Sound Investing 2026 Best in Class ETF Portfolios
Apr 29, 2026
Chris Pedersen, investment expert who analyzes fund families and portfolio construction, discusses shifting to recommending Avantis and DFA fund families for durable, maintainable ETF strategies. He contrasts traditional public indices with systematic non‑traditional indexes. They cover asset‑class premiums like small and value, timing and tax considerations for switching, and options when your 401(k) lacks these families.
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Move To Avantis Or DFA For Long Term Equity Exposure
- Do consider moving to fund families like Avantis or DFA for long-term equity exposure.
- Paul and Chris recommend these families because they package academic factor tilts (small, value, momentum) across broad asset classes, simplifying lifelong investing.
Prioritize Savings Risk And Tilts Over Fund Brand
- The most important portfolio choices are saving rate, stock vs bond mix, and whether to tilt away from market-cap weighting.
- Fund selection among low-cost funds is far less important than these three decisions, so choose a reliable family and stick with it.
Pilot New Fund Families With A Small Allocation
- Try shifting only a portion of your portfolio to test new families if emotionally uncertain.
- Paul suggests using a small pilot (e.g., $50k–$200k or 10–20% of assets) to gain confidence before committing all assets.