2025 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on February 20, 2026June 30, 2026 by io-fund

I’m honored to share that the I/O Fund has delivered 326% cumulative returns since inception in May 2020, representing a 4.26X multiple. On an annualized basis, returns have averaged 29.2%, outpacing both broad market indexes plus many of Wall Street’s highest-ranking hedge funds.

You can find our official 2025 Returns Press Release here. 2025 Returns Press Release here.

5-Year Relative Performance vs. Peers

The I/O Fund’s annualized returns compare favorably with some of Wall Street’s most established investment teams.

Although we launched mid-year in 2020 on May 9th, the comparison below gives a general idea of what a strong annualized return would be over the past 5 years.

To provide additional context, we present both our 2020–2025 and 2020–2025 annualized returns in the chart below, each of which ranks competitively within this peer set.

Source: LevelFieldsLevelFields

Based on cumulative returns, the I/O Fund would have hypothetically ranked #3 among technology-focused ETFs and mutual funds. While the portfolio was not exclusively invested in semiconductors, increased allocations in a few semiconductor leaders contributed meaningfully to performance.

Ultimately, a stock-picking approach was able to perform comparatively to a segment of the technology market that was rather difficult to outperform, particularly relative to tech portfolios overweight the Magnificent 7, software, and other less complex subsectors.

Source: YCharts and Yahoo FinanceYCharts and Yahoo Finance

2025 Performance Review

In 2025, the I/O Fund achieved a 37% portfolio return. These returns and the cumulative listed above combine equities and cryptocurrency with Bitcoin down (5%) and altcoins down as much as (40%).

Source: Reuters and BloombergReuters and Bloomberg

When excluding cryptocurrency, the team’s equity strategy delivered a staggering 56% return, a result that ranks the I/O Fund team among the highest-performing investment teams in the United States on both an annual and cumulative basis.

To compare with ETFs last year, we show the I/O Fund’s equities-only performance, as ETFs generally reflect more concentrated thematic exposure. The returns shown below reflect the performance of our AI equity strategy in 2025 and provide a more appropriate comparison to similar thematic approaches

Source: YCharts and MorningstarYCharts and Morningstar

Relative Outperformance vs. Indices

Since inception, our portfolio has outperformed the S&P 500 by 192% and has outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 152%. The last several years have demanded precision as markets rotated sharply from cloud computing toward artificial intelligence, valuations reset, and major indices delivered consecutive strong years—conditions that have made sustained outperformance exceptionally difficult for active managers.

Additionally, when we look at how the I/O Fund compares to popular institutional all-tech funds, we have a notable lead of 294% since our inception in May 2020.

An investment of $10,000 with the I/O Fund's picks at inception versus other all-tech portfolios would see a portfolio value of $42,552 with IOF versus $13,192 with institutional tech-focused portfolios. The difference in value is 223%.

2025 Winning Positions Overview:

Where the I/O Fund further differentiates itself is in the number of individual positions that outperform the broader indexes:

2023: Five positions returned over 100%, with seven positions outperforming the Nasdaq
2024: Ten positions outperformed the Nasdaq-100, with six exceeding 100% returns
In 2025, we had 11 positions outperform the Nasdaq-100, while two exceeded 100%. One position returned over 300%.

Some of these positions were held for the entire year, while others were tactically closed, allowing us to lock in realized gains that exceeded the Nasdaq-100's performance.

Additionally, our biggest winners were the result of our risk management overlays providing us with ample cash to strategically buy stocks into the Q1 selloff. Being tactical to start the year and then deploying our cash into February – April allowed us to realize gains that in some cases exceeded the stock’s annual performance.

Below, we provide additional details on our entries, exits, adds, and trims — all of which were communicated through real-time trade alerts to our Premium Members.

Positions that we held for the entirety of 2025 that exceeded the NASDAQ-100:

Nvidia (NVDA) +37%
Advanced Micro Devices +75%

The above does not include all trims and buys for the entirety of 2025.

Positions that we opened in early 2025 and held for the year:

Applovin (APP) +70% – our lowest entry ending the year +141%
Bloom Energy (BE) +305% – our lowest entry ending the year +422%
Astera Labs (ALAB) +140% – our lowest entry ending the year up +226%

Positions that we tactically opened and/or closed in 2025 for a realized gain that surpassed the NASDAQ-100's 2025 return:

Coherent (COHR) +33%
Core Scientific (CORZ) +93%
Coinbase (COIN) +40%
Meta (META) + 51%
Innodata (INOD) +79% with one trade at +94%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSM) + 33%

Returns are calculated using either the average cost basis of the initial buys that built the core position or the year’s opening price, and the average sell price across the closing trades or the closing price for the year.

Overview of Notable Winners in 2025

Nvidia (NVDA)

However, in mid-2024, we shifted our focus by looking more deeply at suppliers for Nvidia. Although the stock remained a core holding; we used our oversized allocation to raise cash at periods of perceived risk. Most notably, we talked about Nvidia hitting the $90 – $80 region for months before we finally got there in April of 2025.

In February of 2025, we cut half of our position with an average cost basis of $130.88. We were then able to grab shares of Nvidia roughly 30% lower at $94.48 on April 4th and again at $87.99 on April 7th. The low for the year was $86.60.

Bloom Energy (BE)

We first covered surging power demand from AI data centers in June 2024, with Bloom Energy quickly rising to the top of our list for its ability to solve the critical time-to-power constraint. Like ALAB below, it was a stock we wanted to own but preferred to hold off considering the broad market risk we warned our readers about in early 2025.

We made three initial buys in BE that defined our core position. Two of them happened on the April 4th low at $17.04 and $16.64. These two buys made Bloom a 5% position in our portfolio. We then added another 3% to BE on July 24th at $32.93, making BE an 8% position before our thesis was proven correct.

We took tactical gains in BE along the way, considering that it became one of our largest holdings due to relative performances. We also closed BE for 3 trading days due to technical support breaking, but quickly bought it back once it was proven to be a false breakdown.

We remain steadfast in Bloom Energy’s positioning within the AI energy demand and will continue to tactically manage this winner as we perceive risks unfolding. As of today, it is one of the best calls in I/O Fund history, alongside Nvidia.

Astera Labs (ALAB)

Astera Labs is a stock that has responded well to technical analysis, as illustrated in the chart below. It went from not being in our portfolio as we moved into 2025, to becoming an 11% position around the April lows. This gave us an average cost basis of $69.42.

We then sold 1/3 of this position in September, with an average cost basis of $205.27, locking in 295% returns, while also freeing up some cash. This was just before ALAB sold off 50% in just over 2 months.

With what we know today in terms of PCIe persisting across future GPU generations and custom silicon systems, we plan to add to Astera during this pullback.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD)

The below chart shows the areas of accumulation and distribution for the Bitcoin bull market that started in late 2022. We lean heavily into technical analysis to accomplish the below feat, which naturally makes us contrarians when it comes to crypto. We were exceedingly bullish in Bitcoin, buying most dips in early 2023 – October 2024. When the herd finally started getting bullish on Bitcoin due to various narratives, that’s when we shift into a distribution mode, trading the final swings in Bitcoin’s bull run.

For those that have been with us during this period, you’ll remember how we took Bitcoin from a 10% position down to a 1% position between April – December 2025. We locked in gains between $85,000 – $113,000, making the multi-year bull run in Bitcoin one of our top actively managed positions in our firm’s history.

Meta (META)

Meta is a stock that we have been closely tracking due to its ability to easily integrate AI across its ad platform for an uplift in advertiser ROI. The company is sitting on a treasure trove of contextually rich data from billions of social media users. More impressively, Meta is currently number two in AI revenue despite spending less on capex than its counterparts.

Like many of the stocks we wanted to own in 2025, due to perceived market risk, we patiently waited for volatility to show up. We built a 7% position with two buys on April 7th at $488.97, and again on April 21st at $482.48. Meta’s low for the year was $478.72.

When it became obvious that the market was starting to penalize hyperscalers for their large Capex spend, we decided to take gains in Meta, locking in a combined 51% realized gain before the stock dropped. We’ve since begun rebuilding a new position at lower prices.

Verified Performance

Our performance is reviewed and verified by an independent accounting firm. Under the terms of our engagement, the firm’s engagement letter is not to be publicly distributed. In accordance with standard practices, the engagement letter and full performance review are made available exclusively to paying members and are hosted behind our paywall.

The I/O Fund retains ownership of the verified performance results and does not authorize the redistribution of the confidential engagement letter or performance review outside of the member area. While we may reference verified performance figures publicly, access to the underlying engagement documentation is limited to our clients in accordance with our agreement with the accounting firm.

Why Real-Time Trade Alerts Matter

Real-time trade alerts are sent to members the moment we decide to buy, sell, trim, or add to a position. That may sound straightforward, but in practice, it’s one of the most demanding ways to manage a portfolio.

Every decision is recorded the moment it’s made. That level of transparency places meaningful pressure on the portfolio team, which is exactly the point. It’s the same standard registered fund managers are held to when they file trades, yet it’s rarely offered in retail investment research.

This accountability extends beyond trade alerts. Our analysts aren’t just responsible for identifying opportunities; they must also determine position sizing, support ongoing portfolio management, and adapt as conditions change. A recommendation doesn’t end at the buy, rather it continually evolves through adds, trims, and exits as the fundamentals, product story or technicals shift.

There’s a reason most research platforms avoid real-time alerts, active position management, and detailed transparency: the more granular the reporting, the higher the stakes. When decisions are logged instantly, there’s nowhere to hide.

