Hedgeable is an innovative portfolio management brand that makes sophisticated investing accessible to all investors.
Who is behind Hedgeable?
Hedgeable is the brainchild of two brothers who have dedicated their lives to providing great tools to investors. We are 100% independent, and not a subsidiary of a large company. We are a true American success story, entrepreneurs who are self-made, and really just want to help out. So we ask that you be patient and bear with us as we work with you to make Hedgeable the best investing site on the internet.
Does Hedgeable offer personal financial planning services, tax, or legal services?
No, Hedgeable is not a financial planner, accountant, or lawyer. If a user would like financial planning, college planning, insurance, or other related advice we recommend that they contact a Certified Financial Planner. Tax and legal advice can be gained by contacting a CPA or Board certified lawyer.
*Please remember, we did not make the site to put Financial Planners and Full Service Brokers out of business. We do not give personalized financial advice. There is no way we could do this and make most of the site free, because we would have to hire dozens of financial planning professionals. Nothing on the site constitutes financial advice, and unfortunately we will not provide any financial advice via e-mail or phone. Examples of financial advice include: questions about IRA/401k contributions, 401k security selection, retirement planning, mortgages, college savings, loans, credit cards, trusts, estates, etc.
Do I need investments to use any of the tools on Hedgeable?
No, you do not need any investments to use Hedgeable. Feel free to experiment with everything on the site. In addition to using the site as an educational resource, you can use anything we offer on the site to help you build a portfolio if you don't have one.
Does Hedgeable link up to my current account at my Discount Broker, 401k Plan Provider, Full Service Broker, etc?
No, we do not pull any of your personal information in upon signup. You must manually input it upon signup. There is technology out there that would allow us to do this, but the costs and potential security drawbacks make us very hesitant to ever do it. All discount brokers will allow you to download your account statement online. If you have a full-service broker or independent advisor simply ask them to fax or e-mail you a current holdings report.
What kind of portfolio can I monitor on the Hedgeable Portfolio Manager platform?
Any account that you can self-manage such as a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Rollover IRA, Individual, Joint, etc.
Can I track and manage multiple accounts with the same e-mail address?
Currently, we do not offer users the ability to manage more than one account under one e-mail address. We are working on building this functionality. For the time being, you are able to sign up for multiple accounts free with unique e-mail addresses.
Can I use illiquid investments or non-exchange listed securities with your service?
No, at this time we limit securities that can be tracked and managed on our platform to exchange listed/traded securities. If you have individual bonds, such as U.S. Treasuries or GNMAs, please send us a support request and we can find a similar ETF for you to substitute. We hope to add the ability to track these kinds of securities in the future.
Can International Investors use Hedgeable?
Yes, we welcome investors from all over the world. Any of Hedgeable's tools can be used by international investors. Although our database of securities includes stocks and ETFs traded on the American exchanges, we are happy to provide European, or Asian equivalents to those investors who cannot invest in American securities. There are ETF equivalents of almost everything offered in America on other exchanges throughout the world. Please e-mail us at support[at]hedgeable[dot]com with any questions.
How does Hedgeable make money?
Most of our site is free to the general public. We charge a one time fee of $39.99 to use the Portfolio Builder, and a monthly subscription fee of $19.99 to use our Dynamic Advisor technology. As you can imagine this doesn't provide us with a large amount of revenue. You might have noticed that we have ads throughout the site. We do not get paid to show these ads, nor do we make money when you click on them. We make a very small amount of revenue only if you sign up for their services after clicking on the ad. We only show ads for services that we would use, and to be honest we show them in large part because a lot of them will help you save money. We make a negligible amount of money on these ads.
Hedgeable licenses out dozens of proprietary products to Discount Brokerage Firms and Websites. We also provide White Label software for select products. In early 2010 Hedgeable will be releasing a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform for Investment Advisors and High Net Worth Investors to access dozens of our products, including the Dynamic Advisor.
If your products are so great, why are most of them free or extremely cheap?
This is a great question that we know most of you are thinking, but are afraid to ask. Because we have built Hedgeable off the principles of honesty and transparency, here is the answer.
We started Hedgeable to change the world, not to take hard earned money out of people's pockets so we can go out and buy Bentleys (although we do like Bentleys). Quite frankly, our goal from our consumer site is to make enough money to keep the electricity on in our NYC office and to pay our rent, which as you can imagine, is not cheap.
Just because we offer free tools, doesn't mean that they are watered down products. In fact, it is just the opposite; these are some of the best services you will ever see offered.
It is our goal in the future to make all products offered to the general public 100% free, and generate revenue through other means, as explained in question #10 above.
How do I get in touch with Hedgeable?
Please see our Contact Us page for more details. Please note, our company number is not a support line, rather a direct line to company management. To better service you and to ensure that we do not overlook anything, we ask that it only be used for investor, vendor, or press inquiries. We have a robust e-mail based support system.
It is simple. The sign up is free. After sign-up, you input your current portfolio and we analyze it. If you don't have a portfolio or are not happy with the results of the analysis, we help you build a new one.
