Palmolive, CVS, Pepsi, Abbott Labs, Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson.
Stocks that received the most money (reinvestments): Walmart and Colgate Palmolive.
UTX Group: RTX Corp, Carrier Global Corp, OTIS Worldwide.
Here’s the performance looking at the growth stocks and the defensive stocks. The holdings are not rebalanced. I let them run for the most part.
We see that the growth stocks greatly outperform the market. The defensive stocks offer lower returns but much less volatility and much smaller declines in any market corrections. The total portfolio does outperform the S&P 500.
The major contributors on the growth front, Apple, Microsoft and Lowe’s …
Nike and 3M would bring down the returns of the growth basket in modest fashion. That said, those assets never got in the way of the portfolio performance. This chart is from an update post in early 2024. The chart includes Nike and 3M.
The UTX Group is taking off
Here’s how the UTX gang has performed from 2001. They have provided a very nice boost. Carrier and RTX became targets for new money, so their contribution has been meaningful.
Defensive U.S.stocks
When the U.S. market has run into periods of stress, the defensives have been there to do their thing. The UTX Group has also taken on a defensive posture. Remember RTX is a defense stock and is built for the unfortunate times.
The defensives in 2026.
While the market puked up everything last week, the defensives have been showing their worth in 2026. The defensives are up 6.2% in 2026 while the S&P 500 is down 1.6%.
How you weight your portfolio will be up to you. As I am in semi-retirement and my wife is in the retirement risk zone, I like building up the defensive positions.
I have also added to iShares Quality Dividend ETF XDU-T in the Canadian RRSP. That ETF is up 7.7% in 2026. I will soon move that amount to the U.S. portfolio and XDU.U, a U.S. Dollar version.
Individual assets
Here’s the individual stock performance over the last 10 year to the end of February. Portfolio Visualizer allows us to run returns over ten year periods.
And from January of 2001 when we can include the UTX Group
Canadian defensives
Here’s a taste of the defensive stock strategy north of the border.
How you shape a stock portfolio is a personal decision and a personal challenge. This post represents the potential of the initial stock selection process. Readers will know that I am a fan of using defensive stocks and defensive ETFs. I am more interested in building up the defensive positions. That can be achieved by directing new monies and portfolio income to the defensive positions. I will also rebalance, trimming growth to feed the defensives. I will also pay attention to valuation. Fortunately, the total stock portfolio offers a value skew. Most of the holdings are found in the large cap value indices.
The portfolio as well as our Canadian holdings are well positioned for retirement.
The week that was …
And another stick to it like glue reminder …
More Sunday Reads
At Findependence Hub Vanguard is cautious on behalf of retirees. At Retirement Club, we’ve had dedicated Zoom presentations on Vanguard VRIF and the BMO T-series monthly income funds that use asset allocation ETFs to pay out at a 6% spend rate. You can automate your retirement income using sensible, global balanced portfolios.
Dan at Stocktrades – the banks report record earnings, and the market is tanking …
Let’s take a look at Dividend Hawk’s portfolio news for the week.
From Bob at Tawcan, things to consider on your financial independence journey.
Tweet of the week …
Are you hedged? Just in case you want to get married one day 😉
Here’s a look at Canadian energy stocks at Million Dollar Journey. It’s a post that I started several years go. It gets updated from time to time.
The Loonie Doctor offers the key considerations on renting vs home buying.
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Really enjoyed this update. It is always interesting to see how a US portfolio fits alongside a Canadian one, especially with the mix of growth names and wide moat holdings. I like the reminder that long term consistency matters more than trying to time anything. These Sunday Reads are always a great way to step back and look at the bigger picture.
Thanks so much, I appreciate the comment and nice to hear of what you get out of the Sunday Reads and other posts.
Dale