Each example shows one way of splitting money across asset types, and what that split can and cannot tell you. They are teaching examples, not recommendations, and none is the best choice for everyone.
Conservative
A mix that holds more bonds and cash than stocks.
Equity ETF20%
Bond ETF50%
Cash30%
Educational objectiveIllustrate a portfolio with a larger allocation to bonds and cash than to equities.
The idea and its limits
Bonds and cash tend to behave differently from stocks, which is why some portfolios hold them alongside equities. This example keeps 80% outside equities.
Main risks and limitations
A conservative label does not mean the portfolio cannot lose value.
Bond prices can fall, for example when interest rates rise or an issuer struggles to repay.
Cash can lose purchasing power to inflation and may earn little interest.
A smaller equity share means less exposure to stock-market growth, and also less exposure to stock-market declines.
Often used in teaching to show how bonds and cash change a portfolio's mix. The right mix for a real person depends on goals, time horizon, and comfort with losses.
Balanced
A blend of equity exposure, bond exposure, and cash.
Equity ETF50%
Bond ETF40%
Cash10%
Educational objectiveIllustrate a combination of equity exposure, bond exposure, and cash.
The idea and its limits
Splitting money between equities and bonds is a common way to explain asset allocation. Here, half is in equities, 40% in bonds, and 10% in cash.
Main risks and limitations
The real risk depends on what the funds actually hold: their duration, credit quality, geographic exposure, and more.
Equities and bonds can fall at the same time.
A balanced label describes the mix, not a level of safety.
A frequent teaching example for the idea of balancing growth-oriented and stability-oriented assets. It is not a suggestion that this mix suits anyone.
Long-term Growth
A mix with a relatively high share in equities.
Equity ETF80%
Bond ETF15%
Cash5%
Educational objectiveIllustrate a portfolio with a relatively high equity allocation.
The idea and its limits
A larger equity share means the portfolio's value follows the stock market more closely. This example holds 80% in an equity ETF, 15% in a bond ETF, and 5% in cash.
Main risks and limitations
More equity exposure can mean larger swings and substantial losses.
Higher equity exposure does not guarantee higher returns.
Long periods of weak stock markets are possible.
A single equity ETF may not be broadly diversified.
Shows how a higher equity share changes a portfolio. Anyone considering a real portfolio may want to think about how long they can leave the money invested and how they would handle large declines.
Dividend & Income
A mix built around assets that may pay dividends or interest.
Dividend Stocks40%
Bond ETF40%
Cash20%
Educational objectiveIllustrate a portfolio focused on assets that may generate dividends, interest, or other income.
The idea and its limits
Some assets pay income: dividends from stocks and interest from bonds and cash. This example holds 40% in dividend stocks, 40% in a bond ETF, and 20% in cash.
Main risks and limitations
Dividends are not guaranteed and can be cut.
Dividend-paying stock prices can still fall.
Bond prices can fluctuate.
Distributions are not the same as total return.
Dividend-paying assets are not automatically safer.
Useful for learning the difference between income and total return. Chasing income can lead to concentration in a few sectors.
Global Diversification
A mix that illustrates spreading exposure across markets.
Global Equity ETF70%
Global Bond ETF25%
Cash5%
Educational objectiveIllustrate the idea of spreading exposure across multiple markets and asset types.
The idea and its limits
Holding funds that cover many countries is one way people try to avoid depending on a single market. This example holds 70% in a global equity ETF, 25% in a global bond ETF, and 5% in cash.
Main risks and limitations
Real diversification depends on what the funds hold: their countries, currencies, sectors, and largest positions.
A fund called global can still be heavily concentrated in a few markets or companies.
Foreign-currency exposure can add its own gains and losses.
Portfolio Lab cannot confirm that this example is truly globally diversified without looking inside the funds.
Introduces the idea of diversification across markets. The label alone does not guarantee it.
Growth + Bitcoin
An equity-focused mix with a small Bitcoin allocation.