Once you have received your analysis or have built your new portfolio, you are given free access to the Hedgeable Portfolio Management Platform. On the platform you can access performance & risk analytics on your portfolio, rebalancing tools, risk and performance email alerts, simulations, and much more.
If you want to receive more cutting edge guidance on your portfolio, you can subscribe to the Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor, which makes it easy to manage your portfolio like a billionaire, for only $19.99 per month.
Just 30 seconds of your time. You don't need any investing experience or knowledge.
Why am I limited to entering 15 securities upon sign-up?
We limit your portfolio to 15 securities for several reasons:
1. We monitor everything on the portfolio level, not on an individual security level. Most retail investors do not have more than 15 securities in their portfolio. If you are an RIA managing a larger portfolio, we have a separate RIA suite especially built for you. If you have more than one portfolio- i.e. 25 securities total, with 15 managed in an IRA and 10 managed in a personal account, you are able to sign up for a new account with a different email address to manage the second portfolio. This is free.
2. We have the capability to oversee dozens of securities, but we have to try to keep the site moving efficiently for all of our users. Having more than 15 securities may bog down our system because more data has to be processed. Nearly all of the calculations and data manipulation performed on the site is done on the fly. It is incredibly complicated and resource consuming. With the number of people using our site, we want to make the usability as seamless as possible.
If you have more than 15 securities in one portfolio and still want Hedgeable to provide analysis, we recommend using your largest 15 holdings.
Why should I sign up?
The sign up is free. There is no obligation to buy anything when you sign up. We built Hedgeable to be user friendly and give the user as many options as possible so there is a lot to play around with.
Once you are a member you will see that the sophistication of Hedgeable's tools cannot be matched anywhere, either on the web or off, and many of the offerings are 100% free.
How do I change my password?
You can change your password at anytime in the “Edit Account” tab located on the control panel. If you have forgotten your password and can't login, please hit the blue "Forgot Password" link on the login page.
Why should I trust Hedgeable?
Hedgeable is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) with the SEC, which means that we do not keep any secrets. We are about as transparent as any company can be. Hedgeable’s team is comprised of professionals with years of experience in the money management industry. We are completely non-partisan and not affiliated with any financial products, brokerages, or research companies.
The Portfolio Manager is the command center of the Hedgeable site. After you sign up you are given access to the platform. We provide you with this revolutionary technology platform to help you manage a portfolio which can be housed at your discount brokerage firm of choice. On the platform, you may use a customized portfolio made for you in the Hedgeable Portfolio Builder, or your current portfolio allocation of up to 15 securities. Free features of the platform include cutting edge performance & risk analytics (benchmarked against over a dozen indices), position summary, help and tutorials, simulations, live chat, news, commentary, support, and access to all of the Hedgeable tools- Portfolio Analyzer, Portfolio Rebalancer, and Portfolio SOS. For a small one time fee you can access the Portfolio Builder, to help you produce a customized portfolio. For a small monthly fee you can use the Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor with any portfolio of up to 15 stocks and/or ETFs.
What are the Hedgeable Portfolio Analyzer Reports?
The Portfolio Analyzer is a suite of free reports that provide powerful portfolio analytics, scores, and cost savings. You can access these reports once you reach the Portfolio Manager Platform.
- HPH Report™- We have pinpointed the factors which top managers look at when evaluating their portfolio and produced a score from it. This report is meant to give you a snapshot of the current health of your portfolio, similar to a credit report. It is judged on the same scale as a FICO score. This report is not a grade on the suitability of your portfolio for your needs, or a grade of its overall security makeup. Your score will increase as your portfolio becomes healthier, just as an individual's credit score will increase as they get out of debt. The score will decrease as your portfolio becomes less healthy, similar to what happens when an individual starts accumulating debt. It is very difficult to get an Excellent rating on this report, just as it is very difficult to have Prime Credit. It is also nearly impossible to retain an Excellent score on this report. At the end of the report we provide you with suggestions on how you might be able to raise your score in the future.
- eQuant™- We provide you with historical analytics on your current portfolio including risk, return, alpha, beta, R squared, drawdowns, and much more. All graphs are interactive and every term comes with a simplified definition so even the most complex finance jargon is made understandable.
- Flash Advisor™- In this report, we will take your current portfolio's allocation and analyze it against hundreds of securities to determine the security that could have provided the greatest statistical hedging benefit. This is done by analyzing recent market data and your portfolio's characteristics. Every time you run this report, we will perform this analysis. Please note, this is not a recommendation for your portfolio, it is simply a statistical tool. In this report, we also look at the fees you currently pay and will show you alternatives that can save you hundreds of dollars over a year.
What is the Hedgeable Portfolio Builder?
Tired of receiving cookie cutter allocations from your broker? We don't believe you should be placed into buckets with names like "moderate growth." The Portfolio Builder provides you with a fully customized portfolio to be used on the Portfolio Manager Platform, based on our investor profiling system and our market views. Short-term allocations (6 months to 1 Year) and long-term diversified allocations (Over 1 Year) can be built, dependent on your investing goals. These are not your standard, straight from the box allocations. They are fully customized for dozens of your investing characteristics, with hundreds of allocations possible. There is no risk or obligation to try it out. After the investor profiling process we will show you unbiased analytics on the portfolio you have built before you go onto the next step.
