Performance Report: 04/30/2026
All performance data for our strategies is net of all fees and expenses. All performance data for indexes or other securities is from sources we believe to be reliable. All data is as of 04/30/2026
Investment Strategy
MAP - Full ($500k+)
MAP - Plus
MAP - Balanced
S&P 500 Index2
Mod Alloc(AOM)2
Growth Alloc (AOR)2
MAR Return
1.8%
2.4%
0.8%
10.4%
3.9%
5.7%
YTD
17.5%
12.5%
5.2%
5.3%
3.1%
6.6%
Inception1
132.8%
N/A
N/A
136.6%
50.0%
71.5%
Sortino3
1.51
N/A
N/A
0.84
0.57
0.70
(Disclosure: We added performance figures for our new strategies solely on a month-to-month basis as any prior data will be inconsistent and potentially misleading. We will post continuous data for our full-size MAP Strategy since its inception on 5/1/2019. We use AOM and AOR as our benchmarks as they are low-cost index funds that model the exposure of the majority of retail investors. Our risk measures are aligned closely with these funds. It is important to note that individual account performance varies and your account may perform better or worse than its model. The model's performance is simply the average performance of all accounts participating in the model.)
Performance Update
Typically, I would classify generating double-digit annualized returns in a month as a success. But we trailed our benchmarks by a considerable margin in April. Granted, we don't have to zoom out very far to see we have outperformed over time but I would have liked to have participated a bit more in the historic move this month in large-cap equities.
On a risk-adjusted basis, our since-inception returns continue to be favorable. The end of this month marks the 7th anniversary of my MAP strategy. Throughout this timeframe, my approach to risk-management, picking global macro investment themes, and, of course, utilizing my MAP trading tools has proven to be a consistent generator of alpha. Since its inception, our MAP strategy has outperformed AOR by 4.8%/year while carrying slightly less risk (AOR is our primary benchmark which implements a low-cost, Global 60/40 balanced approach to investing.) The Sortino ratio suggests our strategy has delivered two-times the risk-adjusted return as our benchmark.
Over the last 12 months, our gains have been nothing short of incredible. Our rolling 12-month return in our signature MAP strategy is just over 50%. During that spell, we only saw one negative month which was last month. Our models are working well and continue to emphasize capital protection while consistently generating strong risk-adjusted gains.
Moving Forward
I'm going to pass on writing this section of our update in lieu of providing a deeper dive later in the month. I will be headed out of town next week and I haven't quite been able to collect my thoughts or conduct a proper level of research on some topics I would like to communicate.
Conclusion
My gut kept telling me that the stock market would require one more blow-off top before peaking. I believe we are now in that phase. Several things I've been watching are pointing to a major inflection point in the near future. Protecting your capital is now job #1.
We've had an incredible run, and we are very close to our all-time highs established in February. At this junction, I'm reminded of the quote by Roy Rogers, "I'm more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money."
At this time, "I am more concerned with protecting our returns than generating additional returns." Despite the fact that I'm literally going to the beach next week, I'm not going to the figurative beach when it comes to your accounts. I'll continue to "look under every rock and leave no stone unturned" for low-risk opportunities, which I am confident the capital market will provide to us. But- I just don't know for how long it will provide those opportunities in traditional asset classes (i.e. large-cap stocks, corporate bonds, and real estate.) I believe now is the time to start looking at alternatives and counter-cyclical plays (i.e. securities that do well when the economy does not.)
As always, please don't hesitate to call us at 512-553-5151 if we can be of any assistance.
Best,
Matt McCracken
1) Inception date of 4/30/2019
2) All benchmark prices and returns are obtained through IBKR's PortfolioAnalyst reporting tool. S&P 500 Index is calculated using the index price. AOM is the iShares Core 40/60 Moderate Allocation ETF. AOR is the iShares Core 60/40 Balanced Allocation ETF. These benchmarks were chosen as they represent the prevailing investment strategies of retail advisors.
3) The Sortino ratio is a commonly used measure of "alpha" or the value a manager adds to a portfolio. It is similar to the Sharpe ratio. The Sortino ratio does emphasize the negative impact of downside volatility more than the Sharpe ratio which is why we use it as our primary measure of alpha.