Equity ETF70%
Bond ETF20%
Bitcoin10%
Educational objectiveIllustrate how a hypothetical portfolio might include a small Bitcoin allocation alongside traditional financial assets.
The idea and its limits
This example holds 70% in an equity ETF, 20% in a bond ETF, and 10% in Bitcoin. It shows how a small slice in a very different asset changes the mix.
Main risks and limitations
Bitcoin can be highly volatile and may fall by a large amount.
Bitcoin is not a safe or guaranteed source of growth.
Even a 10% allocation can account for a large share of a portfolio's swings.
Rules, access, and security risks for cryptocurrency differ from traditional assets.
Shows how adding a high-volatility asset changes a portfolio. It is not a view on whether Bitcoin belongs in anyone's portfolio.
Portfolio Builder
Build a hypothetical portfolio
Choose an amount, add holdings, and set how much of the amount goes to each one. Everything updates as you type.
Hypothetical only. This is an educational planning tool, not investment advice, and nothing here is a real holding or price.
$
A hypothetical amount to allocate. You do not need a real account.
Holdings
Total allocation 0%
Your portfolio is empty
Add a holding to start, or load one of the educational templates above and adjust it.
This analysis uses only the names, categories, and percentages you entered. It describes how your hypothetical allocation is distributed. It is not a risk score, a forecast, or advice, and it does not judge whether the portfolio is right for anyone.
There is nothing to analyze yet
Add holdings in the builder or load a template, and this section will describe how your allocation is distributed.
What Portfolio Lab can work out
How completely the money is allocated
How large each holding is, and how evenly the money is spread
How much sits in each asset category
The share in individual stocks, funds, cash, and cryptocurrency
Whether several holdings share a name
What it cannot tell, and why
Geographic exposure. It would need each holding's real country breakdown. A name and a category do not tell us that, and a company's home country does not show where it earns its money.
Currency exposure. It depends on the currency each holding is priced and earns in. The display currency setting only changes how amounts are shown.
ETF overlap. It would need the real list of what each fund holds. Portfolio Lab has no fund holdings data, so it does not show an overlap number.
How holdings move together. That needs historical price data. Portfolio Lab uses no prices.
Future volatility or returns. Nobody can know these in advance, and Portfolio Lab makes no forecasts.
Your personal risk tolerance. It depends on your goals, time horizon, and how you would react to losses, which this tool does not ask about.
Holding many assets does not automatically make a portfolio diversified. What matters is how different the holdings really are, which depends on what is inside them.
DCA Planner
Plan regular monthly investing
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule instead of all at once. See how an initial amount plus monthly contributions could add up under an assumed return. It is an illustration, not a prediction.
Your plan
USD
USD
Added at the end of every month.
years
Up to 60 years. Use 0.5 for six months.
% a year
An illustrative assumption, not a forecast. Between -50% and 50%.
Amounts use your display currency (USD). Nothing is converted.
Hypothetical future value
$99,145.20
Hypothetical growth: +$29,145.20 (+41.64% of the money you put in)
After 10 years at an assumed 6% a year. Not a forecast.
Initial investment
$10,000
Additional contributions
$60,000
120 × $500
Total contributed principal
$70,000
What you put in
Projection over time
Contributed principal$70,000
Hypothetical value$99,145.20
Year-by-year hypothetical projection: money contributed, hypothetical value, and the difference
When
Contributed principal
Hypothetical value
Growth or loss
Start
$10,000
$10,000
$0
Year 1
$16,000
$16,763.26
+$763.26
Year 2
$22,000
$23,932.32
+$1,932.32
Year 3
$28,000
$31,531.53
+$3,531.53
Year 4
$34,000
$39,586.68
+$5,586.68
Year 5
$40,000
$48,125.15
+$8,125.15
Year 6
$46,000
$57,175.92
+$11,175.92
Year 7
$52,000
$66,769.74
+$14,769.74
Year 8
$58,000
$76,939.19
+$18,939.19
Year 9
$64,000
$87,718.81
+$23,718.81
Year 10
$70,000
$99,145.20
+$29,145.20
How each monthly contribution could be split
Build a portfolio above and the planner will show how each contribution would be divided across your holdings.
