Invest Like You Have Better Things To Do
Jared Dillian's Investing Services
The Strategic Portfolio is a contrarian, macro-driven ETF portfolio for long-term investors who want to win without spending their evenings checking CNBC, doomscrolling X, or wondering if they should've sold yesterday.
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It focuses equally on smoothing out returns and minimizing volatility. You can set it, (mostly) forget it, and sleep better at night. Or, as subscriber Calvin says, “It's diversified cruise control investing.”
“ETFs are an amazing tool. You can build a very sophisticated portfolio with ETFs since ETFs give you access to pretty much anything in the world. And they’re low cost, normally liquid, normally give you diversification, all the good stuff. I ran the ETF trading desk at Lehman, and have traded them ever since. So yes, I’m a fan.
But ETFs can also be dangerous. I think leveraged ETFs should be illegal. I think ‘give me some of those SAFE index funds’ are the most dangerous words in investing. Some of the products that have been created are crack cocaine for speculators.
The problem isn't ETFs. The problem is what investors ask them to do. They pile into whatever's working, convince themselves they're "long-term investors," then panic the first time the portfolio falls 25%. The cycle repeats every few years. We have no interest in playing that game.
We’re investors here, not speculators, and the Strategic Portfolio is for investors who want to put capital into a low-turnover portfolio that outperforms, with minimum volatility. You’ll see below that we do that year after year. The business of money management, if done right, shouldn't be dramatic. If I make you 50% in a year, you should probably fire me.” – Jared Dillian
Safer Investing Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
Overview:
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Investment Risk: Conservative
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12 monthly newsletter issues
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Immediate access to the portfolio
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Access to the archives
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Timely trade alerts
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90 Day Money-Back Guarantee
Financial media likes to get clicks by talking about Big Bad Wall Street and how it robs poor Joe Public in Peoria. The reality is, Wall Street largely preys on itself. It’s pro versus pro out there. And most individual investors lose money trying to behave like pros, and feeling like they always have to be doing something.
But you can stay out of the way and make money under the radar.
That’s what Jared does with the Strategic Portfolio. He doesn’t chase headline trades that end with egg on faces, doesn’t get into fights with Wall Street over valuations. Instead, he goes after stuff like:
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Gold when it was the most hated it had probably ever been.
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Emerging markets when sentiment was terrible.
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Commodities when energy stocks were despised.
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International stocks when financial advisors were telling clients to stay at home.
Strategic Portfolio subscribers won on all of those trades, because of Jared’s classic top-down approach. He constructs and continually stress-tests his theory on how the macro stuff like interest rates, bonds, commodities, and markets is going to move. Then, he finds the right instruments to execute the view. Nothing fancy, nothing illiquid, and definitely nothing leveraged.
It’s deceptively simple, in the sense that Jared does all the running around, and what you do is pretty easy. Remember – low-turnover, low-volatility, outperformance. You won’t be jumping in and out of trades like a caffeinated floor trader.
Sophisticated Strategy, Simple Execution
2026 YTD Performance
+5.8%
As of July 21, 2026
2025
+27.2%
2024
+10.6%
2023
+8.8%
2022
-3.4%
2021
+12%
2020
+7.8%
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Minimize Drawdowns
Big losses steal years of compounding, so the Strategic Portfolio is constructed to hold up even in the worst bear market. 2022 is a great example – the S&P finished down 19.44%. The Strategic Portfolio, just -3.4%.
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Minimize Fluctuations
Volatile returns make investors more likely to panic sell on the lows, destroying time spent in the trade. Jared spends a large chunk of his time ensuring subscribers have a smooth ride.
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Get Rich Slowly
The goal is to make 6-8% above Fed funds. Not particularly sexy in a Robinhood casino world, but sustainable.
How It Works
If you’re investing the way the greats do, it’s a grind for every basis point. It’s about rolling the rock up a hill, every year. Not putting it all on black. But a lot of individual investors want the year they can brag about, and don’t think about the year that permanently knocks them off course.
The Strategic Portfolio was built to keep investors on course. From day one, we've had three goals:
So, does it work? Well, let’s take a look...
