Halloween is coming soon. For all kids, it’s a fun time where your parents let you eat lots of candy. As a child, I played along even though I really don’t like candy. I know, weird. I’ve told people that you could fill a room with all the candy in the world, I wouldn’t touch it.
Years ago, my wife and I went to a Halloween Party dressed as Ketchup and Mustard. I chose Ketchup, she was left with Mustard. It was a fun costume and we got lots of comments. Ever since, I have taken my children dressed as Ketchup. With older kids, I need to stay way back so not to embarrass them. It’s not the costume—it’s I am Dad. I get people calling me out, “Hey Ketchup, where’s Mustard?” One time a hot dog saw me and ran. The burger was more accepting.
I am not sure whether it’s a human thing or more of an American thing, but we are always competing. Chose a side. “You are either with us or against us!” Even though most people land somewhere in the middle. Well not on the trick or treat question, or maybe not the ketchup vs. mustard. Poor BBQ sauce and Chipotle Mayo, just not in the conversation. They deserve a seat at the dinner table.
In the investment world, we try to put products in the Good or Bad bucket. Value vs. Growth, ETFs vs. Mutual Funds, Separate Account vs. Index Investing. Pick your side and be passionate about it. Try not to be harsh to the other side.
How about Skilled vs Lucky? This tends to be subjective, and people get personal about the investments they own or the products they sell. As we all know, you can build a story and find the statistics to back up your version. What if there was a scoring system or platform that can take some of the emotions out and provide independent analysis?
Aapryl has built such a platform. We use returns-based analytics to level the playing field and incorporate machine learning to predict which managers should outperform their peers going forward—whether mutual fund, ETF, or separate account. And yes, there is a lot of area in=between good and bad.
Which condiment goes with investment platforms? I say hot sauce.