Every portfolio team makes mistakes. The difference is that by making mistakes publicly, it has sharpened our decision-making and strengthened our discipline over time.

Risk Management Isn’t Optional

In the tech sector, risk management is just as important as stock selection. Hedging, including raising significant cash or reducing exposure, is psychologically difficult and often avoided. Markets tend to trend higher over time, and downside risk behaves very differently on the short side than it does on the long side.

While hedging decisions should always be reviewed with a financial advisor, many members use our positioning changes as clear risk-on and risk-off signals. From day one, we made a deliberate choice: we would not publish research without pairing it with real risk management.

Again, that decision isn’t common in individual investing, but we believe research sites should be held to the same standard as professionals.

Verified Returns and Accountability

One of the biggest gaps in retail investing is the lack of verified performance. Institutional investors don’t take claims at face value— they require proof. Hedge funds are required to report returns precisely because it reduces posturing and selective storytelling.

We apply that same mindset here. To date, the I/O Fund has invested over $210,000 into accountability and transparency for members since inception.

Early on, we used a forum-based system for trade alerts. By 2021, we transitioned to dedicated SMS and email software systems using Twilio and Mailchimp — tools designed to minimize outages and delays. This alone costs $30,000–$40,000 per year, depending on trading activity.

In addition, we engage an independent accounting firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify performance across both our equity and crypto accounts. Each audit takes several months and costs $4,500 to $5,500. To date, we’ve completed seven audits, totaling $32,500.

Conclusion:

Over the past year, we delivered 11 positions that outperformed the Nasdaq-100, continuing a multi-year trend of identifying winners early. Many of our biggest winners were built at prices below the January 1 opening levels, allowing us to realize returns that exceeded the stock’s annual performance. In addition, we drastically cut back our crypto positions to stave off losses starting in August, despite many crypto influencers calling for aggressive price targets.

This consistency helped extend the portfolio’s cumulative return to 326% since inception in May 2020, with annualized returns averaging 29.2% over that period. Across thousands of portfolio options, these results place us firmly among the top-performing investment strategies in the United States.

We’re deeply grateful for the trust each of you give us. We take the responsibility of providing our Members early, actionable research tools just as seriously as the pursuit of the upside. Thank you for your continued support and confidence. As we close out 2025, we’re fully focused on the work ahead, as we seek to deliver thoughtful, early research, disciplined execution, and clear risk management in the years to come.

Please note: The I/O Fund conducts research and draws conclusions for the Fund’s positions. We then share that information with our readers. This is not a guarantee of a stock’s performance. Please consult your personal financial advisor before buying any stock in the companies mentioned in this analysis.

Recommended Reading:

I/O Fund Reports 210% Cumulative Return — Ranking Above Wall Street’s Best

Posted on March 31, 2025June 30, 2026 by io-fund

In 2024, I/O Fund posted a 35% return, significantly outperforming popular tech ETFs, which recorded an 8% return over the same period. On a cumulative basis, the results translate to a remarkable 219% outperformance compared to competing tech portfolios.

The I/O Fund outperformed the S&P 500 by 109% and outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 82%.
In 2024, the I/O Fund returned 35%, outperforming the S&P 500 by 11% and the Nasdaq-100 by 10%.
Since inception, the I/O Fund has maintained a lead of up to 219% over institutional technology portfolios.

If you had invested $10,000 with the I/O Fund's picks versus other all-tech portfolios at inception, the difference would be a portfolio value of $31,026 with IOF versus $9,737 with institutional tech-focused portfolios. The difference in value is 219%.

I/O Fund Surpasses Wall Street’s Most Successful Firms

The I/O Fund actively manages risk through hedging and raising cash, therefore, the closest comparison in terms of style would be hedge funds. Our current performance since inception places us as one of the top-performing actively managed portfolios in the world, with an annualized return of 27.6% since May of 2020. Our ranking would be #2 in the United States, ahead of famous fund managers such as Pershing Square, Tiger Global and Citadel.

Source: Levelfields and ChartartisanLevelfields and Chartartisan

I/O Fund is a leading portfolio specializing in tech stocks – if we were a Hedge Fund, our performance would be ranked #2 in the US. We have consistently outperformed some of the biggest hedge funds like Pershing Square, Tiger Global Management, and Citadel.

Even when considering leveraged ETFs, which tend to use future contracts to double the returns (and losses) of the underlying index, we would still place in the top 10 since our inception. This is remarkable considering SPX and the Nasdaq-100 had strong back-to-back annual performances.

Notably, leveraged ETFs are typically used as trading vehicles rather than as long investments. Considering they utilize future contracts, the longer they are held the more they deviate from their expected result. Therefore, Ark is the closest competitor to what we offer as an actively managed all-tech portfolio. As depicted in the chart above, our lead over Ark is 219%.

I/O Fund’s cumulative returns of 210% notably outperformed some of the most popular tech stocks ETFs like XLK by 65%. Source: YCharts and InsiderMonkeyYCharts and InsiderMonkey

Further, when we combine the entire universe of ETFs with Mutual Funds, which is another long option for investors yet are not exclusive to tech nor do they hedge, we would rank #8.

The above list shows that I/O Fund is a top-performing tech portfolio with only Fidelity ranking higher in cumulative returns among tech-focused ETFs and mutual funds. Source: YCharts and InsiderMonkeyamong tech-focused ETFs and mutual funds. Source: YCharts and InsiderMonkey

When you consider these portfolios have billions of assets under managementbillions of assets under management and are managed by those considered to be the best investors in the worldthe best investors in the world, we feel what we offer is of immense value.

2024 was the Year of Consistency:

It has been a wild ride; yet we have strived for consistency. In 2024, we had ten positions outperform the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500. This follows seven positions beating the broad indexes last year in 2023.

Although we reserve the complete list for our paid members, below are a few highlights we can share with you:

We held Nvidia as a top position and then trimmed ¼ of the position on June 13th with SMH topping in July. We further discussed our strategy to reduce exposure to AI semis in Q3 and Q4, spotting sector-wide weakness, which helped to minimize losses.
We kept Bitcoin as a top 3 allocation while providing 7 buy alerts, all of which closed the year up 50%+.
Our combined realized returns on an AI hypergrowth stocks was 243% while utilizing risk management to sidestep volatility.
We also captured an outsized 87% return on cybersecurity stock, yet closed the position before the stock saw a volatile drawdown.
We closed a crypto position for a quick 99% gain.
Netflix outperformed the Nasdaq in 2024 and was closed for 164% realized gain in 2024

Nvidia +172%

Leading up to the release of the Hopper GPUs, we were net buyers of Nvidia in 2021 through early 2023. On average, it was held as a 15% position throughout 2022 – 2023. As we moved into 2024, Nvidia was allowed to exceed this allocation to become our first ever 20% position. We began taking heavy gains in the $130 – $140 region. Today, we are waiting for better prices to begin accumulating again.

Bitcoin +121%

We have been systematically accumulating Bitcoin since early 2023. In 2024, we issued seven buy alerts, all of which closed the year up more than 50%. We also began taking significant gains in our Bitcoin position between $80,000 – $106,000.

Super Micro +243%

Super Micro was a high conviction play in 2023, which we closed for a sizable gain around the 2024 top. We attempted to re-establish a small position in mid-2024, but decided to close that attempt for a loss due to the accounting issues SMCI was facing.

Netflix +164%

NFLX was a high conviction stock that we began accumulating at the same moment that Wall Street’s best, such as Bill Ackman, were closing their positions. We felt the Street had this stock wrong. With multiple tactical buys, the average opening price to the average closing price came out to a 164% realized gain in less than 2 years. The decision to close it was based on a combination of fundamental issues as well as technical targets being reached.

Crypto Altcoin +99%

While Bitcoin was clearly in a strong uptrend, we decided to play the momentum in a crypto altcoin. With an opening average cost basis and closing average cost basis in 2024, we logged a relatively quick 99% in less than a year.

Cybersecurity Stock +87%

We opened a position in a cybersecurity stock in early 2023 and began taking gains in early 2024. We ended up closing the entire position for a realized gain of 87%, just before the stock fell 41% from a streak of bad news. We were early to exit due to the fundamentals team listening closely to the earnings call and sensing weakness.

📢 You can read our full press release here: “I/O Fund Dominates Tech Sector with a Staggering 210% Cumulative Return in Less than 5 Years” ou can read our full press release here: “I/O Fund Dominates Tech Sector with a Staggering 210% Cumulative Return in Less than 5 Years” /O Fund Dominates Tech Sector with a Staggering 210% Cumulative Return in Less than 5 Years” 📈 Read the Full Press Release

Key Points on How the I/O Fund is Different

Real-time trade alerts are sent to our members the minute we decide to buy, sell, trim or add to a stock. For those who may not be aware, this is extremely challenging to do as it combines the two most advanced forms of portfolio management.

One of the most advanced forms of portfolio management is real-time trade alerts. This places immense pressure on a portfolio manager as the stakes are high to record what you do every second in real-time. To voluntarily choose to have the highest level of accountability in retail is nearly unheard of, yet registered fund managers are required to do this and file their stock trades.
Logging trades in real-time also places immense pressure on the analysts at the I/O Fund, as well, who are not allowed to simply choose a stock but must also determine the allocation for the stock. After recommending a stock, the analysts must help the portfolio manager actively manage the position, which can change at any time.
Hedging up to 100% of a portfolio is also a large psychological hurdle, and traditionally a risky one. Markets spend the vast majority of their history in uptrends, for one. Secondly, the amount you can lose on a short is literally infinite, to where one’s downside risk is capped at 0 on the long side. Although hedging must be reviewed with each Member’s financial advisor, many of our members simply use the information as a critical risk-on and risk-off signal.

