Hedge what you actually own
Choose the maximum decline you are willing to risk. Portfolio Armor selects securities for alpha, builds the concentrated portfolio with the highest expected return available at that loss limit, then hedges every position.
A $30,000 portfolio was constructed on January 9 and hedged against a decline greater than 13%. It then passed through the sharp March–April correction.
The implementation difference
Many investment firms measure how much loss an investor can tolerate, then recommend an asset allocation expected to fit. Portfolio Armor takes the same tolerance and builds a concentrated portfolio whose downside is limited directly with options.
Express the answer as a maximum acceptable decline.
The loss limit is structural, not a probability. Conventional asset allocation tries to approximate the target with investments expected to offset one another, but correlations can rise sharply in a crisis. When the displayed Portfolio Armor positions and options are entered and maintained as specified, the limit is built into the option payoffs instead. Return estimates remain estimates, not guarantees.
Real portfolios, real markets
These are dated Portfolio Armor portfolios tracked forward through the market that followed—not reconstructed hypotheticals.
A $30,000 portfolio hedged against a decline greater than 13% passed through the March–April selloff and completed its six-month run ahead of SPY.
At the July 29, 2026 close, part-way through its run, hedges had reduced the decline in a concentrated AI basket by approximately 14.9 percentage points. An interim snapshot, not a completed result.
A $3 million portfolio hedged against a greater-than-40% decline finished its six-month run at just over $5 million.
Results are examples, not a representative promise. The complete tracked record includes gains and losses and should be reviewed alongside each portfolio’s maximum acceptable decline and methodology.
Start with what you need
Use Portfolio Armor to hedge one holding, build a concentrated portfolio with a defined maximum loss, or find stronger candidates through Top Names.
Choose an investment amount and maximum acceptable decline. Receive a concentrated portfolio designed to maximize expected return net of hedging costs.
How portfolio construction worksFind the least-expensive put or collar designed to protect a stock or ETF against a decline greater than the loss limit you select.
Compare puts and collarsReview the optionable securities Portfolio Armor ranks highest by potential return net of optimal hedging cost.
Explore Top NamesHow it works
Portfolio Armor does not pick a stock and bolt on any hedge. It finds the least-expensive qualifying protection, then ranks opportunities after that cost.
Scan possible puts and collars for the lowest-cost combination that satisfies the chosen loss limit.
Set the largest loss you are willing to risk over approximately six months.
The proprietary algorithm scans possible puts and collars to find the lowest-cost static protection that satisfies your chosen loss limit.
Top Names are ranked by potential return net of optimal hedging cost, so an expensive-to-protect security can fall behind a cheaper one.
Portfolio Armor allocates to the highest-ranked candidates and provides the shares, option contracts, costs, maximum loss, and return estimates.
The evidence
17.94%
Average six-month return across 170 completed Top Names cohorts.
Completed cohorts through March 26, 2026.
Explore complete, approximately six-month portfolio cohorts grouped by maximum acceptable decline, including hedging costs and trading costs—not a gallery of handpicked winners.
Explore tracked portfolios0
Hedged portfolios that declined beyond their selected maximum loss in the published eleven-year backtests.
Backtests are hypothetical and distinct from live tracking.
The published backtests use the ask price for purchased puts, the bid price for sold calls, and include trading costs. Review the methodology and results before drawing conclusions.
Review the backtestsPortfolio construction assumes purchased option legs at the ask and sold option legs at the bid. The tracking chart then revalues those options instead of carrying the opening transaction prices forward. That entry-to-mark transition recognizes spread friction immediately, so a new hedged portfolio begins below its nominal value. Investors may often fill inside the spread, but the record does not assume that improvement.
Past performance, live tracking, and backtested results do not guarantee future returns. Expected and potential returns are estimates, not promises. Review the complete methodology and disclosures before investing.
Case study
During an AI-stock unwind, a basket of securities also held in a Portfolio Armor portfolio fell sharply. The hedges did not prevent a decline; they materially changed its size.
Two levels of access
Both plans include daily Top Names and tools for finding optimal puts and collars. Premium adds the ability to construct complete hedged portfolios.
For investors who want the selection signal and individual-position hedging tools without the portfolio builder.
For investors who want Portfolio Armor to combine its security selection and optimal hedges into complete portfolios.
The website pairs Portfolio Armor’s security-selection method with position-level hedges sized to the maximum decline you choose. Portfolio Armor Trading uses top-ranked names as sources for more aggressive options trade ideas. It is a separate subscription from the website plans.
Frequently asked
A risk-tolerance tool helps determine how much loss an investor can accept. Portfolio Armor can use that result as the maximum decline the investor is willing to risk, then select securities and hedge each position so the portfolio is constructed to fit it.
Asset allocation generally tries to moderate loss by combining investments expected to behave differently. Those relationships can change sharply in a crisis, and broad diversification can dilute exposure to the strongest return candidates. Portfolio Armor instead limits downside through option contracts on the securities you actually own. The protection assumes the displayed positions and hedges are entered and maintained as specified.
No. Portfolio Armor provides portfolio and hedging calculations. You decide whether to place the displayed trades in your own brokerage account.
A stop price is not a guaranteed execution price. If a security gaps below it, the sale can occur materially lower. A protective put gives its holder the right to sell at the strike price during the option’s life, subject to the contract’s terms.
Protective puts preserve uncapped upside but generally have an upfront cost. Collars sell calls to reduce or offset that cost, in exchange for capping upside at the call strike.
Inside the product, threshold is the concise label for the maximum decline you are willing to risk over approximately six months. It is the greatest decline the portfolio’s hedge structure is designed to permit, even if every underlying security went to zero before the hedges expired. The protection assumes the displayed positions and hedges are entered and maintained as directed; trading changes, taxes, liquidity, and execution prices can affect realized results.
They share the same security-selection foundation. The website pairs that source of alpha with position-level hedges sized to a selected maximum decline. The Substack applies top-ranked names through more aggressive options structures and trade alerts. They are separate subscriptions.
No. They are estimates based on Portfolio Armor’s methodology and historical observations. Securities can perform materially better or worse than estimated, including losing value.
Keep the concentration. Add the protection.
Choose the maximum decline you are willing to risk. See the exact positions and option contracts. Keep control of every trade.
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