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System Performance Comparison
Bottom line comparison
With all the hype and fluff surrounding any discussion of finance or investing, people tend to get distracted from the primary reason to invest: to make money. The following table shows some of the more popular investment vehicles along with the returns from the iSigma newsletter portfolio.
| Investment Type | Value of $5000, invested Sept 2003 | Percent Change |
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| Vanguard Index 500 | $5499 | 9.98% |
| Nasdaq 100 Index | $5279 | 5.58% |
| Fidelity Magellan | $5359 | 7.17% |
| iSigma Forex | $5794 | 15.87% |
Performance data as of 9 July 2004. Figures do not include commissions, fees, taxes and related costs. Mutual fund names remain the property of their respective companies.
Bear in mind that data reported for the iSigma Forex Portfolio does not include open profits on current positions while the quoted performance for the other instruments includes profits from open positions as well as closed trades. At iSigma, we feel that it is more honest to report the profit from trades only after they are closed, even though this may result in underreported returns.
Are you satisfied?
If you are invested in one of the mutual funds listed above, this comparison may be a rude awakening for you. Wall Street fund managers earn salaries far in excess of the quality of their work. When a bad year hits, they make excuses in their glossy annual reports, printed at customer expense. At iSigma, we don't play these kinds of games. Instead, we provide our clients with clear, high quality newsletters based on strategies for generating serious returns.
Return and risk
It's only natural to look at superior returns and wonder if they are the product of taking on higher levels of risk. In fact, the riskiest investment strategy is the one with no defensive exit plan, i.e. buy and hold. Since mutual funds don't typically have any strategy in place for controlling the downside (taking losses), they are potentially one of the riskiest investment approaches one might take. In contrast, the iSigma portfolio is based on solid mechanisms for managing risk. The forex newsletter portfolio never takes on risk greater than 40% of equity. In fact, 40% is a maximum risk limit. In practice, the portfolio has never had even half this much at risk.
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