* Please note that any portfolio built with the Portfolio Builder does not represent advice, it is for informational purposes only. You are free to do with it what you wish. We cannot take into account all of your personal financial information with this tool. Before investing, we highly recommend that you consult with a financial advisor or personal financial planner.
How should portfolios be implemented?
It is really up to you. Some people choose to use the portfolios just to gather more information. Others choose to implement them in their account. If you implement a built portfolio in your account, it is your decision if you want to use a dollar cost average system, or if you want to purchase everything at once. We are a true do-it-yourself service. We do not get involved in personal financial decisions. We merely provide the tools.
What is the difference between a short-term and long-term portfolio?
In the builder we give you the option of building a short-term or long-term portfolio. We define short-term as encompassing 6 months - 1 Year, and long-term encompassing anything over 1 Year. It is up to you to decide which portfolio is right for you. We do not make any return promises for any of the portfolios that you build, but please be advised that the short-term portfolios may not be optimal in the long-term and the long-term portfolios may not be optimal in the short-term.
The Dynamic Advisor can be used with either a short-term or long-term portfolio.
If I build a short-term portfolio does that mean Hedgeable will tell me how to change my allocation after the 6 month - 1 Year Time period is up?
No, once you build the portfolio everything is left in your hands. The $39.99 is a one time fee, and does not include any ongoing recommendations. For optimal results we strongly suggest that you build a new portfolio every 6 months - 1 Year to make sure your holdings are up to date.
What is the Hedgeable Portfolio Rebalancer Tool?
This is a free tool that allows you to rebalance your account using Modern Portfolio Theory. One of the secrets of the investment advisory industry is that many investment advisors who subscribe to Modern Portfolio Theory are charging you that 1%-1.5% fee in large part just to do this rebalancing. It is really not that complicated, just a few calculations, so we offer it for free.
All you have to do is enter your desired rebalancing weights and the desired frequency between rebalancings. Hedgeable will send you email reminders when it is time to rebalance. When you log on to the site, you will be taken to the trade alert system, where the shares to buy and sell will be automatically calculated for you, and updated based on the latest market prices. Once you do the trades at your discount broker, you input the prices of execution (for select brokers the trade execution is integrated), and we will continue to monitor your portfolio until the next alert. Some sites on the web charge $10 a month for this service, while some Discount Brokers offer it as part of premium Advisory suites. We find Modern Portfolio Theory outdated, but a lot of folks still want to use it, which is fine with us, so we offer it FREE.
This method of rebalancing uses traditional Buy and Hold investment techniques. Hedgeable offers a proprietary rebalancing system called The Dynamic Advisor, which will instead react dynamically to changing conditions to better position your portfolio.
What is the Hedgeable Portfolio SOS?
Hedgeable gives all users FREE email SOS alerts for key metrics in the portfolio that they track on the Portfolio Manager. You may receive alerts for the Hedgeable Portfolio Health (HPH) score, performance, risk, drawdowns, and large market movements. Find out if your portfolio is sinking before it's too late!
Now that you have been alerted, are you wondering what changes to make in your portfolio? Hedgeable offers a premium service encompassing all of the above alerts into a one of a kind product called The Dynamic Advisor, which will show you the optimal trades to make.
What is The Dynamic Advisor?
The Dynamic Advisor is a one of a kind technology system, that is the future of investing. Ever lose sleep worrying about your portfolio and what tomorrow will bring? Not anymore.
The Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor is a technology system that provides simple rebalancing alerts to users of all sophistication and asset size levels via our proprietary trade alert system. Our technology dynamically monitors your portfolio and will periodically suggest a trade that you can do to alleviate losses, while keeping your portfolio growing. You receive the alert, execute the trade, and then report the details back to us (for select brokers there is integration of trade execution). Thats it!
Hedgeable built The Dynamic Advisor from scratch. It is based off a technique called Dynamic Asset Allocation. Most of you are familiar with Buy and Hold investing and Modern Portfolio Theory. With Buy and Hold investing advisors will periodically "rebalance" your portfolio back to pre-determined weights, usually quarterly. This means that they will buy things that have decreased in value, and sell things that have appreciated (buy low, sell high). This is a terrible way to invest, because it is very rigid and opens you up to very large losses.
Dynamic Rebalancing is the exact opposite of Modern Portfolio Theory. There are no pre-defined weights, instead your portfolio is allowed to react to shifting conditions. Rather then selling things that have appreciated, you will sell things that are losing money and move the proceeds to something safe until the market recovers.
Hedgeable is the first company, either offline or online, to offer this type of service to the general public. Previously these techniques have only been available to the ultra-wealthy. Now they are at your fingertips, for only $19.99 per month, and with about the same number of trades as a traditional Buy and Hold philosophy.
Why has nothing like the Dynamic Advisor been offered before?
