Are the results you publish audited and/or “GIPS” Compliant?
The performance verification provided by Theta is not considered an “audit” or “attestation” as those terms are defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). However, in some cases, Theta Research has relied upon historical performance numbers calculated and verified by such attestations and/or audits conducted by AICPA member firms and in accordance with AICPA guidelines. Likewise, Theta’s published performance data should not be considered as compliant with or equivalent to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS).
Can a manager send you account statements instead of the custodian?
One of the ways we are able to represent the manager performance and risk profiles as authentic is by getting statements directly from the custodian or directly from the custodian’s web platform. While we are confident that managers would never modify statement information, our commitment to our subscribers is that we publish data that has been collected and confirmed by third-party sources.
Can Theta verify historical performance?
The answer to this question is yes, assuming that Theta has access to actual historical performance data from statements or online archives made available by a third-party custodian. The account to be verified should also have been trading one model exclusively and not commingled with other investments or trading models. Theta does charge a fee to verify and reproduce historical track records.
Do you charge for your tracking services?
Yes. Each manager pays per year per strategy being tracked. For his fee, managers receive an actual track record that has been verified by an independent third party. Contact us regarding the other benefits of Theta strategy tracking.
How often do you update your information?
In order to give custodians time to process their end-of-day transactional data and get it posted and delivered, we run our main data collection and processing on daily tracked programs each morning that follows a market day. Programs that are tracked monthly are usually updated by the 10th of each month, depending on when the tracking account custodian sends a monthly statement.
What about sensitive information such as account numbers and passwords?
No sensitive or private information is ever published, distributed or sold by Theta to anyone anywhere anytime. Access to sensitive information is also restricted internally at Theta for further protection. Our computer systems are also set up in such a way as to maximize security of sensitive information. Theta’s Tracking Agreement document spells out our privacy policy and our responsibilities in handling data like this.
What are the benefits to me, the manager, of being tracked by Theta
Here are just a few benefits:
- You will have independently verified performance and risk statistics to show prospects.
- You will be permitted to bring prospects to Theta’s website where they will see only your information.
- This is a very cost-efficient way to verify your returns.
- There are more charts and statistics available from Theta than most managers develop and analyze for themselves on their own programs.
- You determine which models we track will be available for prospects to view.
- Your models’ performance will be published for the benefit of Theta’s subscribers who may be looking for an investment strategy just like yours.
Where must a manager trade to be tracked by Theta?
Managers who want to be tracked on a daily basis must trade an account at Guggenheim/Rydex or at ProFunds. Monthly tracking can be done on accounts trading at any custodian or any platform provided Theta is given web access to the account tracked or at the least is able to receive duplicate or “other-interested-party” (OIP) statements directly from the custodial firm (electronic is preferred but hard-copies by mail are accepted, too). In addition, it works best if the account to be tracked does not have frequent additions or withdrawals, which must be adjusted for when calculating performance.
Who will be able to see data on my models?
You and your prospects will have access to your data at all times. We find that managers are the first to spot any data errors and that serves as a very good vetting process for us in catching custodial errors as they arise. Additionally, Theta’s paid subscribers will have access to the data through our Subscriber website.
Why do you charge to track and report a model when other sites do it for free?
The answer to this question boils down to who does the work and what you get for your money. Unlike sites that apply trading signals to the end-of-day value of a variety of market indexes, with Theta you get actual returns posted by active management strategies as applied to the asset classes for which they were developed. Beyond that, if a manager has to furnish performance numbers or upload periodic trades to a performance database, then the manager is really working for the tracking service. At Theta, we do all of the work to obtain, verify and post performance information from third-party custodians. Finally, part of a thorough broker/dealer or RIA due diligence review usually requires verification of a manager’s track record usually from poring over statements or similar source documents. With Theta, that step has already been completed. By using Theta’s unique “Guest Pass,” a due diligence team can access an investment manager’s full track record as well as all of the analytical and statistical analysis Theta is known for.
