Titan 2022 Review: Pros, Cons, and Comparisons

– Titan Invest Review –

Titan Invest review offers an active management strategy at a lower cost, plus videos and push notifications with Intel from the firm’s investor relations team.

Titan Invest Review aims to provide all investors with the type of investment management that is typically reserved for the wealthy, through actively managed stock portfolios.

The 1% fee is low when compared to hedge funds and similar offerings.

But investors who want tax strategy, access to financial advisors, or other features may want to look elsewhere.

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Titan Invest at a Glance

Launched in 2018, Titan Invest review offers investors access to four actively managed portfolios.

Their four portfolios offers are:

Titan Flagship

A large-cap, U.S.-focused growth fund.

Titan Opportunities

 A small-cap, U.S.-focused growth fund.

Titan Offshore

 An international growth fund focused on medium to large companies outside of the U.S.

Titan Crypto

An actively managed crypto-only fund.

Titan’s stock portfolios are similar to actively managed mutual funds. However, there are a few key differences to be aware of:

First, Titan doesn’t pool your funds together with other investors, as is the case with both a mutual fund and a traditional hedge fund.

Instead, your money is kept in an individual account and invested according to Titan’s strategies.

Second, Titan’s portfolios are much more concentrated than what you’d find from other growth funds. For example, below you can see the number of stocks held by two of the largest U.S. growth funds, compared to Titan.

Comparison to U.S. Growth Funds  
Fund Name Numbers of Stocks Held
Titan U.S. Flagship 15-25
Vanguard U.S. Growth Fund  
   

Having a more concentrated portfolio means you’re subject to more risk. Of course, there’s also a chance for greater reward.

The key takeaway is that Titan isn’t looking to simply track benchmarks like the S&P 500. Instead, its goal is to provide superior returns with an aggressive strategy.

Titan Key Facts

Fees: 1%
Account minimum: $100
Account types: Individual taxable accounts, Traditional, Roth, SEP and Simple IRAs.
Advisor access: None.
Socially responsible options: None.
Promotions: None.

Titan Flagship Fund Holdings

To get a sense of what stocks and cryptocurrencies Titan holds, I signed up for an account and made a deposit. (You can’t view their holdings without making a deposit.) 

Keep in mind, that Titan typically updates its portfolios quarterly, both changing its holdings and adjusting the size of those holdings. 

As of November 19th, 2021, their Flagship Fund held the following securities:

1. Alphabet (Google)

2. Amazon

3. Apple

3. Autodesk

4. Booking Holdings

5. Charles Schwab

6. Charter

7. Disney

8. Mastercard

9. Meta (Facebook)

10. Microsoft

11. Netflix

12. PayPal

13. ServiceNow

14. Shopify

15. Thermo Fisher

16. Transdigm Group

17. Twilio

18. Uber

They also use the ProShares Short S&P 500 ETF as a hedge against the S&P 500. This fund rises when the S&P 500 falls. The ETF has a .9%. expense ratio.

Your level of hedge is determined by your risk tolerance. Titan has three risk tolerance classifications: conservative, moderate, and aggressive.

As this ETF has an expense ratio of its own — which is in addition to Titan’s management fee — it slightly increases your overall costs. 

Risk Tolerance Level of Hedge Total Fee
Conservative 10% 1.09%
Moderate 5% 1.045%
Aggressive 0% 1%

During downturns in the market, Titan increases the amount of hedge to 20%/10%/5%.

However, the company doesn’t specify the exact criteria they use to determine a downturn and trigger this change in ratio.

Titan Crypto Fund Holdings

1. Algorand

2. Avalanche

3. Bitcoin

4. Cardano

5. Chainlink

6. Ethereum

7. Polygon

8. Ren

9. Solana

10. Sushiswap

11. Terra

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Titan Invest Pros & Cons Explained

Here we have the pros and cons of Titan Invest. Please, kindly study them carefully:

Titan Invest Pros

Titan Invest pros are many. Some of them include:

$100 Account Minimum

 While a $100 minimum isn’t particularly noteworthy in the actively managed portfolio space, it does stand out in the crypto fund space.

Most crypto funds are only available if you’re an accredited investor and have minimums in the tens of thousands.

Note that there is a $10,000 minimum for the Titan Opportunities and Titan Offshore funds.

Zero Performance Fees

A popular fee structure in the hedge fund space is a “2 and 20” model, where the fund charges a 2% management fee and a 20% performance fee.

Titan charges no performance fee.

Offers IRA Accounts

 This is true for even their crypto fund, which provides investors a simple way to get broad crypto exposure without having to open a self-directed IRA and manage a portfolio themselves.

SIPC Insured up to $500,000

 Many hedge funds do not offer any type of SPIC insurance. 

