The defensive sleeve smooths the ride, it does not drive the return. Swapping ten percent gold for ten percent more debt moved the five year CAGR by under a point. The same fifty stocks in both did the heavy lifting. Judge the cushion by the hole it saves you, not the headline return.

Gold earned its place here, quietly. Half a point shallower drawdown, thirty five days faster out of it, a touch more return per unit of risk. It tends to matter most in the stretch when equity and debt fall together, and five years is only one such stretch. One backtest is one regime, not a law.

Simpler is worth something you can hold. The gold-free version gives back a hair of the edge for one less thing to own and rebalance every two weeks. A plan you actually run beats a fancier one you let drift. The best sleeve is the one you keep rebalancing.