Image Source: Pixabay

It's been a while since we checked in on the Cambria Endowment Style ETF (ENDW), which I believe was the second ETF created out of a 351 conversion. To briefly explain, investors with low cost basis stock in their portfolio can participate in a 351 to swap into a more diversified portfolio. It doesn't eliminate the cost basis as I understand it, but it does diversify the risk of one stock having grown to be an enormous piece of the portfolio. 

Meanwhile, the ENDW ETF has had fantastic results thus far.
 

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It took a while for the portfolio to start taking shape. It might have something to do with the mechanics of the 351 conversion, but it looked like it was mostly the individual stocks that had been contributed to the seeding of the fund -- if you look at the holdings now, it still may not be fully implemented.

The holdings include dozens of individual stocks with tiny weightings and a few ETFs with similarly tiny weightings. I'm not sure what the purpose is of having a 0.13% weighting of the Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets ex-US ETF (RODM) in the fund, for example.

The ENDW fund started to take shape late spring or early summer if I'm remembering correctly, and it currently has a lot of foreign equity exposure, some gold, and a good bit of managed futures, which might have contributed to the great result thus far.

Unlike the Cambria Trinity ETF (TRTY), which is weighted with 35% in trends, 25% in equities, 25% in fixed income, and 15% in alternative strategies, ENDW's description is more vague. It is actively managed, talks about being aggressive, and is described as having "exposure to multiple major asset classes (e.g., equities, fixed income, and real assets and alternatives) in U.S., foreign developed, and emerging markets."

The comparison above includes SPDR Bridgewater ALL Weather ETF (ALLW) and Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX), which I'd say are also potential single ticket portfolio solutions. I used iShares Core 60/40 Balanced Allocation ETF (AOR) instead of Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Institutional Shares (VBAIX) because the mutual fund's chart appears to be distorted for a large capital gain distribution.

Speaking of the TRTY ETF, which we mentioned the other day as having had a great 2025, the fund might be the best example of taking someone else's portfolio design and using your own inputs to build a better portfolio.
 

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The difference between TRTY and our version of it can be attributed to the TRTY fund having held more duration in the past, as well as always having had quite a bit of foreign equity and value stocks. Our version has no duration, no equity factor bias, but also way too much in managed futures for my liking. 

The Wall Street Journal had a helpful writeup about how IRMAA works. IRMAA stands for Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount as related to what retirees will pay for Medicare parts B and D. It's essentially a surcharge for higher income earners for what they have to pay for Medicare. This table was particularly useful.
 

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One commenter made the observation that it is a form of means testing for Social Security. The specific mechanics are that whatever you pay for Medicare, subject to IRMAA or not, is deducted from your Social Security check. If your Social Security check is $3500, your spouse's check is $2000, and you make less than $218,000, each of your checks is reduced by $202.50. Part D can be deducted, but there is some choice there apparently, and if you have supplemental like Part G, you pay the insurance company directly.

Everyone is entitled to their thoughts about the fairness of this. But a potentially more serious scenario than an extra $200-$300/month per person if you make that much, is if a couple makes $150,000 during retirement and then one spouse dies and the income stays above $109,000 for the now single filer, they will get hit with IRMAA, which seems like even more of a penalty to me. 

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