Most individual investors remain unaware that the investment world is in the midst of a generational shift of herculean proportions; a change that is no less than the most massive, fastest transfer of wealth in human history.
We are witness to the rapid abandonment of traditional, active investing using individual stocks and mutual funds – products that have dominated the investment world for a century – in favor of relatively new, passive, index-based products, primarily represented by Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Some compare active investing to betting at the beginning of the season on what team will win the Super Bowl many months later. Continuing with this analogy, passive, index-based investing would be like owning one of the eight divisions of the NFL – or even owning shares in the entire NFL – and thereby collecting profits on ticket sales, merchandise, TV rights, and more – regardless of which team wins each year. Under which scenario is there a higher chance you will make money at the end of the season?
The answer is obvious, and while it may not include the exhilaration of your team winning the Super Bowl, it also doesn't include the grief that comes after the more likely scenario of the team you selected not even making the playoffs. But what responsible person wants to place bets on a stock "winning the investment Super Bowl" each year as a viable way of saving for retirement? That's why tens of millions of investors are concluding that in the long run, they would rather have the investing equivalent of "owning shares of the best division in the NFL" as a more certain and consistent way to achieve your long-term, wealth-building goals.
Naturally, the investing equivalent that's analogous to "owning shares of the best division in the NFL" is to own shares of the best ETFs at any given time.
Around the turn of the century, when we began designing strategies that use them, the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) market was minuscule, and it was difficult to find many people who knew what they were. By 2007, ETFs were becoming mainstream and had grown to about $500 billion in assets under management (AUM), while mutual funds – the prior default for many investors – had nearly $17 trillion AUM.
Today that relationship is rapidly reversing, as assets invested in ETFs have surpassed $4 trillion and is expected to reach $20-$25 trillion AUM by 2025, surpassing the assets invested in mutual funds along the way. ETFs currently hold about 35% of all assets under management in the United States. In Japan, the figure is 70%. Meanwhile, money flowing into mutual funds is shrinking as demand wanes for that expensive investment vehicle (mutual funds have an average fee of 4.7% compared to ETFs at 0.4%).
In 2017 alone, investors poured nearly $1.3 trillion into passive, index-based funds while almost $500 billion of assets drained out of active investment funds – and the pace continues to accelerate each year. When you start discussing annual growth figures with 'trillions' at the end, you're talking about an enormous amount of money. In fact, what's occurring is the most mammoth migration of wealth in the history of humanity.
But what phenomenal force could prompt this immense transfer of wealth from one investment vehicle to another?
A Migration of Wealth Caused by a Conspicuous Failure
The primary driver of this galvanized refashioning of the investment industry has been the failure of both professional mutual fund managers and self-managed investors to attain a resonable return on the funds invested. Poor performance can be a powerful motivator!
Embarrassing Fact #1: 94% of mutual fund managers underperform the broad market over 10-year periods. Over 30-year spans the stats are even worse: only 2% of fund managers outperform the market – and the last 30 years were not particularly unique, as this dismal record has been the case for many consecutive decades.
Embarrassing Fact #2: The average investor using a blend of equity and fixed-income mutual funds has garnered only a 2.6% net annualized rate of return in rolling 10-year analysis since 1980. Moreover, over more extended time periods the results aren't any better. The 30-year annualized rate for an average investor is just 1.9%. That's just plain terrible, especially when you consider that the most well-known stock market index (the S&P 500 large-company index) grows by an average of about 6.96% per year. The ETFOptimize strategies have an average annual return across all strategies of 26.79%, which is more than 10-times the return and average investor achieves and more than triple the return of the S&P 500.
The move to passive, index-based investing is also driven by self-managed investors finally realizing that when they try to beat the market, all too often they end up losing money. The average individual investor has 'achieved' a long-term return, when considering inflation, of -1.16%. That's a NEGATIVE -1.16%! Even if you don't consider inflation, the average investor attains a return that is only about one-third of the long-term return of the S&P 500 large-company index.
Apparently coming to this realization in the last decade and at a steadily increasing pace, investors are rapidly embracing low-cost, passive investment products such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). These products hold ownership in all the companies in a market index and can be used with a simple buy-and-hold approach that minimizes costs and dramatically reduces the time and effort expended.
Passive investors want to own all the stocks in the market or a market segment, because 1) it provides instant diversification and 2) they believe as a whole, capitalism works, and 3) they know from the previous statistics mentioned that they are more likely to gain higher returns by investing in the entire stock market (or significant segments of the market) than they are in trying to determine which individual stocks will outperform the market (or when the proverbial "Super Bowl").
