Theta News

We’ve Moved, Site Update, Price Increase

2023-06-06T15:32:00+00:00

It has been a few months since we sent an update to our subscribers, and since that time we have been busy! It was great to see many of you at the NAAIM conference in May. For those who stopped by our booth, you got a sneak peek of the Manager Site rewrite. I’m almost done with it and will give you a heads up when we roll it out.

As I’ve mentioned before, please note that our address has changed. We are still in Austin, Texas, just a few miles up the road from our old location. I’m sure you know that whether the move is 3 miles or 300 miles, the packing, loading, unloading and setup are the same.

Here’s our new address. If you have statements sent to us, please update the custodian’s records.

Theta Research, LLC
9433 Bee Cave Road
Suite 3-201
Austin TX 78733

Mike Posey Retiring

I’ve been slow in getting this news out, although I’ve spoken with many of you already about Mike’s retirement. Mike and I have worked together for nearly 25 years and the last 12 have been about Theta Research. I can remember him coming to me with the idea of taking over Theta years ago and since then we’ve had quite the ride. We wish Mike well as he has the chance now to spend more time with grandkids!

Price Increase

We have always worked to keep our verification service very affordable. Our tracking price has been the same since we began operations in 2012, but it’s time for a price adjustment.

Beginning July 1^st, the annual tracking fee will be $250 per year. New models will be subject to a $50 set up charge, and past performance input billed at $125/hour.

As always, we appreciate your continued business!

Henry

NAAIM 2023 Active Investing Strategy Competition

2023-03-02T20:44:00+00:00

NAAIM Issues a Call for 2019 Active Investing Strategy Competitors

The National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) has issued a renewed call for competitors for its Active Investing Strategy Competition (AISC). Since 2013, this unique challenge has allowed investment managers to gain exposure to new ideas employing active management strategies, possibly leading to new business relationships.

Investment Managers wishing to participate are requested to submit a written application to the Competition Committee for consideration. Finalists will present their strategies at the NAAIM Uncommon Knowledge Conference in Scottsdale, AZ on May 7, 2023.

For Investment Managers who employ active strategies, competing in NAAIM’s AISC provides exposure to a room full of Advisors, many of whom are seeking viable sub-advisory relationships. It’s an opportunity to describe your investment approach to the markets in your own words and answer questions posed by a panel of seasoned professionals.

The opportunity to present your active strategy to other Advisors representing literally billions of dollars of client assets doesn’t come around every day. The NAAIM competition could provide the exposure necessary to take your business to the next level. The winning Investment Manager will also be awarded the following 2023 Grand Prize Package:

Live Distribution and Promotion on TAMP Offering
Promotion to NAAIM Membership
$5,000 Cash Prize

To learn more about the Competition and how to apply to compete in this year’s contest, visit the Competition Information Page on the NAAIM website.

Apply Online: 2023 Competition Application

2023 Competition Rules

We hope to see you at the upcoming NAAIM Conference!

We’re moving!

2023-01-27T21:49:00+00:00

Theta's servers will be offline on Friday, February 17 so we can move to our new offices in Austin. Please use our new address:

9433 Bee Cave Rd
Bldg III Suite 201
Austin TX 78733

Our phone number remains the same.

Manager Survey – Results Are In!

2022-09-28T20:51:00+00:00

Last month we sent a short survey to the managers listing programs on the Theta Research site and the results are in. Our big goal was to learn which performance metrics were important to them, and how we can improve the reporting on our site. The feedback has been invaluable!

Overall, our managers are happy with our service and use terms like “reliable,” “high quality” and “good value for the money” to describe us. The performance and risk statistics shown now seem to be the most important to them, although adding additional statistics, such as Sharpe and Sortino ratios, would be desirable.

They particularly expressed that the site needs a facelift and the ability to better view the manager pages on a mobile device. Selectable start and end dates for statistics also made the update list, as did default benchmarks and a fact sheet option.

We have plans to begin these updates this month and start the rollout in October. If you have any other suggestions, email Henry at henry@thetaresearch.com.

You can view the full set of survey results here.

Visit the Theta Research Table at Uncommon Knowledge 2022

2022-04-08T15:20:00+00:00

After a two-year hiatus, the Uncommon Knowledge® National Conference, sponsored by the National Association of Active Investment Managers, will be back and Theta Research will be there! The conference will be held April 24-27 at the Westin Tampa Waterside in Tampa, FL.

Uncommon Knowledge® is the nation’s preeminent conference for the Active Investment Manager. With a wide variety of speakers and panelists, plus plenty of networking opportunities, it’s no wonder that this conference has been around for over 30 years. You won’t want to miss these 3-4 days packed with information on trading techniques, risk management and investment management strategies, not to mention the latest in technology and marketing tips to run your practice.

