DCA Strategy:
how we built our portfolio from scratch
Most people doing DCA have a portfolio that looks like this: a MSCI World ETF, maybe an S&P 500 because they saw a YouTube video, and nothing else. That's already pretty good. But there's better.
We spent several days building our own DCA strategy. Sufficient AUM, controlled fees, accumulating structure, solid issuer: every ETF passed the same filter before entering the portfolio. Because the real value of a portfolio isn't the list of ETFs — it's the reasoning behind it.
DCA investing: the method that removes emotion from the equation
DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) is simple: you invest a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of what the markets are doing. Every month, on the 5th, you buy. Period.
Most retail investors don't have a large lump sum to deploy at once. They have a monthly salary, fixed expenses, and a variable amount to invest. DCA adapts naturally to this reality.
But most importantly: DCA removes emotion from the equation. You don't have to decide if it's the right time. No paralysis in the face of record valuations. No panic when markets drop 20%. You buy. Mechanically. And that's where its real strength lies — not in optimization, but in consistency.
Everyone should have a DCA strategy
Wall Street Noobs
An investor who had put €10,000 in 1991 and let it ride would today have more than €170,000.
DCA doesn't try to optimize that figure — it tries to ensure you stay invested long enough to benefit from it.
MSCI World ETF: far less diversified than it appears
We started with a MSCI World. Everyone starts there, and it's an excellent base — truly. But after breaking it down, three problems pushed us to build something different. More robust. More aware of what it actually contains.
Hidden concentration
A MSCI World theoretically covers ~1,400 companies across 23 countries. In practice, the top 10 holdings represent ~25% of the fund — almost exclusively American mega-cap tech companies. If they drop — as they did in the early 2000s — you're not as diversified as you thought. We looked for complementary exposure that captures other company profiles, absent from these indices.
Only half "World"
The MSCI World covers ~60% of global market capitalization — but it's not the most interesting part. The zone it ignores already represents +40% of global GDP, shows much lower correlation with US markets, and that's precisely where its value lies: it behaves differently. Excluding it by default means giving up the best source of true diversification available.
No safety net during a downturn
Over 20 years, drops of 30 to 40% are not anomalies — they are statistical certainties. The problem isn't the ETF itself: it's that equities alone, however well diversified, move in the same direction when panic sets in. Getting through a 35% drop without selling requires holding assets in your portfolio that don't follow the same direction. That's exactly what we set out to build as a complement.
What ETF allocation to choose for your DCA?
Once these blind spots were identified, we built two concrete answers. The first gives precise control over each exposure. The second simplifies the structure for those who prefer fewer lines to manage.
Same reasoning under the hood. What changes is how you maintain it over time.
Precise control, line by line
You choose the weightings, you adjust them when the context changes. Ideal if you want to master every line of your portfolio.
Fewer lines, same robustness
Fewer lines to manage, no complex rebalancing. Market capitalization sets the weightings for you.
The rest is reserved for Wall Street Noobs members
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This article is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.