Assumptions behind these numbers
Hypothetical returns. The return is an assumption you choose, not a forecast. Real returns rise and fall, and can be negative.
Effective annual rate. A 6% return means a balance grows by 6% over 12 months. It is converted to a monthly rate with (1 + rate)1/12 − 1 and applied the same way every month, with no market ups and downs.
Timing. The first amount is invested at the start. Each monthly contribution is added at the end of the month, after that month's growth, so it does not earn a return in the month it is added. Contributions never change or stop.
What is left out. Fees, taxes, inflation, trading costs, and currency conversion are not included, so real results would usually be lower. The amounts use your display currency without any conversion.
About DCA. Investing a fixed amount regularly (dollar-cost averaging) does not guarantee a profit and does not prevent losses.
Investment Calculator
Compare illustrative return assumptions
Try a one-time investment or regular monthly contributions, and compare three assumed yearly returns side by side. The rates are examples you can edit. They are not forecasts, and nobody can promise a return.
USD
years
Up to 60 years.
Amounts use your display currency (USD). Nothing is converted.
Your investment
$10,000
A single amount, left for 15 years.
Assumed 3% a year
$15,579.67
Hypothetical growth: +$5,579.67 (+55.8%)
Assumed 6% a year
$23,965.58
Hypothetical growth: +$13,965.58 (+139.66%)
Assumed 9% a year
$36,424.82
Hypothetical growth: +$26,424.82 (+264.25%)
Projection over time
Contributed principal$10,000
Assumed 3% a year$15,579.67
Assumed 6% a year$23,965.58
Assumed 9% a year$36,424.82
Year-by-year hypothetical value for each assumed return
When
Contributed principal
At 3%
At 6%
At 9%
Start
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
Year 1
$10,000
$10,300
$10,600
$10,900
Year 2
$10,000
$10,609
$11,236
$11,881
Year 3
$10,000
$10,927.27
$11,910.16
$12,950.29
Year 4
$10,000
$11,255.09
$12,624.77
$14,115.82
Year 5
$10,000
$11,592.74
$13,382.26
$15,386.24
Year 6
$10,000
$11,940.52
$14,185.19
$16,771
Year 7
$10,000
$12,298.74
$15,036.30
$18,280.39
Year 8
$10,000
$12,667.70
$15,938.48
$19,925.63
Year 9
$10,000
$13,047.73
$16,894.79
$21,718.93
Year 10
$10,000
$13,439.16
$17,908.48
$23,673.64
Year 11
$10,000
$13,842.34
$18,982.99
$25,804.26
Year 12
$10,000
$14,257.61
$20,121.96
$28,126.65
Year 13
$10,000
$14,685.34
$21,329.28
$30,658.05
Year 14
$10,000
$15,125.90
$22,609.04
$33,417.27
Year 15
$10,000
$15,579.67
$23,965.58
$36,424.82
Assumptions behind these numbers
Hypothetical returns. The return is an assumption you choose, not a forecast. Real returns rise and fall, and can be negative.
Effective annual rate. A 6% return means a balance grows by 6% over 12 months. It is converted to a monthly rate with (1 + rate)1/12 − 1 and applied the same way every month, with no market ups and downs.
Timing. The full amount is invested at the start and left alone. Growth is added every month.
What is left out. Fees, taxes, inflation, trading costs, and currency conversion are not included, so real results would usually be lower. The amounts use your display currency without any conversion.
What-if Simulator
Explore an assumed price change
Type a price change you want to imagine for each kind of asset and see what it would do to your hypothetical portfolio. These are made-up scenarios to help you understand risk. They are not predictions, and your portfolio above is never changed.
Illustrative starting examples
Examples only, not predictions. Loading one replaces the numbers below, and you can edit any of them afterwards.
Add holdings to run a scenario
The simulator uses the money allocated in your portfolio. Add holdings in the builder, or load an example portfolio first.
