Membership Levels
More details on the membership levels
| Level | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| premium | $34.00 per Month. | Select |
| basic | $25.00 per Month. | Select |
| free | Free. | Select |
Frequently asked Questions
Please send me any questions you have via email in english or german.
Practical questions
If I subscribe to your newsletter, what do I actually have to do to follow your model portfolios with my own money? Is it automatic?
I am not managing your money, nor giving investment advice. You can choose to follow the detailed information in each newsletter to copy the performance of the model portfolios at your own responsibility and risk. This involves buying and selling exchange traded funds (ETF) in your own brokerage account, which works just like buying shares of stock. The exact symbols and ID numbers are listed in the newsletter, but you have to figure out how many shares to buy on your own. This depends on the amount of capital you want to invest and the price of the ETF – the newsletter specifies the percentage of capital you would invest in each ETF.
What are ETFs and how do they work?
Exchange traded funds (ETF) are a basket of stocks or other securities (e.g. bonds) mirroring an index, that can be bought or sold just like regular shares of stock in any brokerage account at any time the exchange is open. For example, an ETF based on the US S&P 500 index has the same percentage change and value as the index itself during the course of every day. You are in fact buying and owning each stock in the index simultaneously. ETF usually have lower fees and are more tax efficient and liquid than traditional mutual funds.
Current regulations prohibit Eurozone investors from buying US based ETF, but they can choose EU equivalents. Several choices are usually available and best practice is to select the cheapest, liquid ETF.
How much work is involved in following your model portfolios?
Reading the monthly newsletter (basic membership) and spending a couple of minutes to enter orders in your brokerage account should take about half an hour each month. The weekly report (premium membership) is aimed at active traders and will specify more frequent portfolio adjustments a pre-defined points (1-2 trades per week on average)
How much money do I need to follow your model portfolios?
It is possible to follow my model portfolios starting with only a few hundred dollars in a low-cost brokerage account as they hold no more than two or three different ETFs at the same time. You should always look at the transaction costs involved though – especially for non-US investors and at traditional banks basic transaction fees may apply, that make trades of less than $1000 to $2000 expensive and inefficient.
When is the perfect time to start following along with a model portfolio?
Always and never – no-one knows the immediate future, but I am convinced that steady dedication to a systematic investment strategy will pay off over the long run. You could simply copy the current portfolio any time you first subscribe or slowly add exposure to the portfolio over several months (dollar cost averaging).
Is it risky or safe to invest along side your model portfolios?
Of course it is risky. Return can only come from taking risk and anything else is an empty promise.
The only thing we can aim for is to control downside risks beyond a certain point and reduce the drawdown in the model portfolio without giving up returns.
As we only invest in broad market ETF (defensive portfolio), we can never outperform the stock market unless we are not invested in a market that falls. We simply aim to earn higher returns over the long run by losing much less in the really bad bear markets.
The ETF model portfolio is often 100% exposed to stock market risk and will gain and loose just as much as the broad market index on a daily basis.
The biggest risk for underperformance is through frequent shallow dips, that do not lead to deep bear markets, but trigger our safety exits and will erode performance over time. In the event of a sudden crash we will perform as the stock market does until our stop losses are triggered.
The Meta Strategy Aggressive ETF and Derivatives Portfolios employ leverage. They aim for higher returns and have higher levels of risk at times than pure stock market exposure. Risk control is my paramount concern.
On the other hand not investing your money in general is risky too, as inflation will slowly eat up your savings over time and you may never reach your financial goals.
Is the defensive model portfolio suitable for me to manage my retirement savings?
Please consult a financial advisor as managing your personal finances well is very personal and different for everyone – it depends on your financial and other life circumstances. The Meta Strategy defensive ETF portfolio can be seen as equivalent to the stock allocation of a typical retirement account (and I personally use the strategy in my own retirement account). It invests alongside the broad stock market the majority of the time and has safeguards in place to reduce the worst losses in comparison to stocks.
Can you just invest my money for me?
I am currently not a money manager, I only provide education and information. Should this change in the future, I can keep you up to date, if you contact me.
Meta Strategy questions
Why does the Meta Strategy use fundamental and technical indicators? Isn’t technical analysis just voodoo?
The Meta Strategy uses the fundamental state of the economy to evaluate how careful we should be at any given time and technical (= price based) indicators to time entry and exit decisions. If the economy shows signs of slowing growth, the model heeds the technical warning signals more strongly.
As technical measures the model only uses trend and volatility, which have been shown in a number of studies to be persistent over a wide range of time periods.
Technical patterns (e.g. head and shoulders or the like) and technical analysis (e.g. drawing lines on charts) I do consider in fact to be largely voodoo.