These are rare offerings in stock investing research. However, since day one – we refused to publish reports without risk management.

We recently published an article “The Harsh Truth: Retail Investors Take the Brunt of Wall Street Losses” to illustrate why retail investors should not accept a low standard when choosing a stock research site.

There is a reason most services do not provide this level of transparency and activity. The more granularity that is offered, the more skill is required. The stakes are much higher when what you do is recorded the minute the action is taken, but overall, having the highest level of accountability possible has made the I/O Fund much sharper investors.

Verified Returns

In addition to a lack of risk management tools, I believe a lack of verified returns in the retail space contributes to the losses this investor type experiences. Smart money is careful about who they consider a good investor — they do not take someone’s word they are a good investor; they make the investors or firms they follow prove it. Every single hedge fund must report their returns, which reduces the chances of posturing.

How the I/O Fund Sets a High Bar for Accountability

Over the past few years, the I/O Fund has invested over $175,000 into accountability and transparency for our members. When we launched in July of 2019, for the first year or so, we used a forum hosted by Tribe for our trade alerts for a cost of about $10,000 per year, but by January of 2021, we had migrated to SMS and email tools that were the least likely to experience an outage for our real-time trade alerts (Twilio and Mailchimp). This costs us $30,000 to $40,000 per year, depending on our trading frequency.

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive, and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed six audits for a total of $27,000 spent on this process. Accountability is expensive but we feel it’s worth it.

Conclusion:

When I founded the I/O Fund in 2019, it began as an experiment — one that, candidly, I was unsure would succeed. Upon speaking to mentors and others in the field, I was urged to go to the institutional side and to "not bother with retail." This is because institutions pay a higher price for research and are not as emotional during drawdowns. But therein lies the pain point I was trying to solve — which is that retail is offered breadcrumbs — such as stock research that does not provide the most important part of a portfolio (trades or allocations), boastful claims of returns with no accountability plus an utter lack of risk management tools. To worsen the matter, popular tech ETFs greatly underperform the broader indexes — leaving little to no options for retail to participate in the highly rewarding tech sector.

In sharp contrast to other research sites, the I/O Fund logs every trade in real-time, our portfolio is independently verified by an accounting firm in San Francisco, and our deep dive research is early and actionable — proven to identify some of the market's biggest winners years before the Street. In tech, the rubber meets the road with risk management, which our firm has championed since day one with technical analysis, weekly 1 hour webinars that focus entirely on risk management, and even hedging up to 100% of the portfolio to offer clear indications of whether the market is risk-on or risk-off.

I am pleased to say the results have truly shattered my expectations.

Recommended Reading:

2024 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on March 28, 2025June 30, 2026 by io-fund

It is with great pleasure that I present the I/O Fund’s 2024 audited returns of 34.6%, leading to a spectacular outperformance of 219% since inception when compared to popular tech ETFs. When compared to the broader indexes S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, we outperform by 109% and 82% respectively, since our portfolio’s inception in May of 2020.

These have been some of the most variable years on record when considering the immense volatility tech has seen, the market’s rotation out of cloud and into AI – which required meticulous analysis to capture, plus a strong two-year back-to-back performance from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. This has made it particularly challenging for stock pickers to compete. Yet, the I/O Fund was able to defy the odds to deliver what is one of the highest 5-year cumulative performances on record.

We issued a press release on Wednesday entitled “I/O Fund Dominates Tech Sector with a Staggering 210% Cumulative Return in Less than 5 Years”

I/O Fund Offers a Staggering Lead in the Tech Sector

*While our track record has been exemplary, past results are not a guarantee of future outcomes. Please read our terms and conditions here.terms and conditions here.

I/O Fund’s cumulative returns of 210% notably outperformed some of the most popular tech stocks ETFs like XLK by 65%. Source: YCharts and InsiderMonkeyYCharts and InsiderMonkey

Further, when we combine the entire universe of ETFs with Mutual Funds, which is another long option for investors yet are not exclusive to tech nor do they hedge, we would rank #8.

2024 was the Year of Consistency:

The positions that beat the indexes this year include: NFLX, CRWD, NET, BTC, ETH, SOL, LINK, COIN, SMCI, NVDA.

Highlights included holding Nvidia as a top position and then trimming ¼ of the position on June 13th with SMH topping in July. We further discussed our strategy to reduce exposure to AI semis in Q3 and Q4, spotting sector-wide weakness, which helped to minimize losses.

We kept Bitcoin as a top 3 allocation while providing 7 buy alerts, all of which closed the year up 50%+. Our combined realized returns on Super Micro were 243% while utilizing risk management to sidestep volatility. CrowdStrike was similar, where we captured outsized 87%, yet closed the position before the stock saw a volatile drawdown. We also closed Solana for a 99% quick gain and Netflix for a 164% realized gain in 2024. You can find more highlights on our 2024 trading history in Knox’s section below.

A Few More Important Stats About our Performance:

The I/O Fund outperformed the S&P 500 by 109% and outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 82%.
In 2024, the I/O Fund returned 35%, outperforming the S&P 500 by 11% and both the Nasdaq-100 and Invesco QQQ ETF by 10%.
Since inception, the I/O Fund has maintained a lead of up to 219% over institutional technology portfolios.
In 2024, I/O Fund posted a 35% return, significantly outperforming popular tech ETFs, which recorded an 8% return over the same period. On a cumulative basis, the results translate to a remarkable 219% outperformance compared to competing tech portfolios.

2024 Winning Positions Overview:

By Knox Ridley

We had 10 positions outperform the NASDAQ-100 in 2024. Half of these positions were held for the entire year, while some were tactically closed, which allowed us to log a realized gain that exceeded the NASDAQ-100.

Positions that we held for the entirety of 2024 that exceeded the NASDAQ-100:

NVDA +172%
Bitcoin +121%
Ethereum +47%
Chainlink +34%
NET +32%

Positions that we tactically opened and/or closed in 2024 for a realized gain that surpassed the NASDAQ-100's 2024 return:

Super Micro: +243%
Solana: +99%
Coinbase +67%
Netflix +164%
CrowdStrike +87%

*Calculations are based on the average opening price and the average closing price for each position.

Overview of 2024’s Biggest Winners

Nvidia +172%

Bitcoin +121%

Super Micro +243%

Netflix +164%

Solana +99%

While Bitcoin was clearly in a strong uptrend, we decided to play the momentum in crypto through Solana. With an opening average cost basis and closing average cost basis in 2024, we logged a relatively quick 99% in less than a year.

CrowdStrike +87%

We opened CrowdStrike in early 2023 and began taking gains in early 2024. We ended up closing the entire position for a realized gain of 87%, just before the vertical drop took CRWD down 41% from our final closing price. This was due to the fundamentals team listening closely to the earnings call and sensing weakness.

Our Performance:

Below is the engagement letter from the firm that reviews and verifies our performance. Our terms and conditions with the accounting firm state that this engagement letter is to only be shared with paying customers to avoid advertising another firm’s IP and services. For that reason, our performance letter resides behind our paywall.

The I/O Fund owns the performance review and we do not authorize our customers or any person on our site to share a confidential engagement letter or performance review outside of our paywall. As the owner of the report, we will at times market our performance number outside of the paywall.

With that said, any paying customer can access the engagement letter which is posted on io-fund.com for this purpose.

Key Points on How the I/O Fund is Different

One of the most advanced forms of portfolio management is real-time trade alerts. This places immense pressure on a portfolio manager as the stakes are high to record what you do every second in real-time. To voluntarily choose to have the highest level of accountability in retail is nearly unheard of, yet registered fund managers are required to do this and file their stock trades.
Logging trades in real-time also places immense pressure on the analysts at the I/O Fund, as well, who are not allowed to simply choose a stock but must also determine the allocation for the stock. After recommending a stock, the analysts must help the portfolio manager actively manage the position, which can change at any time.
Hedging up to 100% of a portfolio is also a large psychological hurdle, and traditionally a risky one. Markets spend the vast majority of their history in uptrends, for one. Secondly, the amount you can lose on a short is literally infinite, to where one’s downside risk is capped at 0 on the long side. Although hedging must be reviewed with each Member’s financial advisor, many of our members simply use the information as a critical risk-on and risk-off signal.

These are rare offerings in stock investing research. However, since day one – we refused to publish reports without risk management.

It’s only natural for stock investing research sites to want to ease the pressure of having to report in real-time – yet we do not think investors should accept a lower standard than professionals who must report their trades.

Verified Returns

How the I/O Fund Sets a High Bar for Accountability

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed six audits for a total of $27,000 spent on this process. Accountability is expensive but we feel it’s worth it.

Conclusion:

We started with a cloud-focused portfolio in 2020 that captured the hypergrowth market during the pandemic, then we utilized risk management to stave off losses in 2021 and 2022, before pivoting to a high AI allocation of 45% entering 2023.

This past year, in 2024, we’ve proven our consistency by offering ten positions that beat both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 compared to seven positions the previous year. We held large allocations in some of the market’s biggest winners in 2024 (Nvidia, Bitcoin, Super Micro in H1, Coinbase in H2, plus crypto).

The Consistency of 2024 helped propel our cumulative return from 131% in less than four years to 210% in less than five years. Not only do we easily place in the 90th percentile but we are in the top 10 in nearly every category out of thousands of portfolio options. When looking at hedge funds, we would place as #2 with our annualized return of 27.6% — beating out some of Wall Street’s best investors.