To put it simply, nobody could figure it out. Even if they could, they probably weren't willing to share it with the general public. There are many portfolio management strategies that are marketed in the investing world. Unfortunately, most of them involve a lot of manual calculations, are geared towards large account sizes, use exotic techniques, and recommend frequent trading. This is why Modern Portfolio Theory has dominated for so long.
We probably couldn't have offered the Dynamic Advisor 10 years ago. It is a breakthrough in modern technology. We have built a system that works, is extremely sound, is accessible to investors large and small, and has minimal trading.
If I create an ETF portfolio in your Portfolio Builder tool, am I automatically signed up for The Dynamic Advisor?
No, they are separate tools. The Portfolio Builder allows you to create a portfolio for your own use. The cost is $39.99, and is a one time fee. You are free to do whatever you please with this portfolio.
Some people use it for informational purposes, others give it to their financial advisor, while many choose to track it on our platform free (performance and risk analytics, portfolio monitoring).
After purchasing a portfolio, you are given the option of using it with our Dynamic Advisor, which is a premium subscription based rebalancing service. The Dynamic Advisor costs $19.99 per month on a monthly basis, $89.99 for 6 months, and $159.99 for 1 year.
What are the minimum requirements to use the Dynamic Advisor?
All that you need is an account that you self-manage, 15 or fewer ETFs and/or S&P 500 stocks, and $5,000 to invest. Smaller amounts of money can be managed at our discretion, if you use one of the ultra-discount brokers such as Sogotrade or Zecco. The platform is tailored for users of all sophistication levels. There are detailed tutorials, FAQs, and instructions that make it easy for investors of any experience level to use it.
Why can I only use ETFs and S&P 500 stocks with the Dynamic Advisor?
We limit users of the Dynamic Advisor to S&P 500 stocks and ETFs for several reasons:
1. Large cap stocks and ETFs offer very good liquidity
2. It would be impossible to keep track of all the loads, redemption fees, and special rules for Mutual Funds that thousands of users could hold
3. We have a mass marketed product, and for quality control purposes we must make restrictions. Otherwise, it would be unfair to our users.
What is the optimal number of securities to manage with the Dynamic Advisor?
We recommend that users manage a portfolio containing fewer than 10 securities, but we will allow up to 15 securities to be managed with the Dynamic Advisor. Please note, as the number of securities in your portfolio increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage it effectively. This is why most portfolios built in the Portfolio Builder will contain between 3-9 securities, depending on your asset size and various preferences.
Do I have to use a portfolio I built in the Portfolio Builder with the Dynamic Advisor?
No, you can use any portfolio that contains S&P 500 stocks and/or ETFs. This can be a portfolio you created with our Builder tool, your current portfolio, or a new portfolio that you would like to try out. It doesn't really matter to us. Please simulate any portfolio with the Dynamic Advisor, using the various simulation tools throughout the site, before purchasing a subscription.
What is Simulation Mode?
All users of the Dynamic Advisor are started off in simulation mode. In simulation mode we allow you to simulate all trade alerts. In simulation mode we will not provide you with the exact number of shares to sell/buy. If a trade is simulated, this simply means that there will be no input needed from you, nor will you need to execute any trades with real money. We will assume all trades are executed at the most recent price. You are able to get out of simulation mode at any time, by clicking the "Switch to Live Mode" button.
What is Live Mode?
If you click that you want to "Switch to Live Mode", you will be taken to a screen where it will prompt you to either continue on with your current portfolio that you have been simulating, or start over with a new portfolio. Please note, if you select to use a new portfolio your previous account information will be wiped out. When using your current portfolio, any trades that you had previously simulated will also be erased.
In live mode, all trade alerts will be accompanied with the number of shares to buy/sell, and the system will only accept inputs (trade prices and number of shares) that you personally put in. In simulation mode this information is blanked out and the number of shares/execution prices are automatically filled in.
What happens if I don't want to do a trade on The Dynamic Advisor. Can I simulate it or skip it?
All users of the Dynamic Advisor are started off in a simulation version of the service. On the trade alert screen there is a button that allows you to switch to live mode at any time. There is no extra cost or hassle to switch to live mode, but please note that you will not be able to simulate any trades once you switch to live mode.
All users are given the ability to skip any trade that they do not want to execute once their portfolio is in live mode. Simply press the "skip alert" button located on the trade alert screen.
What kind of returns can I expect if I use The Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor?
Although we intend to help you manage a risk adjusted optimal portfolio that will perform well in all market cycles, it would be irresponsible for us to project a certain return for your portfolio. Hedgeable will show you back tested data many times throughout the site. Please be aware that past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk, and it is possible that you will lose money by using anything provided on the Hedgeable site.
What kind of investors should consider using the Dynamic Advisor?
The Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor is built for everyday Americans of any investing sophistication level. Those with the following portfolios or traits should strongly consider using it:
- Roth, Traditional, Rollover IRA Account
- Retirement Savings Account
- Have money invested for a future expenditure
- Capital Appreciation Portfolio
- Conservative or Moderate Portfolio
- High quality stock or ETF portfolio
- Speculative Portfolio, only if built for the long term
Who should not be using the Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor?
