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Equity Low Volatility SMA
Designed to track the S&P 500 over long market cycles with meaningfully reduced drawdowns. Invests in resilient, defensive sectors while prioritizing capital preservation and stability.
Equity Low Volatility SMA
Growth of $100,000
Calendar Year Returns
Annual performance vs. the S&P 500 — computed live from daily return data
| Year | Low Vol (Gross) | S&P 500 | Alpha | Market Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Seen Enough? Let's Talk.
Schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss whether the Low Volatility SMA belongs in your portfolio — or keep scrolling for the full strategy breakdown.
What Makes Low Vol Different
The Equity Low Volatility SMA is the defensive pillar of BRIM's lineup — built for the phase of life where protecting capital matters as much as growing it. It holds 20–25 concentrated positions in businesses that earn reliably through any economic cycle: dividend aristocrats, category-leading staples, infrastructure, healthcare, and the most durable mega-cap compounders.
Every holding must demonstrate revenue growth of 7–12% annually, sustainable dividend discipline, recession-resilient demand, and below-market beta. This isn't a bond substitute. It's an equity strategy designed to compound steadily — capturing most of the market's upside while materially softening the downs. The math of smaller drawdowns compounds powerfully over time.
- Pre-retirees and retirees drawing income from their portfolio
- Conservative risk profiles who want equity exposure without peak drawdowns
- The "safer bucket" in multi-strategy allocations — stabilizing Growth or Innovation
- IRA and taxable accounts where steady compounding > maximum growth
- Wealth-preservation households — protecting what's been built, compounding it forward
Current Holdings
How We Identify Exceptional Businesses
Every position in the Low Volatility portfolio passes through rigorous bottom-up analysis. We don't screen for stocks — we research businesses. Low Vol rewards durability, income, and recession-resilient demand.
Revenue Growth of 7–12%
Steady, reliable top-line growth in the 7–12% zone — the durable compounder tier. Not flashy. Not cyclical. The kind of growth that keeps earning through recessions and market dislocations. Businesses that don't need a bull market to compound.
Dividend Discipline
Sustainable, growing dividends backed by real cash flow — not financial engineering. We look for long dividend histories, conservative payout ratios, and management teams that treat the dividend as a contract with shareholders, not a marketing line.
Below-Market Beta
Measured, demonstrable defensibility relative to the S&P 500. Low Vol holdings move less than the market — in both directions — which is the mathematical source of superior risk-adjusted returns over full cycles.
Fortress Balance Sheet
Strong cash generation, low debt, meaningful liquidity. Defensive businesses with weak balance sheets aren't defensive when credit tightens. The combination of cash flow durability + balance sheet strength is what makes a holding genuinely low-volatility.
Recession-Resilient Demand
Consumer staples, utilities, healthcare, subscriptions, category-leading services — businesses whose revenue doesn't collapse when the economy slows. Demand durability is the single best predictor of equity drawdown behavior in a bear market.
Reasonable Valuation
Dividend aristocrats get crowded at the top of cycles. We pay attention to the price. Defensive businesses compound best when purchased at reasonable multiples — overpaying for safety turns a great holding into a mediocre position.
Built for All-Weather Compounding
Diversified across the sectors that earn reliably through any economic cycle — with defensive tilt toward businesses whose demand doesn't evaporate in a downturn.
Why We Believe Durability Wins
Six principles that govern how defensive equity portfolios compound wealth over full market cycles — and why lower-volatility holdings mathematically outperform their risk-taking peers for the investors who need both growth and protection.
Smaller Drawdowns Compound Faster
A 20% loss requires 25% to recover. A 50% loss requires 100%. The deeper the drawdown, the more recovery you need — and the more time you lose. Low-volatility portfolios start the next cycle higher, which is the entire game over decades.
Simple arithmetic
Dividends Are a Discipline
Paying a dividend forces management to be honest about cash flow. Growing the dividend forces discipline about capital allocation. Companies that have raised dividends for 25+ years have done so because they earned the right — and they've historically outperformed the market with materially less volatility.
Ned Davis Research / Hartford Funds
Recessions Separate Businesses
When the economy slows, cyclical businesses see revenue collapse. Staples keep selling. Utilities keep billing. Healthcare keeps treating. The defensive sectors aren't the most exciting in a bull market — they're what's still compounding when everything else stops.