Stop by the Theta Research table on Tuesday, April 26, to say hello to Henry Rohlfs, Theta’s tech director. If you haven’t already, get the details on the conference agenda and register today.

NAAIM Issues Renewed Call for “Shark Tank” Competitors

2021-05-19T20:01:00+00:00

Stress Test Your Investment Strategy and Attract New Distribution!

The National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM) has extended the deadline for investment managers to participate in the 2021 Active Investing Strategy (AIS) Competition, formerly known as the NAAIM “Shark Tank.” Since 2013, this unique challenge has allowed NAAIM Members to gain exposure to new ideas employing active management strategies, possibly leading to new business relationships.

Investment managers wishing to participate in this virtual event are requested to submit a written application and present their strategy to the committee in the preliminary contest through June 4. Selected finalists will present their strategies in a virtual event on June 23 and 24, 2021. NAAIM AIS Competition preliminaries have been broadened to accept applications from members as well as non- members. Finalists will be required to become NAAIM members.

For Investment Managers who employ active strategies, competing in NAAIM’s AIS Competition provides exposure to a room full of Advisors, many of which are seeking viable sub-advisory relationships. It is an opportunity to describe your investment approach to the markets in your own words and answer questions posed by a panel of seasoned professionals.

The opportunity to present your active strategy to other Advisors representing literally billions of dollars of client assets doesn’t come around every day. The NAAIM AIS Competition could provide the exposure necessary to take your business to the next level.

To learn more about the NAAIM organization and rules of the AIS Competition, check out the AIS Competition page on the NAAIM website.

All the best,

Mike

Important News from Theta Research

2020-02-13T17:40:00+00:00

The Theta website will be offline during the morning of February 14, 2020 due to Theta’s move to a new address within the same building. This outage will affect not only the Theta home page, but also access for our investment managers and subscribers.

Our systems consultants will be on-site installing a new Internet connection that will be twice the speed of our current configuration, so look for response times to be even better in the future.

The move will not affect any of Theta’s contact information other than to change suite numbers from 200 to 100, as follows:

Theta Research

11719 FM 2244, Suite 100

Austin, TX 78738

(512) 628-5201

www.thetaresearch.com

Theta Announces the Tracking of More Active Strategies

2018-05-18T16:59:00+00:00

In this issue of Theta News, I want to announce the addition of two new strategies to the Theta database. One model is from a new Investment Manager and the other is from one of our existing model developers. Our newest Investment Manager is Ben Reppond of Reppond Investments, Inc. in Bigfork, Montana. Ben has established a tracking account for his Diversified Conservative Strategy. Theta Research has independently reconstructed this strategy’s actual performance back to its inception date of February 1, 2018. Existing Manager, David B Daughtrey, owner and portfolio manager of Copperwynd Financial, LLC, has submitted another model for tracking. The newest program is called the 10-Stock Momentum Strategy and is the sixth model being tracked for Copperwynd. Theta Research has independently verified the actual track record of this strategy back to its inception date of April 1, 2017. All the best, Mike Mike Posey Marketing Director Theta Research, LLC (512) 826-5553 mike@thetaresearch.com