Titan Invest Cons

Below are Titan Invest cons. Kindly study them carefully:

High Degree of Risk

Titan’s investing strategy is very different from what you’ll find with a traditional Robo-advisor, which typically aims to create a portfolio that offers more upside with less risk than a standard balanced index fund approach.

Titan is different in that they’re trying to offer the best returns of any potential strategy.

That means it’s best suited for an investor with a high-risk tolerance. 

1% Management Fee for Accounts over $10,000

The average expense ratio of similar funds is 1.22%, so Titan’s 1% fee is on the low side.

However, the fee also increases based on the level of hedge you’re assigned.

Keep in mind that this fee is charged whether or not Titan outperforms the market. 

$5 per Month Fee for Accounts under $10,000

 While you can start investing with $100, this fee means you’re essentially paying 5% per month to do so (which is exorbitant).

If you do the math, a $1,000 balance would have a 6% annual fee. In other words, investors with a low balance will pay a high fee.

And, remember, there’s no guarantee your investment will outperform a zero-fee ETF.

Their Track Record is very Limited

Titan’s Flagship fund was launched in 2018, and all of its other funds were launched in 2021.

While the Flagship Fund has outperformed its benchmark (the S&P 500) since its inception, it’s still a very limited time frame.

Limited to Equities and Crypto

While Titan aims to offer hedge-fund-like strategies to everyday investors, the only asset classes they invest in are individual stocks and crypto.

As we will see, there was a substantial benefit to being early and having the ability to find skilled managers” (source).

While Titan often refers to itself as being similar to a hedge fund, it misses out on many key asset classes leveraged by the hedge fund.

And it’s in those alternative asset classes where hedge funds often have the biggest advantage.

It’s Tax-inefficient

There’s a lot more turnover within one’s portfolio with the way Titan invests, compared to alternatives like index funds.

High turnover can lead to paying more taxes when you’re investing via a taxable account.

Titan Invest Alternatives

Some of the most prominent Titan Invest alternatives include M1 Finance, traditional Robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront, and actively managed mutual funds. Here’s a look at each.

Titan Invest Vs. M1 Finance

While M1 Finance doesn’t aim to mimic a hedge fund, it does offer a limited number of aggressive portfolios.

These portfolios, named “Hedge Fund Followers,” replicate the trades of some of the largest hedge funds in the world. 

How they replicate the trades is that hedge funds file a document called a 13F each quarter. This publicly available document lists their most recent holdings, as well as their allocations. 

Once a 13F is filed, M1 updates its portfolios to reflect changes made over the last quarter. This means traders can be up to 90 days behind the hedge funds they track. 

Titan Invest Vs. Wealthfront and Betterment

Titan is often compared to Robo advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment, but these companies are vastly different in their strategies.

A Robo advisor’s goal is to take a balanced, optimized portfolio of primarily low-cost index-based ETFs and maintain it by making small adjustments over time.

Titan, on the other hand, attempts to offer the best returns available through a condensed portfolio of individual stocks. 

Titan’s goal is to create an investment portfolio that is fundamentally different than what you’ll find with typical Robo advisors.

Titan Invest Vs. Xantos Labs

Xantos Labs is one company that closely mimics what Titan has to offer. 

Like Titan, they provide hedge fund-style investing to everyday investors. They do so with a concentrated equity strategy of 20-25 holdings and charge the same 1% fee.

To date, their team has outpaced Titan in terms of returns with their Core Fund. However, they’re a smaller company, with just over $2,000,000 in assets under management at this time. 

Titan Invest Vs. Actively Managed Mutual Funds

What Titan offers on the equity side is very similar to what you’d get with an actively managed mutual fund. 

There are thousands of different actively managed funds. Similar to Titan, most actively managed funds have a benchmark they’re trying to beat, such as the S&P 500.

As noted earlier in this review, one thing Titan does differently than many actively managed funds holds a more concentrated selection of stocks.

They hold only 15-25 different equities at a time, while many of the world’s largest actively managed funds hold hundreds of stocks at a time.

Is Titan Invest Right for You?

The question I come back to with Titan is where it fits in one’s overall investment strategy.

Specifically, out of the amount you have allocated to equities, would it be wise to allocate a portion of that to a more aggressive strategy like the ones Titan leverages?

The short answer is that you should treat an investment in Titan’s equity portfolio similar to investing in individual stocks.

A small allocation — say 5% to 10% of your total investment — is reasonable. Anything beyond that carries significant downside risk and is not appropriate for the average investor. 

My main issue here is that good equity managers have historically been very hard to select.

Read Further

The left side of the chart below shows the difference between the managers in the 25th percentile of returns vs. those in the 75h percentile for traditional equities (e.g., stocks and bonds).

With only a small performance spread separating managers, one can conclude that it’s difficult picking an equity fund manager who will consistently outperform.

On the right of the chart, you’ll see the spread between managers of more alternative asset classes. It’s here where the spreads become wide, and therefore, where it becomes easier to identify the best manager.