The I/O Fund's mission since inception has been to provide institutional-level research and tools to retail investors, and the results have shattered our expectations. What we have accomplished is no small feat, and our team reflects on these results with immense gratitude.

Many of you supported us from early days and stuck with us through immense volatility – we hope your unwavering commitment to us has been rewarded many times over. Others are newer to our site and have stumbled upon a more polished team than when we first started (or should I say, a more humbled team). If you are newer to the I/O Fund, then I can assure you that no team takes their role more seriously in terms of delivering our very best every single day.

We want to thank you for your business and your vote of confidence in our abilities. We are honored to officially close out 2024 and to now turn our full attention to delivering for you in 2025 and beyond.

Please note, past results are not a guarantee of future outcomes. Reference our terms and conditions here.terms and conditions here.

New Discovery Tier – Now Live:

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Discovery tier, an endeavor we have been diligently working toward for nearly a year. Our team is limited in the number of positions we can own with 10 positions at a minimum, and up to 20 positions maximum. We also may have a different risk profile than many of our members, which means that we have passed on some notable winners over the years. There are many strong-performing stocks in the market to consider and our new tier is designed to surface these ideas so our members can access a wider range of research that goes well beyond the I/O Fund’s portfolio.

Here is some coverage we have published over the past month on the Discovery tier:

A high beta stock with 21X growth potential from supplying power quickly to key AI hyperscalers
Power management integrated circuits (PMICs) company with signals for strong growth in H2
Nuclear and natural gas supplier for AI data centers
Coming soon: Biggest incoming IPO in the AI sector

Current members can get 50% off Discovery for just $199 through April 10th with code SAVE200DISC. Click the link to send a request to Customer Service to subscribe. Link

Recommended Reading:

I/O Fund Catapults to 131% Cumulative Performance Due to Leading AI Allocation: Official Press Release

Posted on April 3, 2024June 30, 2026 by io-fund

Actively managed portfolio and research site announces triple-digit returns over a four-year period.

I/O Fund, a tech research site that actively manages a real-time portfolio, announces returns of 57% in 2023 with a cumulative return of 131% since inception. This compares to popular tech ETFs that have cumulative returns of (-10%) in the same time period for an outperformance of 141% in less than four years.

In 2023, the I/O Fund had seven positions beat the Nasdaq-100. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Winners’ Circle ranking of hedge funds, a performance of 57% would hypothetically rank the I/O Fund portfolio as #4 across 1,191 funds.

Leading AI Allocation Drives Impressive Cumulative Returns

Since its inception, the I/O Fund has rivaled and exceeded Wall Street’s best firms. A few highlights of the I/O Fund’s performance include:

The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns since inception of 131% compared to popular tech ETFs at (-10%) with a relative outperformance of 141% in less than four years.
The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 49% and outperformed the S&P 500 by 68%.
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 157%.
In 2021-2022 we issued 9 buy alerts for Nvidia with the lowest at $108.51 on October 13th, 2022 for gains of up to 775% in eighteen months.

Impeccable timing on Nvidia and other AI stocks led to the I/O Fund having one of the highest allocations to AI on record at 45%. Previously, our firm was early to cloud in 2019, then rotated into AI in 2022.

Our high allocation to AI of 45% in 2023 was timely as it allowed us to beat Wall Street to the explosive trend of AI. Nvidia was a strong call by our firm and was our largest position at the time of its knockout report. Most importantly, our track record places us as a front runner within this trend, and we are confident we will find additional winners. We exited the year with an AI allocation of 52%.

The I/O Fund began as an experiment to see if a team of retail investors can beat Wall Street. We are setting out to answer the million-dollar or billion-dollar question, which is how to safely participate in tech while limiting the downside. We do not believe this question has been truly answered. Hedge fund managers often pick one tech stock or a few tech stocks and place them alongside a diversified portfolio as a means of limiting the downside. However, tech is the world’s most valuable industry – no other industry offers you the opportunity for life-changing gains repeatedly, year after year. Therefore, diversifying away from tech certainly helps protect the downside but it greatly limits the upside, as well.

That leads to our mission, which is to offer an all-tech portfolio that participates in the upside yet aims to limit the downside. That’s how we hope to set our portfolio apart. Our comparison chart proves we are off to a great start in answering this problem.

These results were independently audited by an accounting firm in San Francisco. More details can be found on the I/O Fund website.

If you had invested $10,000 with the I/O Fund’s picks versus other all-tech portfolio at inception, the difference would be a portfolio value of $23,052 with IOF versus $8,982 with institutional tech-focused portfolio. The difference in value is 157%.

You can read the official Business Wire press release below. A copy of the verified procedures and the verified performance percentage is shared with I/O Fund customers in the paywall article “2023 Audited Returns.” To become a customer of the I/O Fund, learn more here.2023 Audited Returns.” To become a customer of the I/O Fund, learn more here.

Full Press Release from BusinessWire:

Published March 27th, 2024

The I/O Fund grew to prominence in 2023 due to famously calling Nvidia an AI stock in 2018 and repeating the thesis over 25 times including Tier 1 media appearances. In 2021, the firm publicly stated that Nvidia would surpass Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. At the time, this was inconceivable.

Since its inception, the I/O Fund has rivaled and exceeded Wall Street’s best firms.

The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns since inception of 131% compared to popular tech ETFs at (-10%) with a relative outperformance of 141% in less than four years.
The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 49% and outperformed the S&P 500 by 68%.
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 157%.

These results were independently audited by an accounting firm in San Francisco. More details can be found on the I/O Fund website.

“We are unrivaled when it comes to choosing artificial intelligence winners. Nvidia was our highest allocation, yet there are many other AI winners the I/O Fund is poised to capture. We beat Wall Street to an explosive moment for AI and we plan to beat Wall Street again to other AI leaders,” said Beth Kindig, CEO and Lead Tech Analyst.

Lead Tech Analyst, Beth Kindig, was dubbed “Queen of Nvidia” by Fox Business News when she stated on live TV that her firm was sticking with Nvidia after the company reported a $2.5 billion revenue miss in 2022.

Kindig’s firm sent out 9 trade alerts under $200 for Nvidia in 2021 and 2022 with one trade alert as low as $108.51 on October 13th, 2022 for gains of up to 775% in under eighteen months. Due to Kindig’s unique approach to tech analysis, the portfolio holds a handful of stocks she believes will ultimately become large AI winners.

Impeccable timing on Nvidia and other AI stocks led to the I/O Fund having one of the highest allocations to AI on record at 45%. Previously, the firm was early to cloud in 2019, then rotated into AI in 2022.

“We were early to Nvidia’s AI story and we are confident we will be a frontrunner in finding the next big AI stock. The AI trend is the best investment opportunity of our lifetime, and we offer an invaluable resource to those who want to capture it,” said Beth Kindig, CEO and Lead Tech Analyst.

In 2023, the I/O Fund had five positions with returns over 100% and seven positions beat the Nasdaq-100.

The I/O Fund portfolio manager, Knox Ridley, uses risk management tools such as intermarket analysis, Elliott Wave and Gann theory to increase the resiliency of the portfolio returns compared to a buy-and-hold approach.

“The million-dollar or even billion-dollar question that has yet to be answered is how to not simply participate in tech, which anyone can do, but rather how to safely participate in tech. The I/O Fund set out to be the first to answer this question, which is why our returns significantly outperform buy-and-hold strategies,” said Knox Ridley, Portfolio Manager.

In 2022, the I/O Fund partnered with Vincent Duchaine of WealthUmbrella to develop an automated hedging signal. Duchaine is an A.I. and Machine Learning University Professor who worked with Ridley to create an automated risk-on/risk-off signal for retail investors. The hedge is the primary tool the I/O Fund uses to hold onto gains from AI and other profitable tech trends irrespective of a broader selloff.

Ridley and Duchaine provide exceptional analysis for crypto markets including Bitcoin. The duo published analysis that was prescient in identifying the bottom in 2022 at $16,500 after identifying the previous top in 2021 at around $58,000.

The I/O Fund hires an independent accounting firm to conduct its periodic audits. It reviewed statements from January 1st, 2023 through December 31st, 2023 from the company’s brokerage and blockchain accounts and found no discrepancies.

For more information, including pricing plans for the I/O Fund’s research, visit their website at https://io-fund.com. Premium members access a portfolio of 10+ positions, webinars, institutional-level research, real-time trade notifications and more. The firm also offers a free weekly newsletter.

Commitment to Transparency and Accountability

At the heart of I/O Fund, we believe that transparency is key to our success over the last few years. We keep our members in the loop with real-time trade alerts and audited performance reviews. This raises the bar on accountability as no other retail site goes to these lengths by offering an actively managed and transparent portfolio.

Over the past three years, the I/O Fund has invested over $165,000 into accountability and transparency for our members. When we launched in July of 2019, for the first year or so, we used a forum hosted by Tribe for our trade alerts. By January of 2021, we had migrated to SMS and email tools that were the least likely to experience an outage for our real-time trade alerts. This costs us $30,000 to $40,000 per year, depending on our trading frequency.

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed five audits for a total of $22,500 spent on this process.

Premium members can access the verified procedures, verified performance and engagement letter behind our paywall in the article “2023 Full Year Audited Returns.”

I/O Fund Analyst, Beth Kindig, recently wrote “The Importance of Verified Returns and Risk Management for Retail Investors” which identifies three key reasons retail tends to underperform professional investors. The I/O Fund has worked diligently and made sizable investments to empower retail investors by addressing these issues which include automation, risk management tools and being the only retail firm to offer a verified performance.

