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Service Explanation

Turn-Key – Absolute Return Strategy Made Easy:

A Turn-Key Service developed by a mathematician and former Broker Dealer Principal (manager) that understands that you probably do not want to spend the time or the learning curve necessary to master the mathematical rigor of developing your own technical analysis system or spend your entire day watching lines cross on a computer screen in order to implement one.  Therefore, the ActivePortfolioCoach.com service uses the terminology “Coach” not in the sense that we are trying to “teach” technical analysis or even “involve” you in the analysis and monitoring process, rather it’s like the Coach in a football game that is simply calling in the plays and you as the Quarterback are running them.  Your job is simply to watch for Portfolio Change Email Alerts that happen on average only 3 to 4 times PER YEAR.  Most trading platforms accommodate “block trading” allowing you to group accounts by portfolio type and accomplish all of your portfolio changes with a few clicks of a mouse.  It doesn’t get much easier than this.  Furthermore, you will receive a weekly email of brief (one paragraph) market commentary from the Coach to keep you informed of current Market developments.

Risk Tolerance Survey:

A Risk Tolerance Survey is downloadable from the member’s site that assists you in establishing investment objective and risk tolerance to determine the most suitable portfolio for the investor.  Core-Plus™ consists of three series of risk tolerance levels: Low Risk, Medium Risk, High Risk. Each of these three series also have three variations of risk tolerance within each series which offers plenty of variations to match most any investor’s risk tolerance and investment objective.

FREE Member Orientation Webinar:

After joining as a subscriber, you will be invited to a FREE Member Orientation webinar with the Coach himself.  He will spend time orienting you to the Members website, going through how to use the Risk Tolerance Surveys as a tool to match up your investment objectives and Risk Tolerance to the most appropriate portfolio.  Also, he will go through the asset mix for each portfolio so that you understand exactly what funds go into each portfolio and in what proportions to accomplish the desired investment objective and risk tolerance.  Even though Core-Plus™ was developed by a “Pure Computer Geek front pocket-protector sporting Mathematician”, you will be AMAZED at how EASY Core-Plus™ is to setup and to use.  The session also includes Q and A so that you can get your specific questions answered and fully understand how to get everything setup so that you can implement Core-Plus™ portfolios with ease and with confidence.

Core-Plus™ - A Unique Blend:

Core-Plus™ is a unique Absolute Return Strategy that blends a Long/Short Hedging technique simply using index mutual funds or Variable Annuity/VUL sub-accounts (Profunds or Rydex) that emulate the major indices either Long or Short with a Long Only Core position that stays invested at all times with the objective of producing a positive return in both up and down market environments.  (If a subscriber prefers they can substitute the equivalent ETFs instead of Mutual Funds.)  Core-Plus™ consists of a proprietary blend of Strategic Asset Allocation; Passive – (the Core portion of the portfolio) and Dynamic Asset Allocation; Active – (the tactical portion of the portfolio).  Typically each of the Core-Plus™ Portfolio’s will have a portion of the "Core" Portfolio, which consists of low-volatility, low risk mutual funds or variable annuity/VUL sub-accounts, and a portion of the "Actively" managed funds consisting of ProFunds or Rydex  funds that are developed specifically for Active Management.  These strategies are uniquely blended for the purpose of increasing returns, reducing volatility within the portfolio and minimizing the number of portfolio changes per year.  Core-Plus™ portfolios average about four portfolio adjustments per year to accommodate changing market environments. Even though the "Core" portion of the portfolio is monitored daily, it will rarely change, maybe once every year or two, whereas the "Active" portion will change three to five times per year.  The Series I (Low Risk) and Series II (Medium Risk) are designed to have less volatility or average volatility respectively; the leveraged Series III (High Risk) of Core-Plus™ uses funds in the active portion of the portfolio that are designed to perform at a 2 beta ratio to the index in which they are emulating therefore, by definition create greater than market risk and volatility in exchange for the opportunity of greater gains.

Back-Tested over Variety of Markets and Continually Evaluated for Improvement:

Core-Plus™ was originally back-tested over a 7-Year Period, which consisted of two Major Bull Markets in 1999 and 2003; three Bear Market years in 2000, 2001, and 2002; and two "Sideways" Markets in 2004 and 2005.  Initial development of the strategy began in the early 2000’s with the first official implementation with clients in November of 2005 with what is now referred to as Version I.  The Core-Plus™ discipline and algorithms are constantly monitored and evaluated for possible improvement and minor changes have been made prior to the strategy being made available to other advisors live on the Web site of ActivePortfolioCoach.com July 14th of 2006.  In 2007 Version I was observed to be too anticipatory of downtrends triggering pre-mature Sell signals.  After discovering the cause the discipline was redesigned and re-back-tested over nearly a 9 year period of time with changes in the investment rules and algorithm input significant enough to justify the naming of a new version.  Therefore, Version II was implemented at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2007 with the first signal generated 10/17/2007.  A new version will only be installed after strict and thorough back-testing of procedures, investment rules and technical indicator inputs to the algorithms are completed and only if it makes significant improvements for return and risk parameters for the entire period of time being tested.