Hedgeable's Dynamic Advisor is not designed for users with the following criteria:
- Stock pickers
- Traders
- Those looking for short term profits
- Those who are unwilling to sell any of their positions
- Those with non-discretionary retirement accounts
- Those who are not willing to use a discount brokerage account
- Speculative investors not willing to compromise returns for risk management
What should I do if I don't want to sell one of my positions, for tax (capital gains on appreciation) or other personal reasons (worked at company, stock passed down etc.)
Hedgeable does not get involved in tax or financial matters. We help you manage your portfolio. If for any reason, you do not want to sell one of your positions, simply skip the alert with the security in question. If you don't want to sell any of your positions ever, this is not the right service for you.
Will I ever have to sell my entire holding of a security?
Yes, the Dynamic Advisor may suggest that you sell all of your holdings of a particular security. If you are unwilling to do this, you can skip the alert. A 100% liquidation of a security is not a permanent event. The Dynamic Advisor may re-allocate to this security in the future.
Will the Dynamic Advisor ever suggest to sell a security I own and buy a security I do not own with the proceeds?
The Dynamic Advisor only manages the securities that you originally owned in your portfolio. This means that it will periodically suggest you shift money from one of the securities to another security. In most cases this means there will never need to be a security added to your portfolio. The only exception is if your original portfolio does not contain what we would deem a high quality fixed income security. In this case, the Dynamic Advisor may at some point suggest you add a high quality fixed income security to your portfolio.
Why did the Dynamic Advisor not recommend I change anything in my portfolio up front? I am looking at my HPH Score and the eQuant, and my portfolio stinks.
The Dynamic Advisor is a technology product that works with the portfolio that you input, there are no changes that are made (except as noted above, a high quality fixed income instrument may be added during one of the trade alerts). The Dynamic Advisor does not look at your allocation and suggest immediate changes. It is a long-term product, that helps you to effectively manage this portfolio over time. We will be releasing a product that will give instantaneous suggestions in the future.
What happens when I switch to "live mode?"
If you have not yet simulated any trades (i.e. it is your first trade alert) you are given the option of executing your first trade live, or starting over with a new portfolio live. If you have already simulated a trade alert, you will be taken to the portfolio creation screen, where you can input your current portfolio details again or create a new portfolio. We do this because once trades have been simulated the portfolio that you actually hold will not be the same as the one we are storing. To make them the same, we require that the portfolio is re-entered.
With The Dynamic Advisor, how often will I get an e-mail from Hedgeable?
There is no set interval of time when you will receive an e-mail from us. It really depends on the makeup of your portfolio (less risky portfolios will generally receive less alerts), how your individual portfolio is doing, and the markets. We will generally send all e-mails out early in the morning (EST). Therefore, we advise that you check your e-mail once a day for e-mails from us.
I am using The Dynamic Advisor, but I have not been receiving e-mails from Hedgeable, what am I doing wrong?
Please go to the “Edit Account” tab located on the control panel and check to make sure we have the correct e-mail address on file. If it is incorrect, please update it accordingly. If it is correct, please check the spam folder of your e-mail. If this is not the error, please contact us using the form under the “Account Support” tab for technical assistance.
Many times on the site I see line graphs comparing the "Dynamic Advisor" to the "Buy and Hold." How do I interpret them?
Anytime we show a graph or we allow you to run a simulation we will compare how the Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor stacks up to a Buy and Hold philosophy. When we do this, the two lines represent the same exact portfolio. The only difference is how they are managed.
The line labeled "Dynamic Advisor" uses the dynamic rebalancing system offered on our portfolio management platform. The line labeled "Buy and Hold" is the same portfolio bought and then rebalanced quarterly back to the starting weights.
How do I access a new Dynamic Advisor trade alert?
If you are a Dynamic Advisor subscriber, Hedgeable will send you a new trade alert e-mail with a link to the login screen. When you confirm your login credentials you will be taken to the trade alert. You can also get to the trade alerts screen by clicking on the “New Alerts” tab under the "Dynamic Advisor" header on the control panel.
I have been doing a lot of trades, is this normal?
If you are a Dynamic Advisor subscriber, the number of trade alerts you receive will vary depending on your individual holdings, the current market volatility, etc. Please note that it is impossible to give an absolute number of trades to expect going forward because Hedgeable's system is dynamic. Please note that trading costs are factored into all trade alerts; we make every attempt to limit trading, because they can diminish returns over time.
I have not done any trades yet. How do I know the Dynamic Advisor is even looking at my portfolio?
Don't worry, it can be quite a while before you receive any trade alerts (or you could get one within a few weeks, it really depends). Generally, if your portfolio is doing well, you won't receive many alerts. Also, please keep in mind, this is a long-term product that is not meant to provide daily trading.
Why do I have a “cash” amount listed on my account holdings? I have not been asked to trade cash on the trade alerts.
