Testing a 70-30 SPY-BIL Strategy

A subscriber asked for assessment of a strategy that holds 70% SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and 30% SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) (SPY-BIL 70-30), rebalanced every eight weeks, with explicit comparison to the 50% Simple Asset Class ETF Value Strategy Best Value-50% Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy Equal-Weighted Top 2 combined strategy (Best Value-EW Top 2). We measure performance of SPY-BIL 70-30 at 8-week intervals to match the specified rebalancing schedule. We measure performance of Best Value-EW Top 2 bimonthly for approximate comparability. We focus on 8-week or bimonthly return statistics, along with compound annual growth rates (CAGR) and maximum drawdowns (MaxDD). We also look at buy-and-hold SPY (SPY) as a simple alternative. Using weekly SPY and BIL dividend-adjusted prices and monthly Best Value -EW Top 2 returns from late May 2007 (BIL inception) through early February 2024, we find that: (more…)