Instead, these investors have realized they can buy a few passive, index-based ETFs, hold them for decades and capture the return of the entire market as it steadily rises with the forces of societal growth and entrepreneurial innovation. Fees are minimal and effort required is virtually zero. For the vast majority of investors, this is the choice that makes the most sense.
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This Secret of the Market is a Goldmine for Savvy Investors
For investors who want to avoid market selloffs, attain superior performance compared to what passive, index-based ETFs provide, and are open-minded, many are surprised to discover that there is a better way – one that is counter-intuitive; with even less risk and accompanied by far higher returns. You can attain these objectives by taking advantage of another relatively new development in the field of finance: Systematic Investing (SI).
Systematic Investing (SI) is computerized asset allocation in which the three primary asset classes (stocks, bonds and cash) are actively balanced and adjusted, seeking to maximize portfolio returns and minimize risk. Modern Portfolio Theory states that asset allocation has a more significant impact on portfolio returns and market risk than individual investment selection. Investors who use tactical asset allocation are looking at macro, top-down economic and market developments as opposed to selecting an investment based on company fundamentals alone, as is done with bottom-up stock picking. (Learn more about Systematic Investing.)
While some might be concerned that this approach is just adding dangerous activity back into the advantageous, passive aspect of index-based ETFs, that's not the case. With systematic investing, selection of an asset is determined by pre-constructed algorithms based on well-vetted market signals and robust correlations that are never overridden by discretionary decisions. The result is still a methodical index with rules-based construction criteria and the retention of all the benefits of ETF investing.
Seismic Financial Forces at Work
Beneath the surface of the stock market, there is a dynamism with which most investors are unfamiliar. This tendency, a distinct characteristic of the market for nearly 70 years, involves the systematic rotation of money flows into various asset classes at different points in the business cycle.
| Our "Asset Allocation: Dynamically Levered S&P 500/Fixed Income" strategy produces a return of 1001% during a time when the S&P 500 gains just 155%. This strategy makes money when the market heads downward and doubles performance during rallies. |
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The natural cycles of business expansion and contraction cause a regular rotation of performance from one component to the next, which results in fund flows into - and out of - multiple sectors, industries, and asset classes as investors seek the highest return possible from their money. This compelling characteristic of the market is hidden from the view of most investors and harbors an extraordinary opportunity for profits by those who are shrewd enough to take advantage of it.
The timing of these rotations is driven by a variety of forces, with the most prominent one being the familiar economic business cycle. As each new business cycle begins, matures and contracts before becoming another fresh cycle, specific sectors, industries, and asset classes rise and fall in a particular order. It's a little-known fact that exploiting these secretive rotations fuels a significant percentage of the profits banked by the top echelon of investment pros.
ETFOptimize has created a breakthrough in modern systematic investing by harnessing 28 different macroeconomic, internal-market, and stock fundamental factors that determine each of our strategy's ETF selections. This approach is unique because it requires sophisticated programming to effectively mesh all the components in a way that works elegantly. Typically, systematic investment strategies only utilize one or two factors, such as momentum, value, or quality – the 'big three' that dominate academic literature and a small portion of real-world investing.
The real ETFOptimize 'advantage' is that our multi-faceted, 28-factor approach is far more accurate than any human (or any other investment service, to our knowledge) in determining the timing of the market and selection of the optimal asset for various conditions. Thereby, they are far more capable of minimizing drawdowns and maximizing returns than a conventional one- or two-factor approach. Please click the following link to see some of the factors we include in our strategy ranking systems: Learn about ETFOptimize's breakthrough approach to Systematic Investing
Throughout the world, there are probably only a few dozen smart-money investors, most at high levels in investment banks managing tens of billions of dollars, who quietly monitor these clandestine rotations and invest at the most opportune time, allowing them to reap outsized profits year-after-year, over many decades. Usually, the average individual investor either can't identify the market's hidden tells or doesn't understand how to exploit these secretive rotations to achieve consistently exceptional performance. Nevertheless, you can put these unique capabilities to use for you today, just by selecting a strategy from our ETF Investment Strategy Suite.
To Really Succeed at Passive Investing, Add a Little Activity
The secret to getting higher returns with less risk is straightforward; to really succeed with passive investing, you just need to add a little activity. That doesn't mean the rapid-fire speculation used by day traders. In fact, quite the contrary. To reap long-term investment (not trading) returns that are double, triple, or even quadruple a buy-and-hold approach, you just need to rotate from a long ETF (e.g., S&P 500–SPY, Nasdaq 100–QQQ, or other equity ETFs) to a defensive ETF (e.g., Consumer Staples–XLP, Utilities–XLU, Treasuries–TLT, or a cash–proxy ETF such as the 3-month Treasury–BIL) a few times per year, as determined by our carefully crafted ETF rotation strategies. By broadly elminating the significant downturns that destroy portfolio performance, over the long haul you enhance your annual performance by an extraordinary amount.
