The monthly scoreboard for October 2026, generated straight from the strategy catalog. Start with the model portfolios, the diversified blends most people should actually hold, then work down to the full board of 111 strategies. Every table carries the month, the year to date and the trailing 1-year return, because the long view is the one that decides whether a strategy is worth holding.
Model portfolios: the blends that matter most
These are the ready-to-clone model portfolios we track, from the most defensive to the most aggressive. Each is a blended, multi-strategy allocation from the portfolio library, not a single strategy, so this is the honest read on how a diversified BestFolio investor actually did, over the month, the year, and since inception.
| Model portfolio | Risk | Month | YTD | 1Y | CAGR since inception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Defensive Core | Moderate | +1.3% | +1.5% | +3.3% | 7.8% |
| All Weather Tactical Blend | Moderate | +0.7% | +7.5% | +8.4% | 11.3% |
| BestFolio House Momentum | Aggressive | -0.5% | +9.7% | +11.1% | 14.0% |
How to read October 2026
Breadth check. Of the 92 strategies on the unlevered board, 58 beat the US market (-0.7%) in October 2026, and 18 are ahead of it year to date. The month itself ran from +13.9% (Inflation Compass) down to -10.1% (Century Momentum), a spread of 24.0% in a single month.
The strategy that led October 2026, Inflation Compass, is also in the year-to-date top five, which is the rarer case. More often the month's winner and the year's winner are different strategies, which is exactly why the YTD and 1-year columns matter more than any single month.
Benchmarks for context: 100% US Stock Market -0.7% for the month (+11.8% YTD, +12.0% 1Y), Classic 60/40 +0.3% for the month (+6.8% YTD, +7.1% 1Y).
Year-to-date leaders
The strategies compounding best so far this year, one row per strategy, each shown with its best variant this year. This is the table that matters more than the month.
| Strategy | Variant | Month | YTD | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation Compass | Inflation Compass Steady (80-day) | +13.9% | +44.2% | +38.1% |
| Growth-Inflation Sector Timing | Growth-Inflation Concentrated | +13.9% | +42.5% | +47.2% |
| Sector Rotation (Faber QTAA-Sectors) | Top-3 No Filter | +5.1% | +27.1% | +21.6% |
| HAA (Hybrid Asset Allocation) | HAA SmartStack (Gold+MF) | +0.4% | +23.4% | +26.7% |
| Momentum-Correlation Triplet | Triplet Plus | -0.7% | +20.9% | +22.4% |
| Mama Bear Portfolio | Mama Bear Standard | +0.4% | +19.8% | +22.2% |
| SPY Band Timer + Out-of-Market (Sadek) | Out-of-Market Rotation only | -0.6% | +18.7% | +24.3% |
| PAA (Protective Asset Allocation) | PAA High Protection | +2.1% | +18.1% | +20.2% |
| Carlson's Adaptive 60/40 | Adaptive 60/40 Standard | +0.9% | +17.8% | +21.6% |
| Five-Asset Momentum Rotation | Five-Asset Momentum Rotation Standard | +2.7% | +16.6% | +20.0% |
Top 10 unlevered strategies in October 2026
The month's leaders, for the record. Read them next to the YTD and 1-year columns before reading too much into a single month.
| Strategy | Variant | Month | YTD | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation Compass | Inflation Compass Standard | +13.9% | +35.2% | +29.5% |
| Growth-Inflation Sector Timing | Growth-Inflation Concentrated | +13.9% | +42.5% | +47.2% |
| Holy Grail Dual Momentum | Holy Grail, Toma Hentea's Original (TLT) | +5.6% | -7.1% | -6.1% |
| RP Gold+SCV (Schwoerer) | RP Gold+SCV (VBR variant) | +5.4% | +6.2% | +7.5% |
| Cockroach Portfolio | Cockroach (5x20%) | +5.3% | +6.6% | +9.8% |
| Sector Rotation (Faber QTAA-Sectors) | Top-3 No Filter | +5.1% | +27.1% | +21.6% |
| Stoken's ACA - Daily [Dynamic Bond] | ACA REIT Sleeve (VNQ/IEF) | +4.8% | +9.2% | +9.3% |
| Verdad Countercyclical | Verdad Countercyclical Standard | +2.7% | +1.3% | +4.7% |
| Five-Asset Momentum Rotation | Five-Asset Momentum Rotation Standard | +2.7% | +16.6% | +20.0% |
| Coffeehouse | Coffeehouse (7 Funds) | +2.4% | +7.8% | +9.3% |
Leveraged corner
Leveraged variants, ranked separately because raw monthly moves at 2x or 3x are not comparable to the unlevered list. The 1-year column is where their real risk and reward shows up.
| Strategy | Variant | Month | YTD | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chimeric Asset Allocation | Chimeric Asset Allocation Standard | +2.9% | +20.0% | +20.3% |
| EAA (Elastic Asset Allocation) | EAA Golden Offensive - SmartLeverage 1.5x | +1.8% | +14.5% | +22.2% |
| BAA (Bold Asset Allocation) | BAA-G4 - SmartLeverage 1.5x | +1.6% | +12.5% | +7.8% |
| Mama Bear Portfolio | Mama Bear - SmartLeverage 1.5x | +0.9% | +23.8% | +26.3% |
| VAA (Vigilant Asset Allocation) | VAA-G4 - SmartLeverage 1.5x | +0.9% | +3.1% | +3.0% |
Weakest 5 of the month
| Strategy | Variant | Month | YTD | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Century Momentum | Standard | -10.1% | -4.1% | -5.8% |
| 200-Day SMA Trend | QQQ 200-Day Trend | -6.7% | -2.6% | -4.7% |
| Risk Parity Momentum (Schwoerer) | RP+Momentum (QQQ/GLD/TLT) | -6.7% | -7.0% | -7.4% |
| ADM (Accelerating Dual Momentum) | ADM SmartStack (Gold+MF) | -3.9% | +1.3% | +4.0% |
| Composite Momentum | Composite Momentum Aggressive | -3.7% | +4.5% | +5.8% |
Methodology: strategy returns come from each strategy's published NAV series, the same out-of-sample track records shown on the leaderboard. Model portfolio returns use the same blended NAV shown on each portfolio's library page, measured through the last trading day of the month. One month is one data point; the strategy and portfolio pages show full multi-decade histories, drawdowns, and walk-forward results. This post is generated automatically from the database on the first of each month.
Educational information only, not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.