The Strategic Portfolio Returns
Those are the returns The Strategic Portfolio has delivered since 2020… without chasing the consensus tech trade… without riding the S&P and Nasdaq volatility rollercoasters… without keeping subscribers up at night.
Is The Strategic Portfolio a Good Choice for You?
Probably Yes, If...
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You have real money at stake and want to beat passive investing, but don’t like volatility
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You keep tweaking your portfolio because you’re worried it’s vulnerable
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You want to understand the reasoning behind positions, not just follow instructions blindly
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You can be patient, and prefer longer-term investing
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You’re the kind of person who finds Jared’s anti-consensus thinking compelling… and wants more of it
Maybe Not, If...
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You want to actively trade with all of your capital
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You want exposure to options or leveraged instruments
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You’re a professional (though professionals subscribe too, for the macro views)
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You’re uncomfortable investing in stuff the market doesn’t like
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You prefer individual stocks to top-down, macro-driven investing
Why Should I Listen to This Guy?
If you're new here, welcome…! Jared has traded billions of dollars’ worth of ETFs at a level very few people in the world ever have. Lehman Brothers first hired him as an index arbitrage trader in 2001. Then in 2004, he got promoted to head of the ETF trading desk, which he ran until 2008. So he saw which ETFs worked, which ones didn't, and which ones blew up. That’s the kind of guy you want managing an ETF portfolio.
But there’s more to him than ETFs(!) Jared is one of the industry’s most original, entertaining, contrarian voices. He is a master of market psychology and has been called the “Dr. House” of trading, and is followed by everyone from casual investors to professional traders and hedge fund managers.
Most importantly: he actually trades. And he writes for people who want to invest the right* way.
*If you’re looking to treat the markets like a casino and throw your money into 3x leveraged ETFs, you’re going to be disappointed.
“A simple blueprint for investing that will get you quickly diversified - then you can mostly leave it alone, just reading Jared’s monthly updates.”
— Alexander H.
“It’s been like getting a super simple recipe for a dish you want to make over and over again, because it’s so tasty. I just follow the recipe and watch the portfolio grow. It doesn’t get any easier than that.”
— Jamey O.
“Made me a sh!t ton of money with an allocation I never would have bought on my own.”
— Michael T.
“I absolutely love Jared Dillian. He is brilliant, uncommonly honest, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. What a gift he is!”
— Demi W.
“Solid (and entertaining) guidance for investing in a strange (and getting stranger) market environment.”
— Doug M.
“Solid advice from someone who's not drinking the Kool Aid.”
— Julie I.
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“The value of the portfolio has gone up, but beyond that it is just about finding someone you trust. I feel like having used the Strategic Portfolio for my ROTH IRA and going through all sorts of real-world events, it is MUCH LESS volatile than if I had a standard 60/40 portfolio.”
— Sin H.
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“It has given me the confidence to avoid the rote advice of the "professional" advisors. It provides ideas that are unexpected but logically follow the larger forces that impact markets. It does not fit in a box- it is its own approach to recognizing and then investing in opportunities.”
— Miles F.
“The Strategic Portfolio has given me the confidence to manage my own portfolio. The portfolio allows you to sleep more soundly.”
— Lionel A.
“Diversified cruise control investing.”
— Calvin J.
The Verdict from Strategic Portfolio Readers
The Strategic
Portfolio.
The Strategic Portfolio is for investors who want to put capital to work in a portfolio that focuses equally on returns and minimizing volatility. It’s for investors who want to sleep better at night but don’t want to just put it into money market funds. It’s for people who are thinking long-term, and people who don’t have time or inclination to watch every tick in markets.
If that sounds good, you can get started with The Strategic Portfolio for $249 a year. Yep, that’s less than $1 a day, which is a hell of a trade.
Here’s what’s included in your membership:
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Monthly Issues: Every month, Jared sends you his updated macro views, as well as a detailed portfolio update on each holding and the portfolio’s overall performance.
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Alerts as Needed: When something needs to change between issues – a new position, a trim, a rebalance – you’ll hear about it right away. Not every month requires action. But when it matters, Jared sends an alert.