The I/O Fund Experiment: Empowering Retail Investors

The I/O Fund's mission since inception is to help retail investors beat Wall Street in the competitive and complex tech sector. Our experiment in providing institutional-level research and tools to retail investors has been successful since we first launched in 2019. This includes having a cloud-focused portfolio in 2020, beating our other all-tech portfolios in the tough years of 2021 and 2022, and pivoting to a high AI allocation well ahead of 2023, which helped us triple our performance on a cumulative basis.

If you are ready to optimize your investment strategies, join the I/O Fund Community and experience the advantages of accountability, innovation, and exceptional performance. Subscribe to our premium analysis service to access real-time trade alerts, weekly webinars that review our positions plus the broad market, a forum to connect with other skillful investors, and deep dive research from a Silicon Valley trained analyst who is frequently in Tier 1 media. Learn about our Premium Services here or Explore Pricing Options here.

2023 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on March 28, 2024June 30, 2026 by io-fund

We issued a press release yesterday in Business Wire with our full audited returns entitled “I/O Fund Catapults to 131% Cumulative Returns Due to Leading AI Allocation,” which you can find here.

The I/O Fund portfolio posted returns of 56.9% in 2023. If we were a hedge fund, our ranking would be #4 in the Wall Street’s Journal Winners’ Circle ranking of 1,191 funds. For those who don’t have access to the article since it’s behind a paywall, the average fund returned 19.7% in 2023 and the top three funds returned 65.2%, 59.1%, 57.2%, with the fourth returning 55.6%.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Our cumulative returns of 131% also exceeds other tech peers. When compared to the most popular tech ETF on the market, we are ahead by as much as 157%.

If you had invested $10,000 with the I/O Fund’s picks versus other all-tech portfolio at inception, the difference would be a portfolio value of $23,052 with IOF versus $8,982 with popular tech ETFs. The difference in value is 157%.

A Few Important Stats About our Performance:

The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns of 131% outperformed the Nasdaq-100 by 49%
The I/O Fund cumulative returns of 131% outperformed the S&P 500 by 68%.
The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns since inception of 131% compared to popular tech ETFs at (-10%) with a relative outperformance of 141% in less than four years.
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 157%.
Our 2023 returns of 56.9% would rank us as the #4 performing hedge fund in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal.
We had seven positions beat the Nasdaq-100. These positions were Nvidia +237%, Bitcoin +158%, Chainlink +168%, AMD +123%, Ethereum +92%, CrowdStrike 58%, and Microsoft 54.6%.
In 2021-2022, we issued 9 buy alerts under $200 for Nvidia with the lowest at $108.51 on October 13, 2022 for gains of up to 775% in eighteen months.
During the same time period, we issued 11 buy alerts on AMD under $110.

2023 Winning Positions Overview

Nvidia:

On average, a 15% allocation, which was our top position for most of 2022 and 2023. The returns for 2023 were 237% for 2023.

Bitcoin:

Once we confirmed a new uptrend in Bitcoin, we began to accumulate heavily throughout 2023. It is now one of our top 3 positions, and returned 158% in 2023.

Chainlink:

Chainlink has been a staple in our portfolio. It once held a 7% allocation in late 2020, and we reduced it to 2% in 2021. Now that we have a new confirmed bull cycle, we have been accumulating this alt coin in 2023. It returned 168% in 2023.

AMD:

AMD has been a top 3 position for most of 2022 – 2023. We heavily accumulated throughout most of 2023. The position was up 123% in 2023.

Ethereum:

Ethereum was up 92% in 2023 and has been a solid holding for us in 2024, so far.

CrowdStrike:

We began accumulating CrowdStrike in the $160 range. It returned 58% in 2023. We have since been taking significant gains in the $280 – $320 range, and it still remains a 6% position.

Microsoft:

Microsoft was up 54.6% in 2023. We began taking gains in 2023 and have continued into 2024. We plan to begin accumulate when the valuations become more favorable.

Performance Review:

Below is the engagement letter from the firm that reviews and verifies our performance. Our terms and conditions with the accounting firm state that this engagement letter is to only be shared with paying customers. For that reason, our performance letter resides behind our paywall.

With that said, any paying customer can access the engagement letter which is posted on io-fund.com for this purpose. The I/O Fund owns the performance review and we do not authorize our customers or any person on our site to share a confidential engagement letter or performance review outside of our paywall. As the owner of the report, we will at times market our performance number outside of the paywall. The terms and conditions can be found here.

The I/O Fund Mission:

When it comes to research sites, our edge is the accountability and transparency we offer. By tracking every trade in real-time, we are forced daily into instant accountability on every action we take. What results is rapid self-improvement, similar to athletes who track every mile they run, or every swing of the bat. By measuring every single daily action, our accountability has shot through the roof as has our drive to improve.

Real-time trade alerts and an audited performance are extremely uncomfortable when you’re not performing well. However, it was this very thing that forced us to become better over the past four years. We made the case in our free newsletter that this is partly why retail performs so poorly. There are simply too few resources available that mirror what real money managers do. Transparency is integral to outperformance; money managers have to answer to their daily actions and this forces them to become better.

With that said, most professional money managers resemble what Knox does on the I/O Fund site, which is actively managing positions, with lots of activity, pivots and course corrections. This is the reality even if Retail is sold on the utopian idea that you can buy one stock and hold into eternity. In some cases, this is the correct thing to do, but it’s rare.

Risk Management:

What’s important to remember when viewing our returns is that Ark had strong returns in 2023, primarily due to Coinbase’s phenomenal performance of 400%+ which was their top position — yet our returns on a cumulative basis are 157% higher than Ark’s because of our emphasis on risk management. Retail investors are often hyper focused on the upside, which is a grave mistake because losses are geometric in nature. For example, if you are down 50%, you must go up 100% to break even. If you are down 80%, you have to go up 400% to breakeven. The impact is visible when you view our cumulative returns compared to others who had steeper losses in 2022. What separates smart money from retail is an emphasis on limiting the downside.

Conclusion:

In the arena of investing, 2023 was a strong win for us. We easily rank in the top 90th percentile according to publicly available information on the annual returns and our cumulative returns. What I hope our members see when they review our performance is a team that has strived to deliver quality and value. The only way to truly beat Wall Street is by remaining humble while working hard at producing original analysis. The value of original analysis cannot be underestimated when working in an environment where ideas are recycled, an investment edge becomes quickly eroded, and competition is high. What we intend to deliver is the opposite, which is original and actionable analysis that helps our members get ahead of Wall Street.

We want to thank you for your business and your vote of confidence in our abilities. We love our jobs, and we are honored to tackle 2024 with you.

In Search Of Better Prices – Taking Gains In NVDA And AMD

Posted on April 10, 2023June 30, 2026 by io-fund

Last Friday, we decided to log gains in both NVDA and AMD, while keeping NFLX on hold. We logged a 24.45% gain in NVDA and a 20.78% gain in AMD. Our conviction on NVDA and AMD is as high as any stocks we’ve covered in our service, so it may seem odd that we are closing these positions today.

The simple explanation was best expressed by the famous investor, Howard Marks, when he stated, “It’s not what you buy, it’s what you pay for it that determines whether something is a good investment.” Because of the current macro environment, coupled with stretched valuations in both stocks, we believe that we will be able to get much better prices in the coming months. In order to confirm a return to good times, we would like to see favorable price action in the markets, a new liquidity cycle start in the economy, and avoiding the looming credit cycle. As of now, all three of these factors are not suggesting a new bull market is starting.

On December 30th, we alerted our readers to the strength in the semiconductor sector. We stated that, “we believe that semiconductor stocks are signaling that they are ready to resume their leadership role going into 2023.” Since then, not only was the semiconductor sector the strongest tech sector, but it has turned out to be one of the best places to invest in for 2023.

This call has proven to be very timely, both as a general theme and in how we decided to play this trend. Our starting cost basis in NVDA was $212.65 on 2/11/23, and $76.37 for AMD on 11/15/22. However, in our premium service, we have a much lower cost basis in both. We started buying NVDA at $108.51 on October 13th, while our starting cost basis for AMD was $57.34 the day after.

We mention this to our readers because we believe that through our process, we can help navigate when to add/trim/sell/start a position in great tech stocks. Our goal is to own great companies at great prices for the long-haul. However, we believe the time to get defensive is a prudent position to take for following three macro reasons:

The Market Price Action Is Risky

The structure of the broad market since the October low is a clear 3 wave bounce. This is a risky structure, as it tends to suggest we are in a corrective bounce in a larger downtrend. Since February, we have seen many major banks stocks suggest a top is in, while many tech names appear to be putting in a topping pattern. Our primary case is that the broad market tops out over the next couple of weeks/months, and begins its push towards the 3000 level SPX. There is a chance that we see a push to new highs first, but it is uncertain whether that happens or not.

Note in the above chart the Relative Strength Index (RSI) below the price chart. This is a momentum indicator that produces very important patterns. Note how the post-COVID bull market held the black trendline as support. It then broke this support, which has been resistance in the following bear market. As of now, we are not seeing internal momentum that is suggesting a new bull market is developing. This is a further warning to the bulls, as the technical picture is not as healthy as some make it out to be.

Discount Window Borrowing Is Not a New Liquidity Cycle

Liquidity can be measured in the economy based on the Federal Reserve’s Policies as well as the Treasury’s general account balance. When you measure the liquidity in the economy against the S&P 500, you can see a clear correlation between the two.

As the FED starts a new liquidity cycle (black line going up), stocks eventually follow. Some may be encouraged by the sudden rise in the FED’s balance sheet as a sign that a new liquidity cycle is starting. This assumption would be a mistake.

