The questions people ask before they commit

From €1,000 of starting capital, deposited in your own securities account. A recurring monthly contribution is optional but strongly recommended — about 3% of the starting capital per month is a useful guide.

No. Your capital stays in a securities account opened in your own name, with your own broker. Team-ETF never holds client funds and never places orders on your account.

We recommend Interactive Brokers or Swissquote. Your own bank is also possible — compare its transaction and custody fees first, because they weigh on a strategy that trades once a month.

Yes, as long as it gives you access to the ETFs on the bench. Many people prefer to open an account dedicated to the strategy, so that the monthly sheet and the account line up exactly.

Yes, at any time. Regular additions suit the method better than occasional large ones: a standing order from payday smooths your purchase prices, dilutes timing risk and keeps emotions out of the decision.

At any time, in part or in full. Funds in a securities account are available whenever you want them; nothing in the service locks them in. The method is built for a long horizon, but that is your choice, not a constraint.

Team-ETF launches on the securities account, which is the only wrapper that gives access to the full bench (US and UCITS ETFs). Versions for other wrappers are to come [to confirm]; each of them restricts the ETFs available.

An allocation sheet for your universe (for example Team-ETF Europe, UCITS). It shows the regime of the month (say 100% attack / 0% defense), the breadth (how many of the four canaries are negative), the offensive pocket with its weights, the defensive pocket, the ETFs to sell entirely, and the residual cash.

Three steps on the sheet: you enter your current portfolio value, you sell the ETFs that leave the portfolio, and you adjust the quantities of the others to match the target. Then you close the sheet until next month.

No. You place the orders yourself, in your own account. Team-ETF never has access to your funds. Fully automatic execution is being worked on and will probably be available in early 2027; it is not part of the service at launch.

You need to know how to place a buy or a sell order on your broker, and we can show you that on a video call. Everything else — the selection, the ranking, the allocation — is done for you and explained in plain language.

Apply the next sheet when it arrives. Each sheet is a complete target allocation, so following it brings your account back in line. Skipping months does mean your portfolio drifts from the method in the meantime.

Answers by email within 24 hours, and video-call support on appointment — from opening the securities account to your first monthly transactions.

About one to two hours a month, with focus: computing twelve-month performances for the whole bench, ranking them, checking the four canaries, working out the target quantities and placing the orders. The rules are public; the discipline of doing it every month is the hard part.

Two benches of ETFs selected once a year — an attack bench of offensive ETFs and a defense bench of defensive ETFs. Every month, each ETF is ranked on its twelve-month performance (momentum), four “canary” ETFs decide the split between attack and defense, and the portfolio is brought to that target. Every rule is written down before it runs.

Momentum ranks ETFs by their recent performance and keeps the leaders. Twelve months gives a more stable selection than shorter windows — performance differs little between six and twelve months, but twelve months means fewer changes and fewer transaction costs. In our backtest over the 500 most-traded ETFs (2015–2026, 125 months), the top-10 momentum ETFs returned on average 2.82% the following month against 0.27% for the bottom 10. Simulated past performance (backtest). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Figures are gross of taxes and fees. Capital at risk.

Four broad ETFs used as an early-warning signal, after Keller & Keuning (2018): LQD (US corporate bonds), EFA (developed markets ex-US equities), EEM (emerging-market equities) and AGG (US aggregate bonds). Each gets a weighted momentum score; when it turns negative, that canary raises an alarm. Zero alarms: 100% attack. One: 75% attack, 25% defense. Two: 50/50. Three: 25/75. Four: 100% defense.

The attack share is always spread across the eight best-ranked offensive ETFs. The number of defensive ETFs equals the number of negative canaries — two alarms, for instance, means the two best-ranked defensive ETFs. Typically between eight and twelve lines.

A bitcoin ETF can sit on both benches, attack and defense — our goalkeeper who also scores. Because it rests on a single asset, its weight is capped at 20% of the portfolio whatever its ranking.

