EVALS Still Going Strong

As readers continue to ask about the status of EVALS, clearly an update is in order.  For the record, EVALS is still going strong and is open to new subscribers.  As I noted back in 2013, I have no longer been publicly updating EVALS performance data due to a variety of factors related to my investment management business.  That said, EVALS continues to handily trounce the S&P 500 Index.

EVALS received one major tweak along the way.  After Every Single VIX ETP (Long and Short) Lost Money in 2015, I sought to eliminate the long-only limitation, with the result that since 2016, EVALS has been allowing for up to 50% of the portfolio’s assets to be held in short ETP positions.  As some brokers have limited availability of VIX ETPs to short, to be fair to all subscribers, I mandated that EVALS only consider short positions in VXX and UVXY, as these are the only VIX ETPs with a sufficiently liquid options market to easily allow for synthetic short positions. 

As a reminder, EVALS is a model portfolio that trades the full universe of VIX and volatility-based ETPs on a long-only basis, except for two products (VXX and UVXY) that can be shorted at a maximum of 50% of the value of the portfolio.  When I say volatility-based ETPs, this includes not just products based on the VIX futures, but any ETP that has an embedded options or volatility component.  As such, EVALS draws from a universe of ETPs that includes buy-write or covered call ETPs, put-write ETPs, convertible bond ETPs, low volatility and high beta ETPs, as well as ETPs that are intended as hedges for long equity portfolios.

The links below discuss the history, objectives and securities traded in the EVALS (virtual) model portfolio, which employs a very aggressive approach to trading volatility.

[Pricing for EVALS is $119 per month or $1190 per year.  For those who are interested in subscribing, just click on the Subscribe button on the upper right hand corner of the EVALS blog to subscribe via PayPal or email me at bill.luby[at]gmail.com if you wish to pay for an annual subscription, which will be direct billed via PayPal.  There is no free trial associated with EVALS, though subscribers to the VIX and More newsletter (which does include a 14-day free trial) will certainly get a flavor of how I think about VIX-based ETPs.]

Related posts:

EVALS Marks 5^th Anniversary with Gains of 334%
Every Single VIX ETP (Long and Short) Lost Money in 2015

EVALS Performance Update (+143% Since November 2011 Inception) and Launch of New Investment Management Business
EVALS Q4 2012 Update:  Up 61.97% for 2012 and 76.00% Since the November 2011 Inception

EVALS One-Year Summary and Performance Update (+74.13%)

EVALS Q3 Update:  Up 70.59% Since November 2011 Inception

EVALS Q2 2012 Update

EVALS Q1 2012 Update

EVALS Relaunches, Now Focusing on VIX Exchange-Traded Products

Disclosure(s):  none