Yes, the FED’s balance sheet expanded, but the FED’s balance sheet consists of many facets beyond quantitative easing (QE). In QE, the FED actively seeks out to buy long-duration bonds in exchange for bank deposits (not money). Their intention is to control the yield curve on the long end, to encourage economic activity, and it is an intentional action.

The part of the balance sheet that just expanded is what's called primary credit, or short term loans through the FED's Discount Window. The Discount Window is one of the FED's original purposes – to be the lender of last resort to banks that need liquidity now. This is a stigma for banks when they have to use it, because it means they are in dire straits and desperately need liquidity to maintain daily operations. These loans must be backed by collateral and have a very high yield that must be paid, which is about 4.6% right now. This is very expensive money that no bank takes unless it's absolutely necessary.

That being said, if we isolate the part of the FED's balance sheet that is primary credit, here is what we get.

These are expensive loans that banks do not want to hang onto for long. So, they typically get paid back quickly. Also, note when these spikes happen, and it is not during good times. They are the result of liquidity drying up and banks needing expensive injections to survive daily operations. The largest bump in weekly primary credit happened a few weeks ago – $152B vs. the prior high in 2008 at $111B.

Most importantly, we can see that during the same time the FED continued to engage in quantitative tightening (QT) while continuing to raise rates. Even though banks are taping the Discount Window, the FED is practicing restrictive monetary policy, and thus not starting a new liquidity cycle.

Don’t Forget About the Credit Cycle

It has been nearly 14 years since we have experienced a true credit cycle, so many investors have not experienced one. Due to low inflation, the FED has been able to flood the markets with liquidity in several periods of weakness, allowing the economy to avert a credit cycle. This resulted in relatively short, while sometimes deep, corrections that were bought up quickly.

However, due to inflation being at a 40 year high, the FED does not have this convenience anymore. They have thus engaged in one of the most aggressive rate hiking cycles we’ve seen since the 1970s.

What many forget is that rate hikes cause damage to the economy, and by some measures, it can take up to a year for those rate hikes to actually effect the economy. The bulls are betting that the rate hikes that are still happening, will somehow not affect the economy in a material way, which history does not support.

In the chart below, I compare the Fed Funds Rate (BLUE) to the S&P 500. The below gray bars show the lending standards for banks. As banks get more concerned about the economy, the less loans they provide, causing a cascade of defaults.

Note how the FED starts a new liquidity cycle usually around the top in equity markets. They start lowering rates, knowing that it will also take time for these lower rates to filter into the economy. However, once rates go up too high, the damage is done, and the economy as well as the markets must go through a credit cycle before a new expansion period can start. What’s concerning is that the FED is still hiking rates, meaning that this credit cycle could take longer to cycle through than most think.

In conclusion, bull markets do not happen in vacuums. They require expanding credit and expanding liquidity, both of which are not happening now. The price action in the broad market is also not favorable to the bulls, which has us playing defense. NVDA is up over 150% off its low, while AMD is up over 75% off its low. These two, at best, are due for a pullback. But, considering the macro environment, we believe taking gains now will provide us more cash to buy these great stocks lower in the coming months.

Official Press Release: I/O Fund’s Cumulative Returns Double the Nasdaq Following a Tough 2022

Posted on March 30, 2023June 30, 2026 by io-fund

Actively managed portfolio and research site announces its largest cumulative lead over institutional all-tech portfolios. The I/O Fund defies a challenging market, outperforming peers and providing innovative tools to level the playing field for retail investors.

I/O Fund, a tech research site that actively manages a real time portfolio, announces a cumulative return of 46.92% since inception versus the Nasdaq-100’s 18.65% return during the same time period.

Impressive Performance in a Challenging Year for Tech (and the Market as a Whole)

A few important highlights of the I/O Fund’s performance include:

Cumulative return of 46.92% since inception, compared to the Nasdaq-100’s 18.65% return during the same time period
More than doubled the Nasdaq since 2020 with an outperformance of 28.27%
2022 performance of (-38.8%), rivaling the Nasdaq-100 performance of (-32.9%)
Relative outperformance in 2022 surpassing institutional all-tech portfolios by as much as 85%
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 174% including those who manage billions of assets under management (AuM)

Typically, in a risk-off environment, the indexes are known to protect investors to the downside. It also helps to gauge the overall cost of owning tech in a historic year for losses in the stock market. Meaning, even the most conservative tech investors lost (32.9%) in 2022, defined by those that hold their exposure to NDX through QQQ.

Notably, losses are geometric in nature, so a portfolio that is down (67%) has to go up 85% to catch up with our 2022 performance of (38.8%). Since inception, to catch up with the I/O Fund compared to other all-tech portfolios, you’d have to make up 174%.

Our 2022 relative outperformance followed an outperformance in 2021, with gains of 11.4% compared to many tech funds that were down (23%) or more. On a cumulative basis, we currently have the largest lead over Ark that we’ve ever had since inception.

Ark is not the only all-tech portfolio peer that we are outperforming on a cumulative basis. The portfolios listed below are managed by highly regarded portfolio managers, are reserved for high-wealth individuals only, and have billions of assets under management (AuM).

Pictured above: If you had invested $10,000 with the I/O Fund's picks versus other all-tech portfolios at inception, the difference would be a portfolio value of $14,692 with IOF versus $5,358 with institutional tech-focused portfolios. The difference in value is 174%.

You can read the official Business Wire press release here. A copy of the auditor’s engagement letter including verified procedures and the verified performance percentage is shared with I/O Fund customers in the paywall article “2022 Audited Returns.” To become a customer of the I/O Fund, learn more here.here. A copy of the auditor’s engagement letter including verified procedures and the verified performance percentage is shared with I/O Fund customers in the paywall article “2022 Audited Returns.” To become a customer of the I/O Fund, learn more here.

How the I/O Fund was Able to Rival the Nasdaq During a Historic Bear Market for Tech

Our firm is well-known for carefully choosing allocations as an important risk management tool. Lead Tech Analyst, Beth Kindig, has over a decade of experience analyzing tech. Her deep dive research helped the firm build its highest allocations in the complex semiconductor industry, which was the best performing sector in tech in 2021 and 2022.

Kindig has made contrarian, bullish calls on Nvidia in her free newsletter. Her analysis led to the I/O Fund buying at the October low for a 35% gain by year end, which has turned into more than 140% gains. Year-to-date, Nvidia is the best performing S&P 500 stock on the market, and remains the I/O Fund’s top position. Notably, the firm takes gains throughout the year on their positions and issues real-time trade alerts to this effect.

“We stayed focused and pivoted to hedging in April which helped us stage a strong comeback. In addition to hedging, we built a defensive tech portfolio that included two of the tech industry’s leading stocks. We held these winners at some of our highest allocations in Q3 2022 with gains of 33% and 43% on our initial entries.” -Business Wire press release, Lead Tech Analyst, Beth Kindig

I/O Fund also owes its lead over other all-tech portfolios to technical analysis. Portfolio Manager, Knox Ridley, actively manages the portfolio in real-time, providing readers with weekly webinars and charts to show where the I/O Fund plans to buy and sell key positions.

Ridley is known for managing high-risk assets in 2022, such as Bitcoin, Nvidia, and Netflix, with a near-perfect track record. This led to outperformance during a historic selloff across tech stocks. Ridley issues real-time trade alerts to research subscribers for every stock entry and exit plus offers a pie chart of the portfolio’s allocations.

“Given that 2022 destroyed more wealth on record than any other time in modern history, beating the Nasdaq on a cumulative basis cannot be overstated. The far majority of our competitors cannot say the same. Our performance reflects our ability to outperform in any market condition,” said Portfolio Manager Knox Ridley.

Note: Knox Ridley holds weekly webinars that discusses the broad market and I/O Fund’s positions, including the positions the I/O Fund plans to trim, add, sell or buy. He also goes through details on the automated hedge weekly. Learn more here.Learn more here.

In April, the I/O Fund partnered with Vincent Duchaine of WealthUmbrella to develop an automated hedging signal. Duchaine is an A.I. and Machine Learning University Professor who worked with Ridley to create an automated risk-on/risk-off signal for retail investors. This marked an important turnaround for the I/O Fund as the team expanded their risk management tools during a critical year to stave off losses.

Sign up for I/O Fund's free newsletter with gains of up to 221% -Click hereSign up for I/O Fund's free newsletter with gains of up to 221% -Click hereClick here

Strategic Approach and Focus on Top-performing Stocks & Sectors

In 2022, we made a strategic shift by leveraging hedging strategies with exposure to top-performing sectors within the tech industry plus top performing stocks.

The I/O Fund held a 30%+ allocation to semiconductors in 2022, which despite all odds, has been one of the top performing sectors in tech in 2021, 2022 and YTD 2023. Beth Kindig’s expertise in the tech industry helped the I/O Fund feel confident allocating 10% and even 15% positions in this complex sector over the past few years.
As early as June last year, Beth shared bullish commentary on one of our most significant current portfolio holdings in the article “Netflix Stock Could Rally with Ad-Supported Content.” Since I/O Fund’s original entry, the stock was up 33% in 2022. The firm held up to a 9% allocation. We offered our free newsletter subscribers an in-depth analysis and investment rationale, enabling them to take advantage of this top performer in the second half of the year.
As stated above, Kindig made contrarian, bullish calls on Nvidia in her free newsletter. Her analysis led to the I/O Fund buying at the October low for a 35% gain by year end, which turned into more than 140% gains total. This position and the others noted above helped the I/O Fund rival the Nasdaq’s performance in 2022.