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Immediate Access to the Portfolio: You get full access to the portfolio on Day 1. Every position, weighting, entry date, entry price, and recommendation for new subscribers is laid out for you.
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Access to the Archives: Understand not just where the portfolio stands now and where we go from here, but the reasoning that built it.
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90-Day Guarantee: Try the Strategic Portfolio for 90 days risk-free. If it’s not the right fit for you, just let us know within 90 days and we’ll refund your membership fee. Worst case, you read three months of research and get your money back. Best case, you join the thousands of Strategic Portfolio subscribers who sleep better at night
Spend Less Time Worrying About Markets
“A lot of people do this mental accounting where they say ‘I've got my safe money and my aggressive money’. We've got our Street Freak newsletter for aggressive money with higher risk, and The Strategic Portfolio is for that safe money. The benchmark is 60% SPY, 40% AGG, except we achieve that and more, with a lot less volatility.”
— Jared Dillian, co-founder Jared Dillian Money
Questions,
Answered.
Still stuck?
Email support@jareddillianmoney.com and a real human will reply.
No. The ETFs are simply the tools. What you're really subscribing to is Jared's macro thinking. Every month he assesses what's happening across markets, interest rates, commodities, currencies, and investor sentiment, then adjusts the portfolio when he thinks it's warranted. Sometimes nothing changes. Sometimes a new opportunity appears. The portfolio is simply the expression of that thinking.
Not much. The Strategic Portfolio is deliberately low turnover. You'll receive a full issue every month, plus alerts if something needs changing between issues. Most months you'll spend more time reading Jared's reasoning than making trades, which is exactly how he likes it.
No. The portfolio is built using liquid ETFs that are available through most brokerage accounts. Whether you're investing four figures or seven figures, the same philosophy applies. The important part isn't the size of your portfolio—it's having the patience to let compounding do its job.
From the day you join, you'll have immediate access to the complete portfolio, including current holdings, weightings, entry dates, entry prices, and guidance for new subscribers. If something changes, Jared sends an alert explaining what he's doing and why.
An S&P 500 index fund gives you one market, and all of that market’s volatility. The Strategic Portfolio invests across multiple asset classes and regions, shifting capital when Jared believes the risk-reward has changed. The objective is to compound steadily while avoiding the kind of drawdowns that cause investors to panic and abandon their plan.
If you're willing to learn, Jared explains not just what he's doing, but why he's doing it. Many subscribers tell us the Strategic Portfolio has made them more confident investors because they begin to understand how macro events influence their portfolios instead of simply following instructions. If, however, you're looking to trade every day or chase AI stocks, this probably isn't the service for you.
Just let us know within your first 90 days. We'll refund your subscription in full. The worst-case scenario is you spend three months reading the research and decide it isn't the right fit. Best case, you discover a calmer way to invest that's easier to stick with for years.
Quite a few subscribers do. Some use the Strategic Portfolio as a second opinion. Others compare Jared's thinking against their existing portfolio. And some simply enjoy understanding why markets are moving the way they are, even if someone else is placing the trades. Ultimately, the service is designed to help you become a more thoughtful investor, whether you're managing your own money or not.
You can take a look at our full FAQ here, or drop us a line at at support@jareddillianmoney.com.
About Jared Dillian Money
Jared Dillian Money is a financial research and education company focused on helping thoughtful investors act decisively and manage risk like professionals. Investors don’t want more noise – they want clear thinking from someone they can trust. Not only that, they want to develop their own thinking, which is why Jared “teaches how to fish.”
Jared Dillian Money offers a range of services, including Street Freak, The Strategic Portfolio, and The Daily Dirtnap, and a growing library of Masterclasses. What they have in common is straight-talking financial wisdom - the kind that comes from 25+ years of trading experience, deep market insight, and a touch of cynicism.
Everything at Jared Dillian Money is designed to help you invest smarter, stay grounded, and avoid blowing yourself up. Whether you’re trading your own account or managing money for others, this is a place for people who take markets seriously… and aren’t afraid to take the other side of the trade.