Theta Research Adds More Tactical Strategies

2018-04-20T19:38:00+00:00

Theta is pleased to announce nine new strategies that have been added to our list of tracked models. What’s unique about these additional models is that they were all developed by existing managers on Theta Research. In the past, I have discussed the importance of investment managers developing multiple models. The recent volatility in the stock market has made a lot of investors nervous, so I think it would be beneficial to revisit the importance of managers developing multiple strategies in today’s Theta News. The development of active investment management strategies is no small feat. Investment Managers who develop quantitative formulas and trading systems must not only have a keen sense of the interrelationships inherent in the markets, but also must be students of investor behavior, especially during periods of extreme highs and lows in the markets. Most of all, however, active managers must have an abiding belief in the ability to maximize gains and/or minimize losses over and above what is available in a passive, buy-and-hold portfolio. Theta Research is built upon the idea that risk management is an attainable goal as evidenced by the actual performance of real-time trading accounts tracked in the Theta database. Since there is no single “Holy Grail” tactical investment strategy out there, most active managers build multiple systems designed to address one or more facet of the market. These typically include such factors as trading a specific asset class or sector, moving to cash in down markets, or even long/short strategies based on one of the major stock market indices, etc. These systems also often include complex algorithms that incorporate trend following, rotational, mean reversion, momentum, technical analysis and a myriad of other techniques. In some cases, Managers combine their strategies with others of their own, or even of other Investment Managers to illustrate a composite portfolio. In this way, Managers can leverage their own knowledge and expertise with that of other sophisticated professionals. Theta Research makes it easy to illustrate such a composite portfolio as part of our Professional Subscription. See the Subscriptions tab on the Theta home page for more information about this subscription feature. The bottom line is that Investment Managers with multiple strategies are an important resource, allowing for additional diversification in client portfolios. Now, let’s explore some of the new strategies that have most recently been added by four of our existing Theta Investment Managers: Paul Glance, PhD, and son, Brian, of Glance Financial Advisors in Troy, MI announce the replacement of their Glance USO strategy with Glance XXX. This new strategy trades stocks, futures and options as directed by proprietary quantitative computer signals developed by Glance Financial. Theta Research has independently verified the track record of this trading model back to its inception date of January 1, 2018. Another existing Manager, Robert F. (Bob) Thompson of Bay Capital Securities has established a tracking account for his Silk Purse Strategy. This is an aggressive model that trades high-volatility equities long and short using leverage. Theta has documented and verified the actual performance of the Silk Purse strategy back to its inception date of December 01, 2017. Also adding a new strategy is Bruce DeLaurentis, owner and portfolio manager of Kensington Analytics in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The new program is called the Convertible Income Strategy and is based on a quantitative, trend-following model that seeks to take advantage of the merger of equity and bond characteristics found in convertible bonds. Theta Research has independently verified the actual performance of this strategy back to its inception date of January 1, 2015. And last but not least, existing Investment Managers, Steve Rumsey and Paul Hewitt of Optimus Advisory Group in Irvine, CA announce the addition of six strategies for tracking purposes. While new to Theta Research, these strategies all have at least two years of actual trading history, which Theta has independently verified back to their respective inception dates. The Optimus strategy names and inception dates of each model are as follows: Bond Rotation March 01, 2014 Dynamic Equity January 01, 2016 Equity Rotation January 01, 2016 Global Advantage April 01, 2012 Global Long/Short August 01, 2013 Hedged Equity January 01, 2016 When we asked Steve why he was taking the step to have so many of his existing strategies tracked by Theta Research, he replied: “Due diligence professionals are increasingly requesting actual performance that has been third-party verified. Theta Research fills this need in a way that we find to be integral with our future success.” We, too are hearing more and more about investment managers being asked for performance that has been third-party verified. Don’t wait for a due diligence team to ask you for verified performance. Call or e-mail Theta Research today to get the ball rolling on tracking and verifying your actual investment returns.

Theta Announces More Website Enhancements

2018-03-12T17:24:00+00:00

I recently announced major Theta website enhancements in an issue of Theta News. Never ones to be idle, our IT team has continued to work on even more enhancements, a few of which I am pleased to share with you today. As you review these most recent enhancements, notice that they include improvements to both the Subscription and Manager websites, thus making it easier to not only find and compare active investment strategies on the database, but also to manage your own strategies if you are among our tracked models. Here are our most recent improvements: * On both the subscriber and manager sites, we have upgraded our benchmark for the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index to the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX). This replaces the iShares Bond ETF (AGG) benchmark which can drift significantly. We’re also proud to announce that this change was the result of direct input from one of our tracked Investment Managers. * Another manager requested modification was to use the S&P 500 Total Return Index rather than the price index on both the Subscription and Manager websites. * And yet another subscriber-requested improvement is to offer a 50/50 Equity/Bond benchmark in addition to the existing 60/40 allocation. * Switching over to the Manager side, we have enhanced the use of our unique Guest Pass feature by allowing Managers to enter a date range to review. Just as a reminder, here are all of the other recently announced enhancements to the Theta Research Subscriber Site: • Complete Site Face Lift – Font sizes have been increased and color schemes standardized, making data and analytics easier to read; • Enhanced Report Formats – Page layouts are now simple, clean and efficient; • Faster Page Loading – Data retrieval and metric calculation speed have been dramatically increased, especially for models with long track records; • Standardized Performance Rankings – All rankings are now based on month-end values; • Daily Performance Still Available – For those strategies tracked on a daily basis, detailed statistics and analytics are still available on the individual program pages; • Easy to Navigate Model Statistics – Tabbed pages make it easier to find performance and risk statistics for all models; • Mobile Device Friendly – Now you can check in with your favorite Investment Managers and run ranking reports using your smart phone or other mobile device; and • Expanded Analytics – Added benchmarks and statistical analytics are available to aid in evaluation and comparison of model. We here at Theta Research are excited about our new, streamlined websites. The bottom line is if you are not taking advantage of Theta’s subscription services, you’re really missing out. If nothing else, the recent market volatility should convince you of the need for strategies with the flexibility to move in and out of the markets. To learn more, check out our Subscription Page describing both our Professional and Basic subscriptions options. The bottom line is that you can have access to some of the most well-known active managers in the industry all for a cost as little as $195. So, what are you waiting for? The next market correction could be a real bear! As always, should you have any questions about Theta’s enhanced subscriptions or suggestions for future enhancements, feel free to contact me at (512) 628-5201, Option #1 or by e-mail at mike@thetaresearch.com.