Cutting-edge Analysis and Innovative Partnership Tools with a Focus on Hedging

The year 2022 marked an important turnaround for our firm as we gave up what I would call “retail idealism” which centers around the idea that holding a stock for a long period of time is retail’s only defense. This works during times of economic expansion, but this can go (horribly) wrong when a new, more challenging macro can change the outlook for any given company.

This year, we partnered with Vincent Duchaine of WealthUmbrella to develop an automated hedging strategy, which helped us successfully bridge the gap between human-driven actions and objective, emotionless machines. Ray Dalio calls this the “man and machine approach.”

With the automated hedging strategies, the I/O Fund was able to hedge up to 100% of our portfolio at times, focusing on playing defense rather than offense during last year’s market extremes. This hedge not only mitigated some of the most significant market drops after April but also set the stage for our relative outperformance towards the end of 2022.

As the market experienced a steep downtrend all year even into year's close, our portfolio manager Knox Ridley provided two long-term bullish scenarios, along with a detailed analysis of global market trends, divergences, and new market leadership. Knox also accurately predicted the August to September pullback and the October market bottom, helping investors make timely decisions in a demanding market environment. As the articles illustrate, Knox publicly navigated the broad market for free newsletter subscribers while reserving his real-time trade alerts for premium members.

A few of the biggest moves from the hedge in 2022 are detailed in the article “The Best of I/O Fund’s Newsletter in 2022” with more information including daily real-time trade alerts provided behind the paywall. The Best of I/O Fund’s Newsletter in 2022” with more information including daily real-time trade alerts provided behind the paywall.

Commitment to Transparency and Accountability

At the heart of I/O Fund, we believe that transparency is key to our success. We keep our members in the loop with real-time trade alerts and audited performance reviews. This raises the bar on accountability as no other retail site goes to these lengths by offering an actively managed and transparent portfolio.

Over the past three years, the I/O Fund has invested over $130,000 into accountability and transparency for our Members. When we launched in July of 2019, for the first year or so, we used a forum hosted by Tribe for our trade alerts, but by January of 2021, we had migrated to SMS and email tools that are least likely to experience an outage for our real-time trade alerts. This costs us $40,000 per year.

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed four audits for a total of $18,000 spent on this process. Premium members can access the verified procedures, verified performance and engagement letter here.

I/O Fund Analyst, Beth Kindig, recently wrote “The Importance of Verified Returns and Risk Management for Retail” which identifies three key reasons retail tends to underperform professional investors. The I/O Fund has worked diligently and made sizable investments to empower retail by addressing these issues which include automation, risk management tools and being the only retail firm to offer a verified performance.

The I/O Fund Experiment: Empowering Retail Investors

The I/O Fund's mission is to help retail investors beat Wall Street in the competitive tech sector. Our experiment in providing institutional-level research and tools to retail investors has been successful since we launched in 2019. This includes beating our other all-tech portfolios in the tough years of 2021 and 2022.

Previous press releases:

I/O Fund Announces Impressive 1-Year and 2021 YTD Returns

I/O Fund Outperforms Leading Active Tech Funds in 2021

I/O Fund Cumulative Returns Double the Nasdaq Following a Tough 2022

Join the I/O Fund Community Today!

2022 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on March 24, 2023June 30, 2026 by io-fund

We’ve issued a press release today in BusinessWire on our full year 2022 returns, which you can find here.

Due to a 180-degree pivot in May, the I/O Fund ended the year at (38.8%). This places us within roughly 6% of the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) which helps illustrate the comeback that occurred starting in May. Typically, in a risk-off environment, the indexes are known to protect investors to the downside. It also helps to gauge the overall cost of owning tech in a historic year for losses in the stock market. Meaning, even the most conservative tech investors lost (32.9%) in 2022, defined by those that hold their exposure to NDX through QQQ.

Notably, losses are geometric in nature, so a portfolio that is down (67%) has to go up 85% to catch up with our 2022 performance of (38.8%). To catch up with the I/O Fund compared to other all-tech portfolios since inception, you’d have to make up 174%.

“If you had invested $10,000 with the I/O Fund's picks versus other all-tech portfolios at inception, the difference would be a portfolio value of $14,692 with IOF versus $5,358 with institutional tech-focused portfolios. The difference in value is 174%”

Our mission statement is to help Retail beat Wall Street in the challenging sector of technology.

When we set out on this mission, it was purely an experiment. The statistics show that Retail often fails to such a high degree that we felt any improvement here would be worth the attempt.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. The I/O Fund is a publishing company. The analysts are not money managers and we are not financial advisors. Please consult with your financial advisor for every trade you do.

A few important stats on our Performance:

The I/O Fund announces a cumulative return of 46.92% since inception versus the Nasdaq-100’s 18.65% return during the same time period.
The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns of 46.92% have more than doubled the Nasdaq since 2020 with an outperformance of 28.27%
I/O Fund’s 2022 performance of (38.8%) rivaled the Nasdaq-100 performance of (32.9%)
The I/O Fund’s relative outperformance in 2022 surpassed institutional all-tech portfolios by as much as 85%
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 174%

The transition began in May with the analysis “Compartmentalizing Cloud Stocks” and was complete by August.

In a nutshell, this is what that looks like:

Please note, anything stated outside of our performance review are estimates. The only official, verified number we provide is from the Engagement Letter listed below of (38.8%).

AEHR: 6% Allocation in October-December

NFLX: 9% Allocation in October-December

NVDA: 10% Allocation throughout 2022 with active management

Hedge: mitigated some of the largest drops after April. The biggest moves from our hedge in 2022 are below. The green indicates periods where we mitigated the drawdowns, while red indicates periods where we had to close our hedge for a loss.

Hedging

In an environment where the odds can be stacked against Retail, the I/O Fund is committed to leveraging tools that institutional-level money managers are unable to leverage.

The primary tool we leveraged for Retail in 2022 was hedging. In 2021, the tool we leveraged for Retail was to actively manage crypto. A few of the all-tech portfolios listed in our comparison chart are not able to leverage these tools. For example, ETFs such as QQQ (tracks the NASDAQ-100) and ARKK do not hedge and do not hold crypto.

In 2022 we partnered with Vincent Duchaine of WealthUmbrella. The automated hedge that Duchaine built helped the I/O Fund close the gap between human-driven actions and emotionless machines. This marked an important turnaround for our firm as we gave up what I would call “retail idealism” which centers around the idea that holding a stock for a long period of time is retail’s only defense. This works during times of economic expansion, but this can go (horribly) wrong when a new, more challenging macro can change the outlook for any given company.

I’ll be the first to point out that success is a team effort, and these Knox and Vincent repeatedly ran the ball into the end zone in the third and fourth quarter. If half the battle is just showing up, then most of you noticed Knox and Vincent did not let our Members down in this regard.

April of 2022 marks the end of the I/O Fund relying on stock picks as the primary, offensive measure. It marks the beginning of what I would call IOF 2.0, more officially known as “man and machine” and “woman and machine.” After partnering with WealthUmbrella on an automated hedge, the I/O Fund hedged successfully up to 100% of our portfolio, at times.

We pivoted to playing defense rather than offense. Those who watch team sports will understand this transition well, as the strategy changes from attempting to make money (or make a goal) to a strategy that prevents losses (or prevents a goal).

With Vincent’s help, the I/O Fund has reduced whipsaws. The automation tool has also freed up Knox’s time to work on broad market and identify circuit breakers, which are the broad market levels that must hold. Together, these two launched an incredible tool for retail.

Performance Review

Below is the engagement letter from the firm that reviews and verifies our performance. Our terms and conditions with the accounting firm state that this engagement letter is to only be shared with paying customers. For that reason, our performance letter resides behind our paywall.

With that said, any paying customer can access the engagement letter which is posted on io-fund.com/premium and io-fund.com/essentials for this purpose.

The I/O Fund Experiment

Our site and services remain an experiment to see if Retail can beat Wall Street. There is no guarantee the experiment will work out in the future. Humility is the one adjective that best describes the market and we had a heavy dose of this last May.

I believe our site’s edge is the accountability and transparency we offer. By tracking every trade in real-time, we were forced into instant accountability on every action we were taking. What resulted was rapid self-improvement, similar to athletes who track every mile they run, or every swing of the bat. By measuring every single daily action, our accountability went through the roof as did our drive to improve.

Real-time trade alerts and an audited performance are extremely uncomfortable when you’re not performing well. However, it was this very thing that forced us to become better during a landslide in tech.

We made the case that this is partly why retail performs so poorly. There are simply too few resources available that mirror what real money managers do. With that said, most professional money managers resemble what Knox does on the I/O Fund site, which is actively managing positions, with lots of activity, pivots and course corrections. This is the reality even if Retail is sold on utopian idea that you can buy one stock and hold into eternity. In some cases, this is the correct thing to do, but it’s rare.

2022 Was Still Negative = The I/O Fund Has More Work to Do

In our webinar, we pointed out the Lessons Learned from 2022. The methodologies and processes from pre-2022 simply weren’t working, and perhaps due to our high level of accountability, we felt this more than most. For a live presentation on this important pivot plus the Lessons We Learned from 2022, please reference our premium webinar here.

Here is a brief summary, the full list can be found/heard on the webinar.

