I/O Fund is once again proud to announce our record performance. The 1-year return since the inception of our portfolio on May 9, 2020, through May 7, 2021, is 236%, and the year-to-date cumulative return is 28% through July 31, 2021. We either beat $ARKK and other Wall Street Funds by a wide margin or tied the leading funds. After completion of an audit by an independent accounting firm, we are releasing our results.
Beth.Technology was rebranded to I/O Fund earlier this year. I/O Fund stands for input-output and this term is used across all computing. In addition to our recent name change, we have also introduced new features to premium members. Since then, we have been seeing growth in premium memberships globally.
I/O Fund has always shared its wins and losses with its premium members. We have a live portfolio that our members can view and we also send trade notifications to our members. Our intentional transparency builds trust with our members who eagerly await our views on various stocks.
We have developed a niche in tech investing and we continue to strive to be a market leader.
I/O Fund Performance
As you can see in the table below, our performance has far exceeded that of notable Wall Street Funds and broader market indices. For comparison purposes, we do not calculate total returns with dividends or management fees. In the table below, we show you an apples-to-apples comparison with no additional income factored in. As a reminder, this is our second audited result. The first was done earlier this year for the period May 9, 2020 to December 31, 2020, which showed a return of 116%.
Which Trends Worked?
One reason behind I/O Fund’s stellar performance is the firm’s ability to navigate tech trends successfully. We were one of the first to have exposure in blockchain, semiconductors, ad-tech, and cloud before the broader market identified these trends. This advantage led to solid gains when money flowed into these sectors. We were also bold enough to maintain up to 21% exposure in a single category.
We started to build a position on Bitcoin in 2019. I/O Fund successfully weathered the volatility so characteristic of cryptocurrencies by adding near bottoms and trimming near tops. We predicted long-term value in cryptocurrency so we stuck with our investments despite drawdowns. We have also recently launched YO/LO Fund, which is exclusive to cryptocurrency. YO/LO stands for “You Only Live Once” to help encourage our readers to take a chance in the cryptocurrency market. Our premium readers receive regular updates on cryptocurrency.
Since 2019, our firm successfully built a position in Nvidia. Our thesis was that Nvidia would become an AI leader in data centers. Back in 2019, our analysis was highly contested because, at the time, Nvidia’s data center revenues were declining.
More recently, our portfolio stocks have done well, regardless of supply chain-induced panic in the markets. Such curveballs only bolster our steady, strong conviction on a given thesis and we stand firm during market drawdowns.
In addition to our long-term buy and hold (LTBH) portfolio of about 20 positions, we also successful in momentum stocks, which we skillfully enter on a more short-term time frame.
“While most are dreaming of success, winners wake up and work hard to achieve it.” - Anonymous
How the I/O Fund Team Identifies Winners
I/O Fund is led by lead tech analyst Beth Kindig who has over a decade of experience in analyzing technology stocks. She has a large following on Twitter which shows her growing popularity among investors. Earlier in her career, Beth started to write about private companies and her analysis was very well received by readers and she began to garner press for her coverage of tech products in 2014.
Beth’s stock recommendations have been successful because she understands tech better than most financial analysts in the market today. Prolific knowledge and experience from attending tech conferences in Silicon Valley and writing an abundance of white papers and analyst reports for deals in the private sector cemented a strong foundation for her to accurately identify stock winners in the tech sector. She has also worked as an enterprise tech company’s product evangelist where she spoke about tech products to large audiences. She cares deeply about individual investors having access to the same quality of information as institutions in the industry so that they can maneuver the markets as adeptly as institutional entities can.
In the words of Beth Kindig, Founder and CEO of I/O Fund, “At I/O Fund, we believe tech requires a lead analyst with direct yet broad experience in the industry.” She further states, “This makes our investment strategy more advanced and can lead to higher returns.”
Also read:
Up-Close on Strategy with Lead Analyst of the I/O Fund
Podcast: This Week in Startups and I/O Fund on Tech Investing
Knox Ridley is the Portfolio Manager of I/O Fund, who specializes in technical analysis. Tech stocks are volatile and there are often large drawdowns, so technical analysis is equally important. It's crucial to enter a select stock at the right time and sell at the right time. Knox and Beth pooled their money in May 2020 and launched the fund we know today.