Titan, however, doesn’t invest in alternatives — with the exception of crypto.

How Does Titan Work?

Titan actively manages your investment portfolio for you using its unique software and hedging strategy.

As it manages your account, it’ll send you real-time updates (as messages and videos) explaining movements in the market that drive its investment strategy.

Unlike a traditional hedge fund, Titan doesn’t add your money to a pool with other investors and make decisions for the whole fund.

Your money lives in your own investment account, and Titan manages your portfolio according to your specific investment goals and risk tolerance.

Steps to Start Investing with Titan

The 4 steps to starting investing with Titan are:

1. Open an Account

2. Transfer a minimum of $100 for your first investment.

3. Titan manages your portfolio actively.

4. Get real-time updates about changes affecting your portfolio.

To get started with Titan, you can create your account online or through the Titan app.

You’ll need to transfer a minimum of $100 in capital from a linked bank account to start investing.

The money you transfer into your Titan account goes into a Titan Cash account, a cash management account that holds your money before it’s invested. T

Titan will invest your money using a combination of four investment strategies based on your account balance, investment goals and risk tolerance.

As it works for you, Titan advisers will keep you updated about what’s going on in the market and how it’s driving the firm’s investment strategy.

So you’ll be privy to top-of-class investment research without doing the legwork or spending all day under the glow of a Bloomberg Terminal.

How Titan Invests Your Money

Like the hedge funds it emulates, Titan aims to grow your capital at a high rate of return through investments in stocks.

Unlike many brokerage apps, its portfolios don’t include bonds or exchange-traded funds.

Titan uses the Flagship strategy for all investors, and you can opt into the Crypto strategy, regardless of the size of your account.

It’ll let you include the Opportunities and Offshore strategies once you’ve deposited at least $10,000 into your Titan account or made two referrals to the app.

Advantages of Titan Invest

Considering the fact that so many investors are flocking toward Titan’s services, there’s obviously plenty to be excited about.

Here are the biggest advantages to working with the firm:

Low Cost Compared to Typical Hedge Funds

 Hedge funds and other active investment managers generally charge performance fees.

Sometimes, these fees can be as high as 20% of the profits earned.

Compared to these funds, Titan’s 1% per year and $5 monthly fees are far easier to swallow. 

Not Just Available to Accredited Investors

 Aggressive strategies that lead to gains that significantly outpace the market are typically only accessible by high net worth individuals and other big-money investors.

The Titan Invest platform makes these exclusive returns available to the masses. 

Compelling Performance

Titan has only been around a few years, but in that time it has generated multiples of the average market returns.

The potential to consistently and significantly outperform the market is very appealing to investors. 

Referral Program

Titan offers an opportunity to get rid of fees entirely and unlock the Titan Opportunities portfolio without the $10,000 minimum investment through its referral program.

Refer two members and you’ll have access to the Opportunities portfolio with a minimum investment of $100. Refer four new members and you’ll get rid of your advisory fees entirely.

Even if you only refer one person to the platform, you’ll enjoy a 25-basis-point (0.25%) reduction in your annual fee. 

Disadvantages of Titan Invest

So far, Titan may seem like a platform built of sunshine and rainbows.

But there are some dark clouds in the sky to consider too. 

High Risk

The strategies used by the pros at Titan Invest are high-risk/high-reward strategies.

Without the use of fixed-income investments and heavy diversification, conservative investors with a low-risk tolerance or investors with a short time horizon who can’t afford to absorb market downturns will find the volatility associated with the strategy to be a turnoff. 

High Cost Compared to Robo-Advisors

While there are no performance fees, investing with Titan is more expensive than the average Robo-advisor.

For example, Betterment charges a management fee of 0.25% per year, which makes 1% seem like an exorbitantly high fee.

For smaller accounts, $5 per month can actually be pretty pricey. To put it into perspective, if you have a $500 starting balance, $5 per month works out to annual fees of 12%.

Account Minimums

All Titan accounts have a $100 minimum investment, which isn’t a big deal.

However, if you want access to the Opportunities portfolio, you’ll need to maintain a minimum balance of $10,000, which is too high for some investors. 

Lacks Additional Features

Titan Invest doesn’t offer tax-loss harvesting, financial advisors, or financial planning, all of which are generally available when working with the company’s competitors.

Features of Titan Invest

Titan Invest Review has the following unique characteristics. Kindly study them carefully:

Minimum Investments

The most important difference between Titan and a typical hedge fund is the barrier to entry.

Traditional hedge funds are accessible only to accredited investors, who have an income of at least $200,000 per year or $1 million net worth. Titan drops that restriction.

To invest with Titan, you have to make a minimum initial investment of just $100 and be based in the United States.

