Attack
Offensive ETFs
Funds able to capture the growth of the market when it rises.
The Strategy
Become the best selector in the market
Our philosophy: capture the growth of the markets with ETFs, and step aside when they turn. Two benches, one monthly ranking, four canaries — every decision follows a written rule, none follows a hunch.
Phase 0 — Selection
Two benches, recruited in the first division only
There are about 12,000 ETFs in the world. Team-ETF works with a short bench of them — roughly fifteen offensive and five or six defensive — chosen once a year against five criteria, and revisited only if one disappears.
The five selection criteria
Each month the tactical scheme decides how many places go to attack and how many to defense.
Defense
Defensive ETFs
Funds able to perform when the economy retreats.
Five selection criteria
What it takes to get a shirt
An ETF joins the bench only if it passes all five. The bench is reviewed once a year to admit new candidates.
Liquidity
More than €200M traded per month
We only recruit in the first division: an ETF must be easy to buy and to sell, at any time, without moving its price.
Track record
At least 3 years of history
Enough history to compute a meaningful momentum and to see how the fund behaved through at least one downturn.
Diversity
Low correlation between ETFs
Different sectors and asset classes, so that if one ETF falls, its impact on the whole team stays limited.
Availability
Tradable in your zone
Regulatory constraints differ between the US and Europe, and PEA, PER or life-insurance wrappers add restrictions of their own.
Unit price
Under €300 a share
Affordable units keep the minimum capital low and let the real portfolio track the target allocation closely.
UniverseTop 500 ETFs by volume
Period2015 – 2026, 125 months
Signal12-month performance, refreshed monthly
Phase 1 — Evaluation
Every month, every ETF is ranked on its momentum
Momentum is simply the performance of an ETF over the past twelve months. Each month we compute it for every fund on the bench and sort them from best to worst — that ranking decides who plays. Twelve months rather than six because the performance difference is small while the selection is far more stable, which means fewer trades and lower transaction costs.
- One number per ETF, computed the same way every month
- A ranking, not an opinion
- Stable enough to keep trading costs low
Phase 2 — Constituting the team
The four canaries set the tactical scheme
Four broad ETFs act as canaries — LQD (corporate bonds), EFA (developed markets ex-US), EEM (emerging markets) and AGG (US bonds). Each gets a weighted momentum score: 12 × its 1-month return + 4 × 3-month + 2 × 6-month + 1 × 12-month. A negative score is an alarm. The attack share is always spread over the eight best-ranked offensive ETFs; the number of defensive ETFs equals the number of negative canaries.
Sign up Where does the idea come from?-
Level 1
0 negative — 100% attack
All four canaries are singing. The portfolio is fully invested in the eight best offensive ETFs.
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Level 2
1 negative — 75% attack, 25% defense
One warning. A quarter of the portfolio moves to the best-ranked defensive ETF.
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Level 3
2 negative — 50% attack, 50% defense
Half the portfolio in attack, half in the two best defensive ETFs.
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Level 4
3 negative — 25% attack, 75% defense
Three defensive ETFs carry three quarters of the portfolio.
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Level 5
4 negative — 100% defense
Full retreat into the four best defensive ETFs until the canaries recover.
A special case
The goalkeeper who scores
One ETF can be picked on both benches at once: a bitcoin ETF. Like Rogério Ceni, the São Paulo goalkeeper who scored 131 goals, it defends and attacks — it captures bitcoin’s bursts when they come and sits with the defensive funds when the market turns.
Because it rests on a single asset, its weight is capped at 20% of the portfolio, whatever its ranking says.
Phase 3 — Transactions
Every first of the month, five moves
Done by hand, count one to two focused hours. With the Team-ETF service, the sheet arrives ready and the job takes about five minutes.
Discover the service See a sample month-
Step 1Read the canaries
Compute the four weighted momentum scores and count the negatives: that sets the attack / defense split and the number of defensive ETFs.
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Step 2Rank the bench
Compute the 12-month momentum of every offensive and defensive ETF and sort them.
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Step 3Compute the target allocation
Spread the attack share over the eight best offensive ETFs, the defense share over the selected defensive ones, bitcoin ETF capped at 20%.
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Step 4Sell the excess
Sell the ETFs that leave the team, and trim the positions that are now above their target.
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Step 5Buy what is missing
Buy the newcomers and top up the rest in the right proportions to finish the target portfolio.
The booster
Add capital every month to smooth the ride
The optional booster — strongly recommended — is a recurring contribution: a fixed sum every month, by standing order, on top of the starting capital. As a guide, about 3% of the initial capital per month.
It does not protect against loss, and a falling market will still reduce the value of everything already contributed. What it does is remove the question of timing, and the emotions that come with it.
Four advantages of recurring contributions
- Price smoothing — you buy more units when prices are low, fewer when they are high
- Risk management — no single entry point, so no single bad moment
- Automation and discipline — a standing order, painless, far from the market’s mood swings
- Accessibility — start small and invest from payday
In the backtest below, €10,000 in January 2015 plus €300 a month reached about €208,000 in June 2026 (€48,000 invested), against about €71,000 without contributions. Simulated past performance; see the disclaimer.
Backtest — simulated past performance
What the rules would have done, 2015 – 2026
A backtest applies today’s rules to yesterday’s prices. Universe: top 8 US and top 8 UCITS ETFs, in a securities account. January 2015 to June 2026, 126 months, 2017 excluded because of an abnormal bitcoin year. Momentum signal 12-1 months, monthly rebalancing, four-canary regime filter.
| Team-ETF | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Annualised return | 20.2% | 10.9% |
| Annualised volatility | 17.3% | 15.8% |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.17 | 0.74 |
| Maximum drawdown | −15.4% | −23.9% |
| Capital multiplier | ×7.1 | ×3.0 |
| Over 2005 – 2026 | Full period 19.0% a year, −18.0% max drawdown | Full period 8.9% a year, −51.9% max drawdown |
Simulated past performance (backtest), not the record of a real portfolio. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Figures are gross of taxes and fees, before slippage. Excluding 2017 lowers the result; including it would raise it for reasons that will not repeat. Capital at risk.
Need assistance?
Our team guides you every step of the way
From opening your securities account to your first monthly rebalancing, we are here. Video-call assistance, email support, an answer within 24 hours. You will never be on your own.
Contact us