Performance monitored by Third Party Investment Tracking Companies:

Click on the graphics below to learn more.
*Core-Plus™ performance tracked by Theta since October 2007

Theta Investment Research collects data designed to statistically verify the viability of active investment management as an approach to increasing gains and limiting risk in portfolios. Theta has developed software and protocols for the automated collection of investment account data and the generation of portfolio performance and risk characteristics for actively managed accounts. Today, Theta is recognized as a leader in the active investment management community and provides services to institutions and individual investors who are looking for money managers to help meet their investment objectives.   Theta publishes information on managers and their models allowing for the analysis of style, risk and performance. Clients include Mutual Fund companies, life insurance companies, retail investors, professional money managers, and managers-of-managers. Theta has served investment firms across the country and has provided verified data to companies including Standard and Poors.  For more information, click here.

Nelson’s World’s Best Money Managers -
For over 25 years Nelson Information has been the leading provider to the global institutional investment market of thorough, accurate and current sources of industry information.  Nelson’s research editors compile World’s Best Money Managers from a quarterly survey of investment management organizations and portfolio composites.  To assure credibility and validity, all rankings in World’s Best must meet specific requirements with regard to calculations, cash reserves and assets under management.  Nelson Information is an objective provider of information, acting only in a reporting capacity, and receives no compensation for listings presented in the Directory of Investment Managers, World’s Best Money Managers or any other Nelson product.  Each quarter the investment performance results are compiled from 4,500 investment products or composites from over 1,500 investment management firms.  The top 20 are featured each quarter in the World’s Best Money Managers report.

Advanced Financial Solutions, Inc. using Core-Plus™ strategies qualified for this prestigious ranking.
Click the link below:

Neilsons Report**Core-Plus™ performance tracked by Nelsons since November 2005.

Mutual Fund and VA/VUL Versions:

Core-Plus™ has been developed in five different venues:

Model 1 - ProFunds: Non-Variable (Mutual Funds) - Core-Plus™
ProFunds Non-Variable uses the "universe" of mutual funds for the "Core" portion of the portfolio and ProFunds for the "Active" portion of the portfolio.
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Model 2 - ProFunds: Variable (American Skandia) - Core-Plus™
ProFunds Variable uses the variable sub-accounts of American Skandia Variable Annuity products for the "Core" and the ProFund sub-accounts for the "Active" portion.
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Model 3 - Rydex: Non-Variable (Mutual Funds) - Core-Plus™
Rydex Non-Variable uses the "universe" of mutual funds for the "Core" portion of the portfolio and Rydex for the "Active" portion of the portfolio.
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Model 4 - Rydex: Variable (Nationwide MarketFlex) - Core-Plus™
Rydex Variable uses the variable sub-accounts of Nationwide MarketFlex Variable Annuity and Variable Universal Life for the "Core" and the Rydex sub-accounts for the "Active" portion of the portfolio.
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Model 5 - ProFunds: Variable (Midland Vector® Annuity) - Core-Plus™
ProFunds Variable uses the variable sub-accounts of Midland Vector® Series Variable Annuity products for the "Core" and the ProFund sub-accounts for the "Active" portion.
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Model 6 – ProShare ETF’s - Core-Plus™
The ETF model consists of the same Mutual Fund Core Portfolio as Models #1 and Model #3, but for the active portion of the portfolio it uses ETF’s that emulate the same active indexes as the mutual fund models. However, the primary difference is that the ETF model operates on a more frequent signal than the Mutual Fund models. Because of the advantage of being able to have built-in stops and intra-day entry and exit points, the ETF model is apt to take advantage of shorter term trends that wouldn’t be prudent to do with End-of-Day Mutual Funds or Variable Annuities. Even though there are attempts to moderate the number of trades over a year’s time, the ETF model would expect to have 10 to 12 trades per year as compared to the mutual fund and VA Models of 3 to 4 trades per year. Furthermore, the ETF model is apt to make shorter trades during higher volatility periods of time when Mutual Fund models would likely be waiting out the high volatility periods in CASH (for the active portion of the portfolio).
  • Find out More about the products used in this model click here.
  • To see the Peformance of this model click here.

Not Just a Timing Signal Service:

Active Portfolio Coach is MUCH MORE than just a buy/sell signal service!
Core-Plus™ is a strategy that puts more emphasis on "Risk-Adjusted" return, than just "Total Return".
I’m sure you’ve seen, and in fact I have developed, many models with a higher "Total Return". However, in most all cases, in order to get those extremely high returns it requires accepting either more volatility and/or a significantly increased number of trades!
They say that the Boeing 737 is structurally designed to make repetative 90-degree turns; however, you may end up with passengers that "never want to fly with you again"!

Referral Bonus:

An APC (ActivePortfolioCoach.com) member subscriber who refers another member that subscribes to APC will receive an additional 12 month EXTENSION of their $50 monthly discount off of their regular monthly subscription fee.  Simply have the prospective subscriber enter your name in the Referred by box when signing up or email us at info@activeportfoliocoach.com  with the new subscriber’s name.