Our specialy is mutual funds. We provide several tools for mutual fund selection and show you how to build a properly diversified portfolio by putting it all together.
We're not great fans of investing in individual stocks or stock options. Many investors think that they can make money buying or selling stocks. We do not share such view for two reasons:
First, investing in individual stocks is too risky. Even if you had the time and knowledge to analyze individual stocks properly, you do not always get accurate and timely information. Think about it: if stock analysts were such great stock pickers, wouldn't they all be millionnaires working for themselves rather than working as analysts on the payroll of brokers or investment banking firms? Making money in stocks is easier said than done.
Second, to minimize the risk of equity investment, you need a diversified portfolio. In our view, you need at least between $1.5 and $2 million to build a truly diversified equity portfolio. For most investors, mutual funds remain the best alternative.
What about those exhorbitant mutual fund fees?
Some funds are less expensive than others. We concentrate on a small number of mutual funds where costs are reasonable and managers add value through active portfolio management. The objective is to be properly compensated for the fees that you pay and the risk that you assume. We have the proper tools for measuring value-added from active portfolio management.
What are those tools?
We have two very popular tools: Manager Value-Added and Portfolio Diagnostics. Manager Value-Added (MVA), as the name indicates, tells you how much value your fund manager has added compared to an index fund. The higher the MVA, the more risk-efficient is the fund. Portfolio Diagnostics helps you put it all together and shows you how a portfolio of risk-efficient funds can beat a portfolio of index funds. The site is full of articles and illustrations as to how to combine those two tools for building highly efficient portfolios.
Tell me more about MVA
MVA tells you by how much a fund mnager could have exceeded the index return if such manager were prepared to assume the same risk level of an index fund. If a fund manager can beat the index by assuming an equal risk level, it means he or she is adding value. If those managers under-perform the index, it's probably because they have chosen to assume less risk. However, at equal risk levels, funds with positive MVA have the power and capability to beat the index. Those funds are considered risk-efficient funds, i.e.funds that have adequately rewarded investors for the risk assumed.
If you build your portfolio using risk-efficient funds, you maximize your probability of beating a similar portfolio made of index funds (we refer to this as the Index Fund Portfolio, i.e. a portfolio similar made of index funds, with a similar asset allocation).
How do I know that I have built a suitable portfolio?
The answer lies in two key factors (Portfolio Diagnostics gives you the answer at a glance): first, your portfolio risk should not exceed the target level corresponding to your risk profile; second, your portfolio return should exceed the risk-adjusted return of the Index Fund Portfolio. In other words, at equal risk levels, your return should exceed that of the Index Fund Portfolio.
Why not build an Index Fund Portfolio instead of complicating things?
First, it's not that complicated. Second, the problem with Index Fund Portfolios is the high risk and the lack of adequate compensation for the risk assumed. If you build a portfolio of risk-efficient funds (i.e. funds with high MVA), your portfolio, at equal risk levels, will invariably beat the Index Fund Portfolio.
What other tools do you provide?
We have various other tools that satisfy the needs of serious investors and financial advisors, including asset allocation models, detailed analysis and commentary on hundreds of mutual funds, fund ranking and selection tools, family ratings and early warning (red flags) tools. As a matter of fact, we endeavour to add a new tool or an enhanced feature each month. We remain faithful to our motto:" more value for your money".
What is the difference between Regular and Premium Subscriptions and why are the Premium Subscription fees double the Regular subscription fees?
The one and only difference is that the Premium subscription allows you to build multiple portfolios, whereas the Regular subscription is limited to one portfolio. Multiple portfolios are not only useful for advisors who have multiple clients, but also for serious investors who need the convenience of trying and saving various portfolio combinations and comparing the risk and return of each portfolio at a glance. The fees are double because each portfolio takes a substantial amount of space in our data base and needs a significant amount of resources, resulting in much higher costs.