January 5, 2026
Welcome to Portfolio Insights, your monthly performance overview of our Classic and Smart portfolios.
Quantlake portfolios closed December with mixed results, reflecting both the year’s trends and short-term shifts. Classic portfolios remained steady, while Smart portfolios displayed broader performance dispersion.
Classic portfolios ended December with modest results, generally tracking their respective benchmarks. Aggressive and Global Buffett-Inspired led the group, each matching or slightly exceeding the AOA’s 0.7% December return, while most balanced and conservative Classic portfolios posted flat or mildly positive results. Notably, All Weather-Inspired and Browne-Inspired lagged, with negative December returns, though All Weather-Inspired maintained a solid 12.9% for 2025. The Global Buffett-Inspired portfolio distinguished itself with the strongest annual return among Classics at 20.6%, outpacing both the S&P 500 and AOA for the year. Several portfolios, such as Bogle-Inspired and US 80/20, delivered steady annual gains despite muted December performance, reflecting resilience over the longer horizon.
Smart portfolios showed greater dispersion. Aggressive Plus underperformed sharply in December at -2.7%, contrasting with its robust 19.2% for 2025. US Leverage Growth also declined in December but led all Smart portfolios for the year at 22.3%. Innovation Ventures and Innovation Ventures & Crypto maintained strong annual returns, though December was flat or slightly negative. More defensive Smart portfolios, including Conservative Plus and Steadfast Horizon, posted stable but subdued results across both periods. Sector Rotation posted a 0.8% gain in December, though its annual return lagged the group. Overall, Smart portfolios exhibited wider short-term volatility but several achieved notable annual outperformance.
Takeaways
December’s results reinforced the importance of diversification and disciplined strategy. While short-term volatility was evident in several Smart portfolios, annual returns highlighted the value of resilient positioning and strategic allocation across both Classic and Smart categories.
Happy Long-Term Investing!