Rebalancing means moving a portfolio back toward the mix you intended. Choose a target of your own, and see how far your current portfolio is from it. This is a learning tool: it shows differences, it does not place trades, and the target is not a recommendation.
Your target allocation
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
%
Not in your portfolio
No target yet
Type the percentage you want for each category, or copy your current portfolio as a starting point.
Add holdings to compare
Rebalancing compares your current portfolio with a target. Add holdings in the builder, or load an example portfolio first.
Keep versions of a hypothetical portfolio, come back to them later, and compare ideas without starting over. Nothing is saved until you choose to save it, and loading a plan never changes a saved one.
Stored only in this browser. Plans stay on this device. They are not sent to Scope or anyone else, they do not sync to your other devices, and they can be lost if you clear your browser data or use private browsing. Use “Export backup” to keep a copy.
Looking for plans saved in this browser…
Learn and Explore
The ideas behind a portfolio, in plain language
Short guides to the words you meet while building a portfolio. Open any topic, or follow an example path that connects the rest of Scope to the tools on this page.
These guides are general and educational. They describe what things are and what can affect them. They do not say what any asset may do in future, or which holdings suit any particular person.
Example paths through Scope
From one company to a whole portfolio
An example path through Scope. The company is only an example of a single company page.
Read how a company makes money. NVIDIA is used here as an example.
Asset allocation describes the share of a portfolio held in each kind of asset. A portfolio that is 60% stocks and 40% bonds has a different mix of risks than one that is 100% stocks, even if each holding looks reasonable on its own.
Because different kinds of assets can react differently to the same events, the split between them often matters as much as the choice of any single holding. Which mix suits a person depends on their goals, their time frame, and how much change in value they can live with.
Keep in mind: A mix that suits one person can be a poor fit for another. Portfolio Lab shows how a mix is distributed. It cannot say which mix is right for you.
Diversification means not letting one company, industry, or asset type decide the whole result. Holdings that react to different events can partly offset each other, which may make a portfolio's value change less sharply than any one holding would.
Owning many holdings is not the same as being diversified. Ten stocks in the same industry can still rise and fall together, and in a sharp market fall, assets that usually move differently can fall at the same time.
Keep in mind: Diversification may reduce some kinds of risk. It does not remove risk, and it does not protect against losses.
If one holding is a large share of a portfolio, a problem that is specific to that holding can move the whole portfolio's value by a lot. The same can happen with one industry, one country, or one asset type.
Concentration is not automatically a mistake, and some people hold large positions on purpose. It means the result depends on fewer things, so the range of possible outcomes is wider in both directions.
Keep in mind: A company with a strong business can still see its share price fall. Whether a company is strong and whether a portfolio is well spread are two different questions.
The investment horizon is the time between now and when the money is needed. Money needed in a year faces different risks from money that may not be needed for twenty years.
Over a short horizon, a fall in value may not have time to recover before the money is needed. Over a long horizon there is more time for ups and downs to work through, but a fall may or may not recover.
Keep in mind: More time does not make an outcome certain. It only changes which risks matter most.
The main kinds of assets, and what can affect each one.
An individual stock is a small piece of ownership in one company, so its value depends heavily on how that company does. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds a collection of investments and trades during the day like a stock.
An ETF can hold hundreds of companies or only a handful. What it holds, how it picks them, and what it costs to own differ from fund to fund, so the word ETF does not by itself say how spread out the holdings are.
Keep in mind: Not every ETF is diversified. An ETF that follows one industry, one theme, or a small number of companies can be quite concentrated.
An equity ETF holds shares of companies, so it generally moves with the stock market and with the companies inside it. A bond ETF holds bonds, so it is more affected by interest rates and by whether the borrowers repay.
Because they respond to different things, the two can behave differently at different times. That is not the case in every period, and in some periods both have fallen together.
Keep in mind: What a fund holds matters more than its label: which companies or bonds, how long the bonds last, and who issued them.
Holding a bond means lending money. The borrower normally pays interest and agrees to repay the original amount on a set date. This steady interest is why bonds are often called fixed income.