However, investors who attempt to achieve this objective by using their discretionary judgment – even if using proven indicators – invariably fall prey to subconscious biases that destroy their returns. Quantitative investors – who rely on objective, computerized decision metrics – invariably achieve far superior performance over discretionary investors. Humans are innately hindered from making correct decisions related to money management and investing.
Our selection of turnkey ETF investment strategies takes advantage of these hidden rotations in the markets, with each strategy featuring exceptional performance with minimal drawdowns so you can effortlessly achieve your retirement or other long-term savings goals.
The ETFOptimize Performance Record
Annual Returns for the ETFOptimize Strategies range from 13% to 33% compounded growth per year with an average annual return of 29.71%. Fully 100% of all years have been profitable across all our strategies, collectively totalling more that 100 years of positife performance. Our quantitatively driven, equity-based ETF strategies have also outperformed the S&P 500 in 96% of years (the average deficiency in the remaining years is very small, at just -0.14%).
Since inception, the ETFOptimize strategies reduce maximum drawdowns (the peak-to-trough decline) to less than 1/4th of what the overall market experiences. The average annual Maximum Drawdown across all strategies since inception is only -11.08%. When a bear market begins, our systems have already rotated into the optimum defensive ETF position (depending on the strategy's design parameters), thereby turning the tables and transforming every market downturn into an opportunity to continue adding profit and building wealth year-after-year.
The goal of each ETFOptimize systematic model is to make it simple for you to consistently attain outstanding investment returns every year - increasing your long-term results by a multiple of triple, quadruple, or even ten times (or more) of the performance the average investor attains. Our highest- performance strategy ("Adaptive Equity+") generates an average annual return that is 14 times the annual return attained by the average individual investor (according to data provided by Dalbar, Inc.).
Also, we don't take on more risk to get those improved results – instead, our strategies reduce risk while achieving those higher returns, reflected in their exemplary Risk-Adjusted Returns. The strategies are designed to reduce drawdowns through systematic asset/ETF rotation and with far lower risk than the market (average Sharpe ratio of 1.33 and average Sortino ratio of 2.03). Plus, we make each approach easy to understand and simple to execute, even for investors who are just getting started.
We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to build your account at a pace that far outperforms all other investment types and is capable of attaining even the loftiest wealth-accumulation goals. Please visit our ETF Investment Strategy Suite to learn more about our quantitative, ETF-based strategies.
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The ETFOptimize quantitative investment strategies have a proven track record of consistently high-performance success over long periods. Our premium model strategies have provided an average annual return of 30.53% since their inception – which is a multiple of more than quadruple (415%) the long-term annual return of the S&P 500, and more than eight times more than the index' return since 2000. The ETFOptimize strategies, collectively, have beaten the S&P 500 in 63 of 66 years (95.5%)!
The ETFOptimize strategies operate using our proprietary, quantitative financial-analysis programming that has been continuously upgraded and refined over the last 25 years, accompanied by high-speed computer servers and high-quality, point-in-time investment and economic databases. As ETFs were developed and became so incredibly popular, we've adapted our approach to embrace these instantly-diversified products.
Why not look over our strategy lineup now and see which one is the best fit for you? It's actually straightforward and affordable to put a high-performance investment strategy to work for you every week of the year. The ETFOptimize models are available by subscription starting at just $14/mo.
(We even offer a Free strategy for those who would like a long-term trial before subscribing).
Look around the Internet; we don't think you'll find a superior approach to investing – offered at such an exceptionally low cost, and making consistent, high-performance investment results affordable for even the smallest investor. You keep your money in your account and follow our clear instructions for trades, which occur only about three times per year. We provide you with weekly updates of your strategy and an analysis of the market that always tells you what's critically important.
Plus, you can subscribe without risk because each model is backed by a 60-day, 100% Moneyback Guarantee if you decide that algorithmically based strategies are not your cup of tea. Our firm, Optimized Investments, Inc., has an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau and a perfect record of satisfied customers – no complaints – since the BBB began reviewing our firm, which was founded in 1998.
Take a moment to sign up for the strategy of your choice now – while all the benefits of a quantitative approach are fresh in your mind. You can get started for less than 50-cents a day with a very low-risk, high-profit investment strategy that produces solid performance through thick and thin – in any type of market environment.
Moreover, remember that you have nothing to lose – if you change your mind anytime in the first two months – for any reason (or no reason at all) – just let us know and we'll return every penny you paid! Visit our ETF Investment Strategy Suite today and select the quantitative strategy that's perfect for you:
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