S&P Dow Jones Indices
Volatility Is a Cost
Variance drag is a real tax on compounded returns. Two portfolios with identical average annual returns deliver materially different ending balances if one has twice the volatility. Lower variance compounds higher — it's not just comfort, it's math.
Bessembinder / Journal of Finance
Income Funds Life
A portfolio that pays you in cash is a portfolio that doesn't require selling shares at a loss to fund expenses. Dividend income covers retirement spending while the principal continues compounding — the rare financial structure that works better in a bear market than in a bull one.
S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index
Quality + Low Beta = Staying Invested
The #1 predictor of long-run returns isn't which stocks you own — it's whether you stay invested through the hard years. Low-volatility portfolios help investors sleep at night, which helps them ignore the urge to sell at the bottom. Behavior is the real alpha.
Morningstar Mind the Gap study
Since April 2021
Low Volatility SMA · Gross
Marketplace Approved
Every daily return is public.
Every day of this track record — from January 7, 2008 to today — is open for your inspection. No gated access. No qualification form. No asterisks. The same spreadsheet that powers this page is the one we'd hand to a regulator.
The Structural Advantages of Direct Ownership
Comparing BRIM Low Volatility to low-beta or dividend ETFs misses the fundamental difference: you own individual stocks, not fund shares. This unlocks tax management, customization, and transparency that pooled vehicles cannot replicate.
| Feature | SMA | ETF |
|---|---|---|
| Direct stock ownership | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Tax-loss harvesting on individual positions | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Customizable exclusions (ESG, sector, etc.) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Fund-level expense ratio | ✓ None | ✗ Yes |
| Capital gains distributions from other investors | ✓ Impossible | ⚠ Common |
| Transparency into every holding | ✓ Real-time | ⚠ Delayed |
| Transferability — move positions in-kind | ✓ Yes | ✗ Liquidate only |
| Estate planning flexibility — step-up per lot | ✓ Per lot | ✗ Fund-level only |
Protect & Compound
Schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss whether the Equity Low Volatility SMA belongs in your portfolio. No obligations, no pressure — just a straightforward conversation about defensive equity investing, dividend income, and how steady compounding fits with your long-term plan.
Explore Our Other Strategies
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ExploreEquity Core SMA
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ExplorePerformance Methodology. All performance data shown both gross and net of an advisory fee consistent with BRIM's published tiered fee schedule (maximum 1.50% annual rate), deducted quarterly based on average daily balance methodology. Returns prior to March 24, 2020 are backtested using the same investment methodology applied to live accounts. Backtested performance does not represent actual trading and may not reflect the impact of material economic and market factors. Live performance begins March 24, 2020.
Rankings & Comparisons. Benchmarks (S&P 500) are unmanaged and not directly investable. Calendar-year returns are computed from daily return data and reflect the compounding of published daily returns for the Equity Low Volatility SMA model portfolio within each calendar year. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Holdings Disclosure. Holdings shown are representative of a model portfolio as of the date indicated and may not reflect the exact positions in every client account. Individual account holdings may differ due to customizations, tax considerations, timing of funding, or other factors. Holdings are subject to change without notice and should not be considered investment recommendations. Sector allocations are approximate and shift as positions are added, trimmed, or rotated.
Risk Disclosure. All equity strategies involve risk including the potential loss of principal. The Low Volatility SMA is a concentrated equity strategy focused on defensive and dividend-oriented businesses and is not a substitute for fixed income. Equity concentration can produce drawdowns, and defensive strategies can underperform in strong bull markets. Dividends are not guaranteed and may be reduced or suspended. Past performance is not indicative of future results. No guarantee is made that any investment strategy or account will achieve its objectives.
Fees. The advisory fee shown (1.50%) represents the maximum rate. Actual fees may be lower based on account size per BRIM's published tiered fee schedule: $0–$250K at 1.50%, $250K–$500K at 1.25%, $500K–$1M at 1.10%, $1M–$2.5M at 0.95%, and $2.5M+ at 0.85%, billed quarterly in arrears on average daily balance. Advisory fees do not include custodian-charged brokerage or transaction costs.
Regulatory. Bull Run Investment Management, LLC ("BRIM") is a fee-only Registered Investment Adviser headquartered in McLean, Virginia (CRD #306763), registered in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. For additional information about BRIM — including fees, services, and disciplinary history — refer to our Form ADV at adviserinfo.sec.gov, or contact us at bullrunim.com · (703) 344-6844 · info@bullrunim.com.