AN
INTRODUCTION
The Ubique Fund has been designed to offer flexibility and robustness by actively developing, refining and researching different investment and trading strategies across a myriad of different markets. The name Ubique, meaning everywhere, harks to the fact that the investments contained within it could be from anywhere. Why limit our investing options if better opportunities present themselves in areas we aren’t currently exploring.
As a by-product, it means that as certain investment strategies lose their potency due to changing market conditions, the portfolio has the ability to move into more advantageous ones. This, combined with the spreading of risk by diversifying market exposure to multiple strategies at once aims to give Ubique a foot up on other traditional buy-and-hold portfolio’s.
One common theme throughout all of the trading strategies which make up Ubique is their systematic, quantitative approach. To be considered eligible to be part of the portfolio, we believe there can be no discretionary elements to a strategy. Why? For a number of reasons. Firstly, you cannot systematically test discretionary investing as there are no hard rules which dictate your actions. Secondly, discretionary trading requires a human, and humans pose a major issue when investing. They are emotional creatures, are easily influenced by opinions and emotions, and are rarely running at 100%. As such, we prefer a mechanised approach, which is testable, repeatable, and results observable. In other words, we are turning the art of investing into the science of investing. It also allows us to quantify its expected efficiency, giving us fair warning if the approach is no longer profitable in the current climate.
The other common theme throughout the portfolio is the cyclical nature of our investment strategies. Markets over the long-term have shown to be cyclical in nature and it is much more productive to go with the tide than trying to fight it. As such, we look to take advantage of markets when they are in bullish conditions and go on the defensive when they are bearish.
We have taken a 300 year old observable market phenomenon, that of a bearish tendency in the markets between May and October, and a bullish one between November and April, and use this as our anchor point to determine which direction the tide is flowing, and thus where to point the bow of our ship. As you will see, this approach has not only outperformed every major index over the last decade, but the units of risk taken to achieve this in many instances are the same or lower than simply buying and holding the market.
For reference, all figures quoted are independently generated by Portfolio Visualiser. Visit for more information.
DOWNLOAD
PROSPECTUS
BY THE
NUMBERS
EQUITY
GROWTH
Starting Balance $100,000.00
MONTH ON
MONTH
YEAR ON
YEAR
INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The portfolio which makes up the Ubique Fund is broken into three distinct, yet complimentary strategies. This diversification is just one of the way we are able to lower our expected risk, and try to keep the equity curve as smooth as possible. Below you can click through to an indepth look at how each strategy works and how it performs in isolation.
PORTFOLIO
ALLOCATION
RISK VS RETURN
* US stock market is used as the benchmark for calculations. Value-at-Risk metrics are based on monthly valudes
TRAILING
RETURNS
Trailing returns are for full months ending August 2020 excluding portfolio cash-flows
ROLLING
RETURNS
Result statistics are based on annualised rolling returns over full calendar year periods
COMPARE AND
CONTRAST
The Ubique Portfolio was designed to go up against the main index's, and traditional semi passive investment strategies. This is due to the fact that it only holds the Market, Bonds, Gold, and Cash. It has two main aims when comparing to them. Firstly for the Return on Investment, and specifically the Annual Compounded Growth Rate (ACGR) to be higher than then index. Secondly, that the maximum drawdown should be lower than an all out buy-and-hold strategy of the index for the same unit of risk taken. As part of our research, the button below will take you to a full breakdown of the 60/40 portfolio for reference
Another investment class worth considering when comparing Ubique is property. This has traditionally been seen as a solid performer over a long-term horizon, especially in sought after locations like London etc. or so we're told...
In 1995, the average detached properpty in London sold for £257,748, whereas that same property today would sell for £1,447.470 (click here for source). That is an increase of 462% which in isolation is very impressive. However, when that is broken down to see what its compounded annual growth rate is, it reveals a different story. Over 25 years, that investment would have only grown by 7.15% a year to deliver those numbers. That is 300% lower than Ubique and is a less liquid asset to boot. For comparison, the same £257,748 over 25 years at Ubique's CAGR would have returned £46,900,128. This is, of course, hypothetical, but highlights the case. Even a simple 60/40 portfolio or even holding the SPY and doing nothing else would have netted a greater result over the same period.
DRAWDOWNS
WORST 10
FEES AND
REMUNERATION
The traditional fund model approach to fee's is broken. It usually sits around 2/20 meaning that there is a 2% annual fee irrespective of performance and then an additional 20% of any profits generated in that period. However, with most funds under performing the S&P500, and fund managers being able to charge their clients anyway, the net result isn't great for the investor. Warren Buffet even placed a $2m wager that over a ten year period, simply buying and holding the S&P500 would generate a higher net return for the investor than any aggregation of funds. He won the bet, mainly on the back of the fee's fund managers charge.
We do things a little differently. Firstly, there are no fees at all for simply letting us manage your money. Secondly, we don't charge our clients anything until they have made a profit in line with the S&P500. Thirdly, only once there is money back in our clients pockets, then do we take a percentage of the profits generated; and this is staggered as to incentive us to maximise our return for you. The net result is that even after fees, the average return to our clients far exceeds that of the market and the traditional 60/40 Portfolios, by over 50%.
All fee's are charged on a bi-annual basis at the beginning of May and November, to coincide with how we rebalance Ubique. Below is the structure of how and what we charge.
As you can see, the way in which we have structured our fee's gives the first 4% each 6 months to the investor. This number is derived from the fact that since 1957 when the S&P went to 500 companies, it has averaged an annual return of 8%. This in the finance world is called the 'pref'. The next line, is what is known as the 'catchup'. This in essence is our management fee, but instead of taking it up front, it is taken from the profit, only after the investor has fully taken their pref. The remaining lines are aligned so we are always working hard to ensure the best performance, rewarding us, if we do exceptionally well.
In addition to this, we also operate a high watermark principle, meaning if we are in negative territory at the end of any six month period, that is added to the next stint to ensure we are only profiting from actual market gained profit, and not clever accounting.