Bond prices can still change. When interest rates rise, existing bonds that pay less interest can lose value, and a borrower in trouble may pay late or not at all. Bonds that last longer are generally more affected by changes in interest rates.
Keep in mind: Fixed income does not mean a fixed value, and it does not mean no risk.
Cash and cash equivalents, such as savings accounts and short-term deposits, usually change little in value from day to day. Many people keep some for expenses or as a cushion.
Cash can still lose purchasing power. If prices rise faster than the interest earned, the money covers less over time. Interest rates on cash vary and can be low.
Keep in mind: Little day-to-day movement is not the same as no risk. Protection for bank deposits depends on the country and the institution.
Bitcoin is a digital asset that is not issued by any government or central bank. Many other cryptocurrencies were created by projects or companies. Prices of these assets have, at times, moved very sharply in both directions over short periods.
Many other cryptocurrencies are less established than Bitcoin, and some projects have lost almost all of their value or stopped existing. Rules and protections differ widely between countries, and holding crypto can bring extra risks such as lost access or theft.
Keep in mind: Because possible falls can be large, people who include these assets often keep them to a small share of a portfolio. Portfolio Lab cannot judge any specific coin.
Gold is a physical commodity. Unlike a stock or a bond, it does not pay dividends or interest, so any gain or loss comes from changes in its price.
Some people hold gold because its price has sometimes moved differently from stocks, and others see it as a store of value. It can also go for long periods without rising. Holding it through a fund adds fund costs, and holding it directly can mean storage and insurance costs.
Keep in mind: Its price can rise and fall, and patterns from the past may not repeat.
Real estate can be owned directly, such as a rented home, or through a REIT (real estate investment trust), a company that owns property and trades like a stock.
Property values and rents depend on interest rates, local conditions, and the economy. Owning property directly can be hard to divide up or to turn into cash quickly. Listed REITs are easy to trade, but their prices can move up and down with the stock market.
Keep in mind: A REIT may be concentrated in one kind of property, such as offices or shopping centres, or in one region.
How a portfolio grows and changes
Ideas about time, regular investing, and keeping a mix in shape.
With dollar-cost averaging, a person invests the same amount on a regular schedule, for example every month. When prices are lower the same amount gets more units, and when prices are higher it gets fewer, so the price paid is spread out over time.
It can make it easier to keep going without trying to pick a moment, and it spreads out the risk of putting everything in just before a fall. It can also mean part of the money waits while prices rise. Which approach ends up better depends on how prices move, which is not known in advance.
Keep in mind: DCA does not prevent losses. If prices keep falling, each new amount can lose value too.
With compounding, returns are earned not only on the original amount but also on the returns already earned. Over long periods this can make a large difference to the end result.
It works in both directions. After a fall, a larger rise is needed to get back to the starting value: a 50% fall needs a 100% rise to recover. In Portfolio Lab's calculators a steady yearly rate is assumed for illustration, but real returns vary from year to year, can be negative, and are reduced by fees, taxes, and inflation.
Keep in mind: The projections are examples built from rates you type. They are not forecasts.
Over time, holdings grow or shrink by different amounts, so the mix drifts away from the plan. A portfolio planned as 60% stocks and 40% bonds might drift to 70% and 30% after a strong run in stocks.
Rebalancing means moving back toward the target, either by adding new money to the parts that have fallen behind or by shifting some money away from the parts that have grown. Each approach has costs: shifting money can bring taxes and fees, and doing it often can add up.
Keep in mind: Rebalancing can keep a portfolio closer to the risk level its owner chose, but it does not improve returns by itself.
If a portfolio holds assets priced in a foreign currency, their value in the home currency depends on both the asset's price and the exchange rate. An asset can stay flat in its own currency and still change in value when the exchange rate moves.
This can work in either direction, and conversion costs add to it. Portfolio Lab shows your amounts in the currency you pick and does not convert between currencies.
Keep in mind: A portfolio held in one currency can look very different to someone who spends in another.