200-Day SMA Trend
200-Day SMA Trend is a tactical asset allocation strategy reviewed on a monthly cadence. Its hypothetical backtest runs through 2026-07-31. BestFolio supplies the public rule or approach and backtest context; current signals, allocations, and paid interactive data remain restricted to Pro access. No publication or construction date is recorded, so no observed-versus-simulated boundary is claimed; all displayed returns are hypothetical. Users review each scheduled signal and place any resulting trades in their own brokerage. BestFolio does not execute trades or provide personalized investment advice.
- Cadence
- Monthly
- Backtest data through
- 2026-07-31
- History boundary
- No publication or construction date is recorded, so no observed-versus-simulated boundary is claimed; all displayed returns are hypothetical.
- Rule / approach
- A single asset held while its month-end close is above its 200-day moving average, otherwise T-bills (BIL).
- BestFolio supplies
- the public rule or approach and backtest context; current signals, allocations, and paid interactive data remain restricted to Pro access
- Customer action
- Review each scheduled signal and place any required trades in your own brokerage; BestFolio does not execute orders.
- Costs and exclusions
- net of a modeled one-way transaction cost (10 bps, scaled up to 3x under stress); taxes, fund-expense drift, or market impact are not modeled
- Freshness
- The latest available backtest ends 2026-07-31. A run timestamp is not exposed here, so no stronger freshness claim is made.
- Next expected action
- First trading day of September; scheduled 2026-09-01 at 09:30 ET. Review the published signal before placing any trade.
200-Day SMA Trend at a glance
200-Day SMA Trend is a tactical asset allocation (TAA) strategy by Meb Faber, rebalanced monthly. Backtested 1990-12-31 to 2026-07-31 (35.5 years): 10.6% CAGR, 1.01 Sharpe, -25.0% max drawdown, 12.6% volatility.
- Type
- Tactical (TAA)
- Author
- Meb Faber
- Rebalancing
- Monthly
- Risk
- Moderate
- Period
- 1990-12-31 to 2026-07-31
- CAGR
- 10.6%
- Sharpe
- 1.01
- Max Drawdown
- -25.0%
- Volatility
- 12.6%
200-Day SMA Trend — Tactical Asset Allocation Strategy
A single asset held while its month-end close is above its 200-day moving average, otherwise T-bills (BIL). The simplest trend-following rule and the classic benchmark tactical strategies try to beat, kept deliberately unoptimized: no lookback tuning, no multi-asset selection.
200-Day SMA Trend: frequently asked questions
- What is 200-Day SMA Trend?
- A single asset held while its month-end close is above its 200-day moving average, otherwise T-bills (BIL). The simplest trend-following rule and the classic benchmark tactical strategies try to beat, kept deliberately unoptimized: no lookback tuning, no multi-asset selection.
- Who created the 200-Day SMA Trend strategy?
- 200-Day SMA Trend was developed by Meb Faber.
- What is the historical return and maximum drawdown of 200-Day SMA Trend?
- Backtested from 1990-12-31 to 2026-07-31, 200-Day SMA Trend returned 10.6% CAGR with a -25.0% maximum drawdown and a Sharpe ratio of 1.01. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
- How often is 200-Day SMA Trend rebalanced?
- 200-Day SMA Trend is rebalanced monthly. BestFolio publishes the updated allocation signal each period.
- Is 200-Day SMA Trend a tactical asset allocation strategy?
- Yes. 200-Day SMA Trend is a tactical asset allocation (TAA) strategy: it adjusts its holdings based on market signals each period rather than holding a fixed allocation.
Backtest Performance (1990-12-31 to 2026-07-31)
| Metric | 200-Day SMA Trend |
|---|---|
| CAGR | 10.6% |
| Max Drawdown | -25.0% |
| Sharpe | 1.01 |
| Sortino | 1.33 |
| Volatility | 12.6% |
| Calmar | 0.42 |
| Total Return | 3475.8% |
| Backtest Period | 35.5 years |
Strategy Details
- Type
- Tactical (TAA)
- Rebalancing
- monthly
- Risk Level
- moderate
- Variants
- 6
- Author
- Meb Faber
Further reading
New to this approach? Read what tactical asset allocation is and how it works.
Track 200-Day SMA Trend in Your Portfolio
Sign up for BestFolio to get monthly rebalancing signals, blend strategies into custom portfolios, and receive alerts when allocations change.