7 Best Balanced ETFs Of September 2024 (2024)

You’d need to look far and wide to uncover a balanced fund featuring as broad a diversification of assets as the Cambria Global Asset Allocation ETF. This actively managed fund owns more than a score of ETFs that span a wide range of geographical regions and asset classes.

GAA is a buy-and-hold option that’s designed to cover the entire investable universe, featuring domestic and international equities, bonds, real estate, commodities and currencies. The portfolio includes both proprietary Cambria ETFs and third-party funds.

The fund has a 45% allocation to stocks, a 45% allocation to bonds, and a 10% allocation to other assets such as commodities, real estate and currencies. It’s periodically rebalanced to maintain this preferred asset mix. Taxes are considered when rebalancing, which is a benefit for those who own GAA in a taxable brokerage account.

The goal of the SPDR SSGA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF is to preserve capital and generate income, ultimately delivering a real return that’s higher than the rate of inflation. This also helped RLY earn a spot on our list of the best ETFs to beat inflation.

RLY is an actively managed ETF that invests in domestic and international inflation-protected securities, real estate and commodities. A pronounced focus on agriculture, energy, and metals and mining companies is designed to perform well during an inflationary climate.

The portfolio holds 12 ETFs, led by a 10% allocation to the SPDR Global Natural Resources ETF (GNR). After natural resources, RLY’s biggest allocations are to the global infrastructure and commodities sectors. Next comes its allocation to inflation hedging securities, mainly Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The tiny remainder includes real estate and cash.

Formerly known as the 90/60 U.S. Balanced ETF, the WisdomTree U.S. Efficient Core Fund pursues a different strategy than other entries on our list. NTSX is not a fund-of-funds, opting instead to invest in individual large-cap stocks and U.S. Treasury futures contracts.

WisdomTree has chosen to invest in fixed income futures since they have a lower correlation with stocks than bonds. This approach offers the benefits of capital growth plus income and lower portfolio volatility.

Currently, NTSX has a pretty conservative asset allocation of about 60% treasury futures of varying maturities and 40% large-cap stocks. But the fund has a variable asset allocation, and this ratio of stocks to bonds could change, depending on market conditions.

The Pacer WealthShield ETF employs a rules-based strategy to invest in high-yield corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. stocks.

The fund’s approach is to identify and invest in the strongest equity sectors of the moment, together with the highest yielding corporate and treasury fixed income securities. PWS’s three-year average annual return has easily outperformed the 20-year Treasury. Its current dividend yield beats the S&P 500 Index’s, measured by the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX), a hugely popular proxy for the benchmark. Just remember that past performance is no guarantee of future returns.