LHA Market State Alpha Seeker ETF

MSVX Summary

Fund FamilyNA
CategoryNA
StructureNA
Inception DateNA
Expense RatioNA
YieldNA
Net AssetsNA
Avg. VolumeNA

Report Card

F
Protect
MSVX provides poor inflation protection and very poor market risk protection. It generates -4.1% real returns with 0.0% downside volatility and 0.0% Ulcer Index.

F
Perform
MSVX provides very poor risk-adjusted returns. It has generated 0.0% annual returns over the last three years which ranks worse than 80% of all funds. It has a 0.0 Sortino ratio and 0.0 UPI, ranking in the bottom 20% of all competing funds for risk-adjusted returns.

F
Participate
MSVX has failed to provided any S&P 500 diversification advantage over the last three years. A 60% SPY/40% MSVX portfolio reduces downside risk by 100.0% but also reduces annual returns by 100.0%. Diversifying with MSVX reduces the risk-adjusted performance of the S&P 500 by 100.0% to a 0.0 UPI.

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Key Performance Metrics

Protect

We measure a funds ability to protect against stock market declines by comparing various downside specific risk measures. Max drawdown is the largest decline for the security while the Ulcer Index quantifies both the depth and breath of all drawdowns. We also look at downside volatility and beta, both of which are measured relative to the S&P 500.
Statistic1 Year3 Years5 Years
Max Drawdown-100.00%-100.00%-100.00%
Recovery TimeOngoingOngoingOngoing
Ulcer Index87.46%50.75%39.73%
Downside Volatility104.45%58.77%45.42%
Downside Beta1.27-1.46-0.93

Perform

We measure a securities ability to Perform by comparing net annual returns relative to our benchmarks. To measure absolute performance, we use the well-known Sharpe and Sortino ratios but prefer a risk-adjusted ratio such as Jenson's Alpha. Ultimately, performance is the most critical variable in fund selection so we take a much deeper dive into this measure.
Statistic1 Year3 Years5 Years
Annual Returns-100.00%-100.00%-100.00%
UPI-1.20-2.04-2.52
Sortino Ratio-1.00-1.77-2.20
Sharpe Ratio-0.71-1.25-1.56
Jensen's Alpha-157.26%-130.27%-108.74%

Participate

Participate measures the ability of a security to improve the effecient frontier of a stock portfolio. If the letter grade for this fund is an F, the fund does not provide any diversification or participation benefit. The Statistics presented are calculated using an either an optimal mix of MSVX or, if no participation benefit exists, a 60% S&P 500 and 40% MSVX.
Statistic1 Year3 Years5 Years
Ulcer Index1.91%6.96%NA
Downside Volatility4.84%7.63%NA
Annual Returns18.37%5.41%NA
UPI6.740.77NA
Sortino Ratio2.660.71NA

Comparison

Returns
Ulcer impact
StatisticMSVXVBINX AOM MAPSA
Value Per 10K$0$15,446$13,089$15,987
Total Returns-100.00%54.46%30.89%59.87%
Annual Returns-100.00%9.08%5.53%9.84%
Standard Deviation 64.14%11.52%8.96%10.92%
Downside Deviation 45.42%7.26%5.77%5.70%
Max Drawdown -100.00%-21.61%-19.96%-17.50%
Recovery Time Ongoing788 days956 days765 days
Ulcer Index 39.73%8.11%7.38%8.16%
Sharpe Ratio -1.560.780.610.89
Sortino Ratio -2.201.240.941.71
Ulcer Perf. Index -2.521.110.741.19
Beta 0.530.710.520.28
Downside Beta -0.930.750.550.22
Treynor Ratio -1.880.130.110.35
Jensen's Alpha -108.74%-2.62%-2.97%5.22%
Mac's Alpha -85.04%-3.16%-3.59%6.14%

Bottom Line

MSVX is a long/short '40 Act fund that assumes both long and short positions.  A short position is a bet against a security that appreciates when the security declines in value.  Short positions technically have the potential for unlimited losses posing a potential risk not found in funds implementing a traditional approach.  With that said, long/short funds tend to have a lower risk profile and should have a much lower beta score than long-only funds. The investor needs to do proper due diligence on the fund to ensure the strategy meets the desired investment objective.  The scores presented here should give an investor a good idea if the fund is meeting its objective but we recommend an extensive study when utilizing a sophisticated fund such as MSVX.

It is important to note that a long/short fund may vary its long/short exposure or may have a fixed ratio (i.e. 130/30).  Some funds have an equal weighting of long and short positions thus the moniker "market neutral".  It is critical for the fund's long/short ratio to be commensurate with its beta score.  For example, a 130/30 fund should have a beta around 1.0 whereas a market-neutral fund should have a beta around 0.0.     

Some potential disadvantages of this fund are:

  1. High expense load: This fund carries a significant management fee and may invest in securities or strategies that have additional expenses (i.e. expense layering).
  2. Misleading Historical Returns: Often times funds such as MSVX are the beneficiary of "survivorship bias" or even "performance bias" where fund families only utilize a managed futures approach that has worked well historically but may not work as well going forward.
  3. Lack of Predictability:  The fund's performance will likely not be predictable nor have a consistent track record relative to various indexes.  As market conditions change, the fund may not perform according to its historical performance.  
  4. Free-riding: There is no conclusive means of ensuring the fund manager is not free-riding the fund for his or her own benefit.
  5. Style drift: There is no guarantee the fund manager will not change the approach that has been responsible for the fund's historic returns.

Free Risk Profile Assessment

Risk management is a critical factor in creating long-term financial security, especially for those in retirement. Too often bear markets can sabotage a lifetime of savings. And quantifying risk using yesterday’s data is too often insufficient.

For an extensive, forward-looking risk assessment profile for your investment account, fill out the form and we’ll contact you soon. Our report will answer the following:

  • Does my portfolio match my level of risk aversion?
  • Do my investments properly account for sequence of return risk?
  • What is my interest rate risk exposure?
  • What is my downside risk if the S&P 500 falls 50%?
  • Is my portfolio adequately hedged for inflation?
  • What is the upside expectation for my portfolio when the S&P 500 appreciates?
  • How will my portfolio react in various economic climates?
  • Are there more effective ways to hedge risk than my current approach?