Once a year, on five criteria: high liquidity (more than €200M traded per month), at least three years of track record, sector diversity and low correlation between them, availability in your zone and wrapper, and a unit price under €300 so that the allocation can be tracked closely with modest capital. The bench is reviewed case by case if an ETF disappears.

No. It is a set of rules applied with discipline, not a promise. Our backtest from 2015 to June 2026 (2017 excluded) shows an annualised return of 20.2% against 10.9% for the S&P 500, with a maximum drawdown of -15.4% against -23.9%. Simulated past performance (backtest). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Figures are gross of taxes and fees. Capital at risk.

No. Team-ETF publishes a standardised, rules-based allocation that is the same for every subscriber. We make no personal recommendation, and nothing on this site is investment advice.

A one-off registration fee of €1,200 and an annual subscription of €570 at the launch price (€770 standard) [to confirm]. There is no commission on gains.

Two, and neither goes to us: the transaction fees your broker charges on each order, and the running costs built into each ETF (its expense ratio, deducted from the ETF price). Both are among the reasons we recommend comparing brokers and select liquid, low-cost ETFs.

The registration fee and the annual subscription are charged when you subscribe; the subscription is then renewed yearly [to confirm].

Your subscription stops at the end of the paid period [to confirm]. Your ETFs stay in your own account: keep them, sell them, or carry on applying the method yourself.

Yes. ETFs follow markets, and markets fall: the S&P 500 lost 52% in 2008–09 and 22% in both 2020 and 2022. The defensive bench and the canaries are there to reduce your exposure to such periods; they cannot remove it. Team-ETF manages process risk — it cannot remove market risk.

In the backtest, the deepest fall from a peak was -15.4% between 2015 and June 2026 (2017 excluded) and -18.0% over 2005–2026, against -23.9% and -51.9% for the S&P 500. A future drawdown can be deeper than anything seen in the past. Simulated past performance (backtest). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Figures are gross of taxes and fees. Capital at risk.

No. The canaries react to what has already happened in the market, so the switch to defense always comes with a delay, and defensive ETFs can fall too. Expect to be partly exposed at the start of a downturn and partly out at the start of a recovery.

Yes, when you hold ETFs priced in US dollars or tracking dollar assets from a euro account. Movements in the euro–dollar rate add to, or subtract from, the performance of the ETF itself.

Nothing changes in your account, because your ETFs were never with us. You keep the last allocation sheet and can carry on managing the portfolio yourself or sell the positions.

In France, gains realised in a securities account (CTO) are taxed each year at the 30% flat tax — 12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social charges. Deposits are unlimited, funds are available at any time and all ETFs, US and UCITS, are eligible. This is a description of the general rule; consult a tax adviser for your own situation.

They can be, with constraints. PEA: gains exempt while held, 17.2% social charges only after five years, €150,000 ceiling, synthetic UCITS ETFs only. PER: deductible contributions, but locked until retirement. Life insurance: 30% flat tax, or 24.7% after eight years with a €4,600/€9,200 allowance, and only the UCITS ETFs of your contract. Team-ETF launches on the securities account; other wrappers are to come [to confirm]. Consult a tax adviser.

In a securities account, each sale that realises a gain counts towards the year’s taxable gains, and losses can offset them. This is one reason the method uses a twelve-month signal: fewer changes, fewer sales. Your tax adviser can tell you what it means for you.

Rules differ significantly between countries, including on how ETFs and dividends are taxed and what must be declared. Check the rules where you are resident and speak to a tax adviser — we cannot do this for you.

Your broker does: it holds the account and issues the annual statements you need for your declaration. Team-ETF has no access to your account and issues no tax documents [to confirm].

Yes. Your money never left your own account, so leaving needs no one’s permission. Send us a written request to end the subscription; there is no minimum holding period on your capital.

No. They are yours. Keep them, sell them, or keep applying the last allocation you received — whatever suits you.