Hedgeable has factored in a cash buffer into your account for all trading. There is no need to buy and sell cash like a traditional security, because it is “swept” at your discount brokerage firm every day into a vehicle that earns you interest. It is immediately accessible. For example, if you have $10,000 in cash, you can instantly purchase $10,000 worth of securities. There is no need to sell the cash first. A sweep cash vehicle differs from a money market, which is an actual fund where the cash is held. In this case the fund would have to be sold first. Hedgeable does not recommend the use of money market funds.
I have signed up for the Dynamic Advisor. Why am I no longer able to access my SOS Alerts and the HPH Score?
The Dynamic Advisor eliminates the need to receive these reports. It will e-mail you when there is a need to make a change in your portfolio, and it concurrently keeps an eye on your portfolio's health.
If I am advised to do a trade by the Dynamic Advisor, does that mean all other users will be as well?
No, we manage every portfolio separately. We do not group users together. There is no correlation between two users who receive trade alerts. In fact, users can hold the same exact securities and get totally different alerts on different days. This is the power of Hedgeable.
How do I change my subscription plan?
Hedgeable offers monthly subscriptions and bi-yearly/yearly options at a considerable discount. If you are currently on a month to month subscription plan you can upgrade to a bi-yearly or yearly plan at any time. Your new subscription will begin immediately. If you are on a bi-yearly or yearly plan and would like to downgrade to a month to month plan, your account will begin auto-renewing on a monthly basis immediately.
How do I update my credit card information?
You can change your credit card information at anytime in the “Edit Account” tab located on the control panel. Hedgeable takes all major credit cards and uses a secure encrypted service for payment.
What kind of credit cards are acceptable as payment?
Hedgeable accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.
Hedgeable's Dynamic Advisor technology must be using some kind of market timing right?
Absolutely not. We don't believe in market timing; it has been proven not to work. Our Dynamic Advisor system uses a proprietary process that merely suggests times where an investor should shift some money amongst one or more securities in their portfolio. Instead of this happening on a pre-determined basis (commonly known as quarterly or yearly rebalancing), as with a Buy and Hold strategy, these trades are suggested dynamically, as markets and a portfolio moves. Therefore, there could be years where an investor can do no trades.
Market timing techniques use forward looking predictions about the directionality of a market. Hedgeable makes no predictions about the market, because there is not one person in the world who can do this 100% of the time.
My Dynamic Advisor portfolio is underperforming the benchmark, is Hedgeable not working for me correctly?
We can not guarantee that your portfolio will outperform any benchmark over any period of time. The Dynamic Advisor has been built for you to attempt to control risk and protect from large losses, while attempting to realize market upside. It is important that you take into account your portfolio’s risk along with its performance. Hedgeable provides complex risk analytics for you on the "Risk" tab located under the “Analytics” heading of the control panel.
Can I cancel my subscription to The Dynamic Advisor after I sign up?
You can cancel your subscription at anytime in the “Edit Account” tab located on the control panel. You will be prompted to confirm your cancellation. Upon confirmation you will get an e-mail receipt. Once your account is cancelled you will not be charged beginning on the next billing cycle. You will have access to your account up until midnight on the day your current subscription expires.
If I cancel the Dynamic Advisor service, can I still access my account and the site?
If you cancel, you can re-start your paid subscription to the service at any time in the future. Cancellation does not equal deletion. If you would like to immediately stop use of the service and have your account and log-in information deleted permanently please contact our support team by using the form located in the “Account Support” tab of the control panel.
Does Hedgeable offer refunds for any products or services?
Due to the nature of the services we provide, we do not offer refunds of any kind for any charges that are incurred by users. If you believe that you have wrongfully been billed, we will be happy to correct the error.
Why does Hedgeable not offer refunds?
We are providing financial products, which makes it impossible to offer refunds. Unfortunately, everything in finance is subjective. Users may have a 10% return using one of our products, but want a refund because they expected a 12% return. Customer service is our top priority, and as we note many times, we aren't out to make a ton of money from the general public. We are transparent about everything we offer. We strongly advise that you read everything on the site before paying for anything. We are happy to answer any questions or correct any errors.
What types of financial instruments does Hedgeable use in its Portfolio Builder?
We use Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) exclusively. To find out more about the rationale behind this please see the Education section. Please note that unlike most advisers and brokers, we do not get paid one penny in commissions for using certain funds.
Why does Hedgeable not build portfolios with mutual funds?
Hedgeable believes mutual funds are dinosaurs, which will shortly be taken over by ETFs in popularity. They are restrictive because many have lockup periods, charge redemption fees, and have high expenses. This discourages investors who are in mutual funds from selling them. This ties your hands as a retail investor, because it is necessary for you to remain flexible at all times.
What is the risk of using Hedgeable?
Please be advised that there is considerable risk when investing and when using any of the Hedgeable tools. Hedgeable should not take the place of your financial planner. There is no guarantee that your performance and risk levels will match your personal goals. If you are unsure that you can take the risks of investing or using something on the Hedgeable site, please consult a financial professional or educational resource before you begin.
Does Hedgeable use the inverse or levered ETFs that I keep hearing about in the news in the portfolios they build?
