How would you advice someone which portfolio to pick on Endowus while not using risk as an indicator? e.g. a lower risk 40/60 (bond/stocks) portfolio might perform better than a 60/40 allocation?

If you are making general wealth accumluation investments then risk metrics are the right way to gauge your asset allocation. If you are focused on meeting certain investment goals then there are many other risks that we should consider such as sequence of returns risk, longevity risk, etc.

Apart from these things, there are other risks such as job security or personal circumstances related to health, family, etc. Put this way, there are so many risks that we cannot factor for.

You must review your personal circumstances and build a portfolio that is suitable for the risks you are exposed to and build a financial plan that works for you. You wrote 40/60 but then bonds/stocks so I assume you meant to write it the other way a lower risk 40/60 stocks/bond performing better than a 60/40.

As Lee John stated below, the only period when bonds meaningfully outperform are during periods of equities corrections or recessions. More often then not and over long periods these short term anomalies are corrected. The only caveat is if we use globally diversified portfolios. If we allocate the bond allocation to EM bonds or High yield bonds or higher risk / higher returns segments of the bond market then things could look very different. But excepting those situations, in normal circumstances and over a decent period of time, the 60/40 will always do better than the 40/60 (that is stock/bonds!).​​​

If you have a long time frame, I would suggest you to hold at least 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds.

Seriously, it's not that scary. Mine is 60/40 stocks and bonds in CPF-OA. Since 23 Jun till now, I already see a 6% return in the account. Just 2 months. My jaw dropped when I saw the unrealised profits.

Ok the US stock market is lately on the roll, and there may be downturns in periods to come...but this is the stock market. Volatility is a given.

However, if you're investing 10-30 years, time will smooth out this and you will see positive returns due to growth in the economy and companies.

Still skeptical?

Read this about this janitor who left behind US$8 million to the hospital and library. He invested in at least 95 stocks.

The key is "...many of which he had held for years, if not decades." Compounding and time are the best partners to beat Mr. Market together! ;)

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/janitor-secretl...