I Never Buy More Than 5% | Inside Aswath Damodaran's Personal Portfolio

How Aswath Damodaran Manages His Own Portfolio | Show Us Your Portfolio In this episode of our Show Us Your Portfolio series, we go inside the personal investing approach of Aswath Damodaran — the “Dean of Valuation.” Known for his expertise in corporate valuation, Aswath rarely discusses how he manages his own money. We cover his philosophy, asset allocation, position sizing rules, lifecycle diversification, and the lessons he’s learned from decades of investing his own wealth. *What you’ll learn in this episode:* The core mission that drives Aswath’s investing decisions How he thinks about risk, concentration, and position sizing Why he avoids bonds and focuses on equity appreciation His approach to strategic vs. tactical investing The role of lifecycle diversification in portfolio construction How he decides when to buy and sell individual stocks Why luck plays such a big role in investing results His views on international exposure, dividends, gold, crypto, and alternative assets Personal spending habits and what he values most outside of investing *Timestamps:* 00:00 – Investing’s end game: preserve and grow wealth 03:25 – How life stage changes investment approach 07:41 – Thoughts on the 60/40 portfolio 08:47 – Why he holds no bonds 10:12 – The power of compounding 12:25 – Separating portfolio from income needs 15:02 – Strategic vs. tactical investing 18:00 – Managing concentration risk and trimming winners 20:30 – Market concentration & the Mag 7 25:31 – How he buys and sells stocks 32:46 – Hit rate and lessons from decades of investing 37:26 – Lifecycle diversification 41:00 – U.S. vs. international investing 43:22 – Dividend investing 45:35 – Gold, crypto, and alternative assets 53:15 – What he drives and his ESG take 54:39 – Spending for joy 56:00 – Key investing advice for individuals 57:37 – Life outside markets & creative thinking time