Hedgeable does not use these funds currently in our Portfolio Builder. However, in the future we may use inverse and/or levered ETFs for select clients who meet our sophistication and investing experience guidelines. Using these ETFs as part of an investment strategy can greatly reduce risk in a portfolio, but they are not for everyone, due to their inherently larger risks. FINRA recently advised all firms about the risks of using levered or inverse ETFs for their clients. This has caused many brokers to take these ETFs off their platforms. At Hedgeable we take this advice very seriously. We continually will monitor the situation, to weigh the risks versus the potential rewards for the sophisticated investors who use our site.
How does Hedgeable do it? There has to be some catch?
The Portfolio Analyzer and Portfolio Builder are proprietary tools that we built from the ground up. We have a top of the line investment process combined with top of the line technology that we have been developing for years. Nothing you see on the site has been recycled at all.
The exact process of our Dynamic Advisor is a closely guarded secret. We can assure you that we are not doing anything devious, using any tricks, or data manipulation. We have designed our own dynamic asset allocation system from the ground up. Nothing like it exists anywhere in the world.
I would like to change a security that I hold in my portfolio or add/subtract cash. How do I edit this?
If you are not subscribed to the Dynamic Advisor you are able to change the number of shares of securities that you hold in your portfolio on the "Edit Portfolio" tab. If you are changing the security makeup of your portfolio or adding/subtracting cash please use the Support Tab to send us a support request and we can update your portfolio accordingly. We are working on automating this process, please bear with us.
If you subscribe to The Dynamic Advisor, any time you have made a change or would like to make a change, please let us know. Simply fill out the form called "Add/Subtract Securities and Cash" on the "Edit Portfolio" tab, and a member of the Hedgeable investment team will get back to you within 24 hours. We are working on automating this process. Please bear with us, it is quite complicated.
I have switched brokers, does this matter to Hedgeable?
Yes. Please go to the “Edit Portfolio” tab, which can be found on the control panel under the My Account heading, and update your brokerage information where prompted.
How can I access realized gains/unrealized gains and other relevant tax information?
This information can usually be found on the account management screen of your discount brokerage account. Please see their help section for more details on the exact placement of this information. Hedgeable does not market itself as providing any tax advice. If you are unsure of the tax consequences of any trading please consult with your accountant.
How much does it cost to execute trades?
Please see your discount broker’s most recent pricing schedule for details on exact rates and fees. To keep trading to a minimum we have assumed that every user is paying the highest rate offered by a particular brokerage. If you are receiving a special promotion or $0 trades, please contact us and we will update your account information accordingly.
How do I execute a trade?
It will vary from broker to broker. We have provided step by step trade instructions from five of the top brokerage firms- E*Trade, TD Ameritrade, Schwab, Scottrade, and Options Xpress- which can be found on the “Help and Tutorials” tab located on the control panel.
How does the TD Ameritrade integration work?
For TD Ameritrade account holders we have integrated technology into our platform that allows you to execute trades at a click of a button. Once you receive a trade alert from Hedgeable, you will be able to log into your TD Ameritrade Account from the trade alert screen. The trades will be displayed on this screen; once you confirm that you want to do these trades, press the "Execute" button. Once the trades are executed, you will see the confirmation on the page. Simply click the submit button to confirm the trades and they will be entered into the Hedgeable database. Hedgeable does not have a partnership with TD Ameritrade. This is simply a technology integration that allows our users to execute trades from our website.
How do I locate the trading details on my discount brokerage account after execution?
It will vary from broker to broker. We have provided step by step trade instructions from five of the top brokerage firms- E*Trade, TD Ameritrade, Schwab, Scottrade, and Options Xpress- which can be found on the “Help and Tutorials” tab located on the control panel. You will need to enter the price of execution and the number of shares into the Hedgeable system. If you have any additional questions on where to find this information please refer to the help section on your discount brokerage account.
Why can I only see the Sell trade and not the subsequent Buy on the Trade Alert Screen?
We require that you execute a Sell trade before you are given access to the details of the Buy on the Trade Alert Screen. We do this because you must have sufficient funds in your account before you can purchase any securities. We know that you have executed a trade(s) when you input and submit the price(s) of execution in the appropriate boxes of the alert screen. Please reference the directions on the "New Alerts" screen for more details.
Why do I not see securities bought or sold on my discount brokerage statement but they are reflected at Hedgeable?
Exchange Traded Funds and Stocks require 3 days from the date of trade to settle. This means that cash (for a sell) and securities (for a buy) are not officially transferred until this third day. Hedgeable reflects these trades immediately, on trade date. This is accurate for reporting purposes and will not affect any metrics or analytics.
How does Hedgeable perform the simulations on the site?
Throughout the site we allow users to simulate the Dynamic Advisor. These simulations use the exact same algorithm that is available to members of the site. We have not manipulated any data. It is completely blind. We have not faked any results, everything is calculated on the fly when you press the "submit" button. In the simulations, we assume that any time the Dynamic Advisor suggests a trade, it is executed based on that day's closing price. Please note, that your personal performance could vary from this simulation, depending on when trades would have been executed. We provide these simulations so everything we offer is transparent. We don't know of any other companies that would ever do this.