Lack of flexibility was our number one mistake last year. We need to be more willing to change.
Cold, Hard Facts Vs Hopium. We were ignoring obvious facts and relying on hopium instead (hopium most dangerous around earnings)
100% Offensive instead of a mix of Defensive = put making money above protecting money

How the I/O Fund Sets a High Bar for Accountability

In addition to a lack of risk management tools, we believe a lack of verified returns in the retail space contributes to the losses this investor type experiences. Smart money is careful about who they consider a good investor — they do not take someone’s word they are a good investor; they make the investors or firms they follow prove it. Every single hedge fund has to report their returns, which reduces the chances of posturing.

Retail is not offered these checks and balances, and instead, this investor type follows many influencers and research sites who verbally state their performance without proper verification. Across the board, retail is offered a very low amount of accountability – this includes unverified month-end reviews, a list of stock tickers, unchecked screenshots, or other methods that are easy to manipulate. This widespread acceptance of loosely stating a stock performance is odd, to say the least, considering the finance industry is more inclined than any other industry toward deceptive practices.

Over the past three years, the I/O Fund has invested over $130,000 into accountability and transparency for our Members. When we launched in July of 2019, for the first year or so, we used a forum hosted by Tribe for our trade alerts, but by January of 2021, we had migrated to SMS and email tools that were the least likely to experience an outage for our real-time trade alerts. This costs us $40,000 per year.

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed four audits for a total of $18,000 spent on this process.

We want to thank our members for believing in a small team that is focused on beating Wall Street. The sense of community we all have created together and the support we received during a tough 2022 was extraordinary. When we launched our retail-focused fund, we aspired to bring institutional level research to investors by forming a small, focused team that cares very much about their chosen specialty. We continue to improve upon our processes and look to strengthen our returns going forward.

2022 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on March 24, 2023June 30, 2026 by io-fund

We’ve issued a press release today in BusinessWire on our full year 2022 returns, which you can find here.

Our mission statement is to help Retail beat Wall Street in the challenging sector of technology.

When we set out on this mission, it was purely an experiment. The statistics show that Retail often fails to such a high degree that we felt any improvement here would be worth the attempt.

A few important stats on our Performance:

The I/O Fund announces a cumulative return of 46.92% since inception versus the Nasdaq-100’s 18.65% return during the same time period.
The I/O Fund’s cumulative returns of 46.92% have more than doubled the Nasdaq since 2020 with an outperformance of 28.27%
I/O Fund’s 2022 performance of (38.8%) rivaled the Nasdaq-100 performance of (32.9%)
The I/O Fund’s relative outperformance in 2022 surpassed institutional all-tech portfolios by as much as 85%
Since inception, the I/O Fund has a lead over institutional technology portfolios by as much as 174%

The transition began in May with the analysis “Compartmentalizing Cloud Stocks” and was complete by August.

In a nutshell, this is what that looks like:

Please note, anything stated outside of our performance review are estimates. The only official, verified number we provide is from the Engagement Letter listed below of (38.8%).

AEHR: 6% Allocation in October-December

NFLX: 9% Allocation in October-December

NVDA: 10% Allocation throughout 2022 with active management

Hedging

In an environment where the odds can be stacked against Retail, the I/O Fund is committed to leveraging tools that institutional-level money managers are unable to leverage.

Performance Review

Below is the engagement letter from the firm that reviews and verifies our performance. Our terms and conditions with the accounting firm state that this engagement letter is to only be shared with paying customers. For that reason, our performance letter resides behind our paywall.

With that said, any paying customer can access the engagement letter which is posted on io-fund.com/premium and io-fund.com/essentials for this purpose.

The I/O Fund Experiment

2022 Was Still Negative = The I/O Fund Has More Work to Do

Here is a brief summary, the full list can be found/heard on the webinar.

Lack of flexibility was our number one mistake last year. We need to be more willing to change.
Cold, Hard Facts Vs Hopium. We were ignoring obvious facts and relying on hopium instead (hopium most dangerous around earnings)
100% Offensive instead of a mix of Defensive = put making money above protecting money
Complacent that tech (FAANGs) will always lead
Retiring the term LTBH and simply referring to it as “I/O Fund Portfolio”

How the I/O Fund Sets a High Bar for Accountability

Over the past three years, the I/O Fund has invested over $130,000 into accountability and transparency for our Members. When we launched in July of 2019, for the first year or so, we used a forum hosted by Tribe for our trade alerts, but by January of 2021, we had migrated to SMS and email tools that were the least likely to experience an outage for our real-time trade alerts. This costs us $40,000 per year.

In addition to this, we use an auditor from a large firm in San Francisco to mathematically review and verify the performance of our I/O Fund portfolio trading account and crypto account. The process is quite extensive and it takes up to four months to complete. This costs $4,500 per audit and we’ve completed four audits for a total of $18,000 spent on this process.

2021 Full Year Audited Returns

Posted on April 21, 2022June 30, 2026 by io-fund

We recently released our returns, which continue to be robust despite the risk-off environment in tech. Notably, we are a hyper-growth, high-beta tech fund and we do not switch our positioning by allocating to other industries that might be temporarily in favor, such as energy or commodities. Rather, we believe that tech is the premier sector that is best positioned for long-term growth, and we expect to remain fully allocated to tech throughout the cycle.

However, this doesn’t mean that we do not manage risk, as we constantly look for favorable entries and reduce exposure near tops. We believe that our results highlighted below are strong considering the volatile market in tech during 2021. We discussed our 2021 results during our Q2 2022 Webinar Update, and also discussed our positioning for 2022. For Q2, we believe that we are positioned well to benefit from key trends such as Big Tech Capex, Automotive, and Reduced Cloud Spend and Big Data/Analytics.

Since we are a tech-focused team, we compare our results to leading actively managed tech funds, such as the Ark Innovation ETF and the Morgan Stanley Innovation Inception Fund. As you’ll see in the chart below, we handily beat both of these actively managed funds in a year where high beta tech was out of favor. Notably, this is performance only and excludes dividends, fees and tax distributions.

Our success during the year is attributable to our concentrated holdings in leading industries, such as semiconductors and cryptocurrencies. The I/O Fund made the bold move of placing blockchain assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Chainlink, into our audited portfolio. Furthermore, we held an average 20% allocation to blockchain assets throughout the year, as we actively managed the position but maintained exposure despite the volatility in the risky asset class. You can read our official press release on the 2021 performance here in Business Wire.

Our exposure to semiconductors has also helped us outperformed other active tech funds. For instance, Ark does not have a single semiconductor company in its top 10 holdings, nor its top 20. We view semiconductors as a major component in the broader cloud complex, which provides the necessary infrastructure to drive key trends forward, such as cloud computing and the adoption of electric vehicles. Stated differently, semiconductors are instrumental in technology innovation. While semiconductors have historically been a highly cyclical asset class, we see signs that the industry is becoming more predictable, which deserves a premium valuation.

We also have high exposure to leading cloud stocks, such as Datadog and Snowflake. We purchased Datadog throughout 2021 and booked gains of around 80% during the year, and also purchased and reduced exposure to leading cloud stocks such as Asana. We note that markets tend to overshoot on the way up and on the way down, which is why it is important to manage risk in a highly concentrated tech portfolio.

We believe that our strong performance during a risk-off environment for high-beta tech proves our deep understanding of tech and our ability to structure a winning portfolio. We remain agile in volatile markets and utilize both fundamental and technical research to understand when and where to allocate in tech.

Performance Review:

We launched the I/O Fund on May 9th, 2020 and our performance through the end of the 2020 was 115.5%. Our 1-year returns from May 9th, 2020 to May 9th, 2021 was 236% and our initial audit for a 7-month period during 2021 was 28%. You can view this press release here.

We have now reported a full calendar year of performance:

Our full year returns from January 1st 2021 through December 31st 2021 were 11.4%. These returns were independently audited and highlight the I/O Fund’s ability to deliver favorable results in a period when our sector, high-beta tech, was relatively out of favor. Since inception, our cumulative returns were 141%. We discussed our returns in more detail during our Q2 2022 Premium Webinar Update.

Please note that we do not share the dollar value in our portfolio, so this has been omitted from the report. However, the audited numbers are taken directly from the report shown below. Furthermore, the below performance review takes two to three months to complete, and in this case it took longer. Therefore, we are showing you our 2021 returns today and will update our readers on our 2022 performance in early 2023.

For comparison purposes, we do not calculate total returns on our portfolio. Rather, this is a performance audit that highlights the results from picking stocks, and excludes any fees, dividends and taxes. Total returns from our benchmarks may slightly differ due to dividends, management fees or tax consequences. However, we do take into account the distributions made by the Morgan Stanley Institutional Inception Fund to avoid overly penalizing the mutual fund for year-end distributions. We believe this approach provides a more clear apple-to-apples comparisons of our performance relative to other actively managed funds.

How the I/O Fund Compares:

As noted above, for comparison purposes, we do not calculate total returns on our account. As stated, total returns on Ark Innovation may slightly differ due to dividends and management fees being factored in. In the below table, we highlight a stock-pickers comparison of our performance relative to other funds with no additional income factored in other than stock performance:

We believe that our performance demonstrates our ability to navigate turbulent markets and remain fully invested in tech. While tech may go through periods of high volatility and underperformance, we believe that it will remain the best sector for long-term gains. As such, we remain fully allocated to the sector throughout all cycles but tactfully look to hedge our exposure by moving into stronger industries, such as semiconductors and blockchain tech, when we see signs of strength, and also raising cash when the market appears weak.

We also want to thank our members for believing in a small team that is focused on beating Wall Street. When we launched our retail-focused fund, we aspired to bring institutional level research to investors by forming a small, focused team that cares very much about their chosen specialty. We continue to improve upon on processes and look to strengthen our returns going forward.