He calls himself a value investor but owns some high-flying stocks that would fit snugly into a growth portfolio.

"Since this is a long-term growth portfolio for retirement, we can stand a little more firepower in the account," he said.

For a far-off goal like retirement, financial advisers generally recommend creating a growth portfolio and making minor adjustments based on a periodic review.

TCW's mid-cap growth and small-cap growth portfolios also had disappointing years.

The mid-cap growth portfolio was down 34.7 percent and the small-cap one by 45.4 percent.

"We were a little early," Mr. Baldiswieler said, adding that the mid- and small-cap growth portfolios take very aggressive positions.

Only 3 of the top 10 funds in her growth portfolio make the Select List dated Sept. 30.

The growth portfolio, for investors who are most tolerant of risk, is more heavily invested overseas.

In comparison, the newsletter's growth portfolio actually produced an annualized return of 3.3 percent over the period.

DGI also offers a balanced portfolio which is a combination of the mid-cap growth portfolio and fixed-income securities.