Any historical performance that we calculate, such as in the Risk/Performance Analytics or the eQuant is calculated using public data feeds. These calculations are also done on the fly, and are done completely blind, with no data manipulation.
Why am I limited to only 5 Years of data for any testing that I do on the site?
We have the capability to allow users to go back until the 1950s to run reports, but we limit it to 5 years for several reasons- 1. We do all calculations on the fly. Computing more than 5 years of data would be time consuming and take up a lot of resources. 2. All flash charting we do on the fly. Showing more than 5 years of data points would be slow and messy. 3. Frankly, data that is more than 5 years old is not that relevant.
When I run a report or a simulation it often spits out a beginning date that is different than what I selected. Why?
All analytics on the site will begin either on the first date that you have selected to run the report (some reports and simulations will not allow you to change the start date), or the first date that there is public data available for all of the securities in your portfolio.
For example, let's say you select a start date of January 1, 2005 to run your report, and your portfolio is made up of 100 shares of SPY and 100 shares of USO. SPY started trading in 1993, but USO started trading on April 12, 2006. Therefore, your report will begin on April 12, 2006, not January 1, 2005 as you selected.
Why do the analytics on my portfolio not match my discount brokerage statement or third party reporting I receive?
We have gone to great lengths to make our reporting process as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, it is hard to guarantee 100% accuracy. To prevent significant differences, please ensure that the details of your account that you entered upon sign-up are as accurate as possible, and any trades details you input are accurate. You can see the details of all trade details under the “Historical Alerts” tab of the control panel (only available to those who have received trade alerts). If you find an error with any of the details on this page please fill out an inquiry on the account support tab with the details.
Small differences in performance and holdings details can be explained by differences in methodology of calculating certain statistics or differences in rounding. If you have any questions about how we calculate any statistics please contact us and we will be happy to give you a detailed explanation.
Will Hedgeable provide me with analytics on my personal account, for time periods that begin before I signed up for the site?
No, we will not do this. As noted above in Service Basics, we do not link into your account, so there is no way for us to know any of your account activity before signing up for our service. Our personal reporting begins the second that you enter your portfolio. Think of us like a mutual fund. When you invest in a mutual fund, your performance begins that day; the fund's prior performance is of no consequence, and will not change your personal returns.
Any historical performance we give on the site is 100% based on analyzing the securities in the portfolio you have entered, not on your personal account. We have not taken into account any cost basis, multiple purchasing dates for securities, etc. So, we may show a 5% historical return for a portfolio, when in fact you have a 10% historical return. This is not an error.
How do I accurately measure my portfolio’s risk versus return characteristics?
Hedgeable provides you with detailed analytics on the risk versus return profile of your portfolio. Sharpe Ratio, Beta, Alpha, and Drawdowns are all good measures of this tradeoff. We cannot say one is a better indicator than the other. If you have any questions about how to interpret any of these numbers please hover over the blue question mark located next to them in the risk and historical data tabs. Or you can contact our financial support professionals at any time with questions, by filling out the form located on the “Account Support” tab.
What’s the difference between “gross” and “net” performance?
Performance metrics given on a "gross" basis do not factor in trading costs, while "net" metrics do. The performance and risk charts provided on the Hedgeable Dynamic Advisor are on a "net" of trading costs basis. This means that we have factored in execution costs of the trades, but not the subscription costs, since those costs don't get withdrawn from your brokerage account. All historical data on the site is shown on a net basis as well, with a $10 trading cost assumed. Please note that we are aware of the trading costs paid by each of our users, and they greatly affect the frequency of trading (for those using the Dynamic Advisor). We try to keep trading costs to a minimum.
I can't find downloadable materials with in depth information about the internal workings of the Dynamic Advisor?
Unfortunately, the information we provide on the site is all we are able to give. We have a considerable amount of intellectual property that we need to protect. If we tell people exactly how we do everything, then it is no longer proprietary. We feel that we are very generous with the information we provide on the site, including offering live simulations of the system. We have never found another company that would do this.
We pride ourselves on our transparency. Believe us, we are not trying to hide anything. So, if you really need a lot more information on how the Dynamic Advisor makes its decisions...then it is not the right product for you. We make it $20 a month so a lot of people are able to use it, because we believe that strongly in its transformative capabilities.
I am on your site and nothing works! The charts don't show up. The security dropdown doesn't work. What is going on?
Here are a few reasons why you may be having these problems:
• Do you have javascript enabled on your browser? Our site uses a lot of javascript, and most pages will not work properly without it.
• Do you have the newest flash player installed on your browser? All of our charting requires flash.
• Are you using a really old version of Internet Explorer? Coming from the financial community, we understand that many banks and financial services companies will use older versions of Internet Explorer for security reasons. Many times, even on newer browsers, companies will disable certain features and settings.
Our site is optimized for Internet Explorer 7 & 8, all versions of Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. The site will not function properly in IE 5.5, and may have a few minor usability/design issues in IE 6.
If your question is not answered above, please feel free to contact us at support[at]hedgeable[dot]com
