The Best Lazy ETFs for Couch Potato Investors

iShares Core 60/40 Balanced Allocation ETF

AOR

-0.54%

This is your classic 60/40 portfolio—roughly 60% stocks, 40% bonds—which tends to hold up well across most market conditions, except in years like 2022 when both interest rates and inflation rise sharply.

On the equity side, AOR spreads its exposure across multiple iShares ETFs covering U.S. large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks, as well as international developed and emerging markets. On the fixed income side, it splits the bond sleeve between U.S. aggregate bonds and international aggregate bonds.

Everything is rebalanced periodically, and the entire package comes with a modest 0.15% expense ratio. It’s a sizable fund with $2.4 billion in assets and trades with excellent liquidity, sporting a 30-day median bid-ask spread of just 0.02%. The higher bond allocation gives it a lower beta of 0.68 and a 30-day SEC yield of 2.8%.

Avantis Moderate Allocation ETF

AVMA

+0%

At first glance, AVMA looks like your standard 70/30 portfolio, but it takes a different route under the hood. Unlike a fund like AOA that relies on market-cap weighting, AVMA builds its portfolio using factor-based strategies.

Its equity allocation is still diversified across U.S., international developed, and emerging markets, but the underlying Avantis ETFs emphasize specific factors, mainly value and size.

That means more exposure to cheaper, smaller companies relative to traditional indexes. There's also a profitability and momentum screen in place, further tilting the portfolio toward companies with stronger fundamentals and upward price trends.

The 30% bond sleeve is also more intentional. Instead of holding a passive global aggregate bond ETF, AVMA allocates about 20% to Avantis’ core fixed income strategy and 10% to short-term bonds, which helps reduce interest rate sensitivity.

The expense ratio is a bit higher than AOR’s at 0.21%, but still reasonable. The main caveat is size: with just $28.4 million in assets, AVMA is relatively small, so long-term viability could be something to watch.

SPDR Bridgewater All Weather ETF

ALLW

+0.45%

The most sophisticated of the three is ALLW, which doesn’t follow any conventional asset allocation playbook. Instead, it brings the institutional strategy behind Ray Dalio’s flagship Bridgewater All Weather fund to the ETF world.

This ETF is actively managed with the goal of building a portfolio that’s resilient across all macroeconomic environments, whether that’s growth, recession, inflation, or deflation.

To do this, it holds not just global stocks, but also nominal bonds, inflation-linked bonds, and commodities. The approach is grounded in risk parity, where each asset class contributes equally to overall portfolio volatility rather than being weighted by capital.

Its current exposure sits around 71% nominal bonds, 43% equities, 37% commodities, and 32% inflation-linked bonds. Yes, that adds up to more than 100%, and it is not a typo.

ALLW is a leveraged strategy that uses derivatives like futures and swaps to gain exposure beyond the capital invested. That’s what allows it to maintain balance across risk factors without sacrificing diversification.

With $85 million in assets under management, ALLW is growing and less likely to shut down, but it’s significantly pricier than the other two picks at 0.85%.

Please note that this article reflects the author’s personal views and does not represent the opinions of the publication or its affiliates. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. It is essential to seek guidance from a registered financial professional before making any investment decisions.