Titan Fees

Similar to most traditional and online Titan Invest Review charge an advisory fee that depends on the size of your account

You’ll pay a fixed monthly fee of $5 from your linked bank account until you’ve deposited a net of $10,000.

After you’ve deposited more than $10,000, you’ll pay an annual advisory fee of 1% of your assets under management with Titan, paid monthly from your Titan account.

Like most financial services, Titan Invest Review charges additional fees for some uncommon actions, including:

Debit card transfers: 0.25%

Outgoing wire transfer: $25 domestic, $50 foreign

Outgoing ACAT transfers $75

Paper statements: $5 per statement

IRA termination: $60

Socially Responsible Portfolio Options

Titan doesn’t offer any socially responsible investing (SRI) or ESG investment strategies.

Retirement Account Options

Through Titan, you can open a taxable account, an IRA, or both. It offers traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRAs.

An IRA lets you invest up to an annual max amount ($6,000 as of 2022) in a tax-advantaged investment account.

Contributions to a traditional IRA are tax-deferred until you withdraw.

Contributions to a Roth IRA are taxed now but not when you withdraw.

College Savings Account

Titan doesn’t offer a 529 college savings account plan.

Tax Strategy

Titan doesn’t use tax-loss harvesting in its investment strategy, as advisers that trade in ETFs do.

Tax-loss harvesting is a type of rebalancing that offsets your total capital gains by selling similar assets at a loss.

Brokers are able to do this with funds like ETFs but not single stocks, as Titan trades.

Automatic Rebalancing

With a typical investment strategy, a Robo-adviser, human adviser or you would check in on your portfolio about once a quarter to see whether the proportions of your investments still match your goals and risk profile.

That’s because those proportions can be thrown out of whack when certain stocks grow and others lose value.

That could have a big portion of your portfolio invested in one business sector, for example, which increases your risk for loss if that sector tanks.

Human Advisor Option

Investing with Titan connects you with an investment team of real, human-registered investment advisers, who actively manage client portfolios based on four set strategies.

As a Titan Invest Review client, you’ll get updates from the firm’s advisers about activity in the world of business and finance that affects their investment decisions.

But you won’t have direct access to a dedicated adviser for personalized professional financial advice.

Cash Management Account

Your Titan Cash account is a secure cash management account that holds any money you deposit to Titan until you choose to invest it (manually or automatically).

The Titan Cash account is only used to hold your funds for investment and doesn’t come with banking features, like a debit card or ATM access.

Customer Support Options

While you don’t have a dedicated financial adviser with the firm, you can reach out anytime for assistance from Titan’s investor relations team.

Email the firm at: [email protected]

Or find the team on social media at:

Twitter: @titanvest

Facebook: @titanvest

Instagram: @titanvest

The firm doesn’t list a customer service phone number.

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FAQs on Titan Invest Review

Users often asked a plethora of questions about Titan Invest Review. We have answered some of the questions here.

Kindly study them carefully:


1. Is Titan Investing Good?

Yes, Titan Investment is good, especially for investors who want an actively managed stock portfolio.


2. Is Titan Invest Safe?

All investments come with some amount of risk of losing value, and hedge-fund strategies tend to carry greater risk in exchange for higher potential returns.
However, your money with Titan is protected, like all investment accounts, against business failure through SIPC insurance up to $500,000. Crypto assets in a Titan account aren’t covered by SIPC insurance.


3. Which app is Best for Investing?

The best app for investing is Merrill Edge.


4. What is the minimum investment for Titan?

$100 is the minimum investment for Titan. Titan Invest Review offers a low account minimum of $100, especially given the strategy, and charges a 1% annual fee on balances of $10,000 or more.


5. What is Titan Cryptocurrency?

Titan Crypto is an actively managed portfolio of cryptoassets that we believe are positioned for outstanding long-term returns with minimal correlation to U.S. equities and with attractive hedging qualities.


6. What is Titan Flagship?

Flagship is our award-winning, U.S. large-cap strategy. We aim to invest Flagship clients in high-quality companies that can compound capital at a rate in excess of the S&P 500.


7. What is Titan app?

The Titan mobile app is the main platform used by clients. In fact, the service operates more smoothly on the app and you’ll have access to research libraries and customer service.


8. What is ETF Trading?

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of securities that trade on an exchange just like a stock does.
ETF share prices fluctuate all day as the ETF is bought and sold; this is different from mutual funds, which only trade once a day after the market closes.


9. What is AUM Growth?

Assets Under Management refers to the total market value of the assets that a mutual fund manages at a given point in time.
AUM includes the returns a mutual fund has made on its investment as well as the capital a manager has at disposal to make new investments.


10. What is a Hedge Fund Company?

Hedge funds are actively managed investment pools whose managers use a wide range of strategies, often including buying with borrowed money and trading esoteric assets, in an effort to beat average investment returns for their clients.


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StudentsandScholarship Team.

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