Portfolio Charts is created and maintained by one dedicated investor. I go by Tyler, and I’ve been publishing independent investing research under that name continuously since 2015. While I do my best to clearly document everything so that you can verify the things I publish for yourself, I do understand that trust is especially important when talking about money. So here’s everything you need to know about me and how Portfolio Charts operates.
/// Contact Tyler ///
Who I am
I’m a mechanical engineer with a strong math education, a deep interest in finance and investing, and some nifty Excel skills I’ve picked up along the way. I also have a unique background including design and consulting that shaped how I think about presenting data and communicating complex ideas. Mix it all together, and that’s a pretty decent recipe for some new financial tools and a fresh take on investing.
I created Portfolio Charts as a way to share information with other investors because I want to make sophisticated asset allocation concepts accessible to normal people. It started as a fun hobby and eventually grew into a personal mission, but at every step along the way my primary motivation has been to help other people make informed investing decisions. Good decisions require good data, and I find it rewarding to apply my talents towards bringing that data to the table.
And in case you’re wondering, I’m not just a researcher watching from the sidelines. I invest my own life savings using the very same data and principles I publish here.
Just as important as who I am is who I am not:
I am not a financial adviser.
I have no professional qualifications to offer personal advice on how you should invest your money. It’s not only a legal matter but also a philosophical one, as I believe everyone should ultimately make their own educated choices. But no matter if you’re managing your own money or checking the track record of your adviser’s recommendation, I’m happy to provide all of the well-sourced information I can to help you invest with confidence.
Why you should trust me
Most people writing about investing tend to elicit trust through a combination of name recognition, credentials, and a carefully curated image. I’m a little different because I write under the pen name Tyler and don’t flash fancy titles as proof that I know what I’m talking about. So why should you trust me?
Let’s start with my background. You may be wondering what a mechanical engineer is doing writing about investing without a CFA or CFP after his name. It’s a fair question, and those credentials certify something genuinely important — the qualification to give personalized financial advice and manage other people’s money. But as I explained above, that’s exactly the thing I don’t do.
What I do here is collect data, stress-test systems against decades of real-world conditions, chart the outcomes in useful ways, and document the methodology so that anyone can verify the results. It’s what engineers do every day.
No, they don’t cover withdrawal rates in a mechanical design class. But they absolutely teach you about the importance of running stress tests, measuring uncertainty, and building a margin of safety when designing quality systems. It’s that engineering mindset applied to finance that best describes how I think about portfolio research. Verification is what turns a great theory from an academic curiosity into something deserving your real-world trust.
Credentials are signals for trust when you can’t check the work yourself. Here, you can. The methodology is public and the data sources are documented. As a result of that evidence-based mindset, I also benefit from terrific feedback from all kinds of brilliant investors who have helped me correct the occasional error and continuously improve my approach for over a decade. I enjoy doing the heavy lifting, but I consider it a team effort. If you ever have a question about a tool, article, or anything else, you can always contact me any time. I believe trust is earned, and I’m willing to do the work.
As for the pen name, I simply value my privacy just like you. But more importantly, it’s not about me. Like any good engineer who points to the verified measurements rather than to himself, I created Portfolio Charts to allow good data to speak for itself with no intermediary required.
Long story short, you should not trust me (or any financial personality) simply because of fame, credentials, or an impressive-sounding title. Seek evidence, double-check assumptions and methodology, and deliberately search for multiple outside perspectives.
Portfolio Charts is my best effort to add one more good resource for data-driven researchers, and I hope you find it useful.
My financial incentives
The vast majority of the Portfolio Charts content is completely free, as I believe it’s important to spread the word about asset allocation to as many people as possible. But in the spirit of transparency, I do make money in a few specific ways:
How I make money
Memberships — Happy readers can sign up for a Portfolio Charts membership to support the site and receive a few nice perks in the process.
Product sales — These are utilitarian and fun products for DIY investors like Excel spreadsheets and T-shirts. I’m a designer at heart, and everything is my own work.
Donations — Some people aren’t interested in buying anything and just want to make a donation and send a note of gratitude. Thank you!
How I do NOT make money
Banner ads — I don’t like things that distract from the content or that incentivize clicks over quality. So you can give your ad blocker a break and enjoy the blank space.
Affiliate links — I am not compensated for things I recommend. I don’t accept money to talk about a website or product, and no outgoing links include affiliate programs.
Selling your personal information — I don’t sell your contact info or internet behavior to 3rd parties. I value my own privacy and I respect yours as well.
Corporate sponsors — I don’t directly or indirectly work for any financial company outside of Portfolio Charts. So I have no incentive to lead you towards a certain way to invest.
Basically, most of the content is free and I make no money unless you proactively choose to give. If you enjoy my work, your support is greatly appreciated!
TL;DR
Portfolio Charts is run by a creative engineer who has been independently collecting, analyzing, and sharing investing data since 2015. I also invest my own savings using the same research and methods I discuss. To help keep the lights on I offer memberships, sell my own products, and accept donations. And even though I’m a private person, I’m an open book when it comes to investing and methodologies. Let’s figure this out together.
-Tyler-
