Free, independent investment analysis
Your investment has a sales pitch. Get a second opinion.
See what a performance chart might leave out: the biggest historical losses, how long recovery took, and what the numbers can—and cannot—tell you. Explore a free example, or analyze an investment's monthly returns.
- Free
- No account
- Transparent methodology
Investment snapshot
Sample fund, Jan 2015 to Dec 2024
Consistent, steady growth
Except here: -27.32%, and still below its June 2020 high 54 months later.
- Growth over 10 years
- +37.02%
- Every 100 invested became 137.
- Biggest historical drop
- -27.32%
- From its June 2020 high to June 2022.
- Time to recover
- Not yet
- Still below its June 2020 high when the data ends, 54 months later.
An illustrative, synthetic example
See what a headline return leaves out.
The same made-up fund, two ways: the figures a pitch might quote, and the historical measurements a second opinion adds. The full sample in the tool is a different synthetic fund, analyzed the same way.
What the pitch shows
Investor presentation- 8.78% a year
- Smooth and steady growth
- Sharpe ratio of 2.38
Growth over 8 years, as a pitch would chart it.
What a second opinion adds
Same fund, full record- Biggest historical drop
- -8.85%, from its March 2020 high to June 2020.
- Time to get back to the previous high
- 17 months, back at its March 2020 level in August 2021.
- Worth a closer look
- The returns look smoothed: each month tends to repeat the one before. That can make an investment look steadier than it really is, so its risk figures are probably understated. 4 months were also extreme compared with the rest of the record.
- Allowing for the smoothing, the headline score the pitch quotes falls from 2.38 to 1.57.
What does this mean?
The Sharpe ratio is a popular score: return earned for each unit of ups and downs. When returns are smoothed, part of the ups and downs is hidden, so the score looks better than it should.
OpenFactsheet also reports a version adjusted for this (Lo, 2002). The smoothing shows up as a month-to-month correlation of 0.54 (values near zero are typical for investments priced daily by a market). Both versions use a 0% risk-free rate.
Illustrative example, not a real fund. Built from synthetic returns; every figure is computed by the openfactsheet library from its 96 monthly returns.
Who chose these figures?
Why get a second opinion?
A fund factsheet can also be used as a marketing document. Ask who selected the figures and periods. EU regulators list factsheets as marketing communications.E1 That doesn't make them false, but it does mean someone chose what to show you, from which date, and compared with what.
More than 9 in 10
0%
$29,000
More research, with editions and dates, is on the evidence page.
Watch the explainer
OpenFactsheet, explained.
What OpenFactsheet does, and why a factsheet is worth a second opinion.
The video plays from YouTube. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you press play.
How it works.
Explore our sample in about a minute, with no file. When you want to check a real investment, bring its monthly returns. No account, no finance degree, no coding.
- 1
Try our example
See a complete report built from synthetic monthly returns. Nothing to find, prepare or upload.
Run the example - 2
Use monthly returns to check your investment
Find the investment's monthly returns, then upload a CSV or Excel file or paste the table. It's analyzed on your device.
Where do I find them? - 3
Read the result and its limitations
Plain language first, every detail if you want it, and a clear note on what the numbers can't tell you.
Three common factsheet traps.
See all 10 tricks1The lucky start date
A return quoted "since" a date that happens to be a low point.
Illustration, not a real fund
6.91% a year since July 2022
Measured from just after the bottom of its biggest fall. Over the full 10 years it grew 3.20% a year, and its worst 12 months were -19.61%.
Synthetic sample fund. Both figures computed by the openfactsheet library from the same monthly returns.
3Before-fee returns
Gross figures look better than what an investor actually receives.
Illustration, not a real fund
Strong long-term growth*
*“Gross” means before fees, not what an investor received. In the SEC's own example, a 1% yearly fee instead of 0.25% leaves about $29,000 less after 20 years on $100,000.E4
*Performance shown gross of fees.
7The too-smooth line
Hard-to-value assets can report returns smoother than reality, so risk looks low.
Illustration, not a real fund
Smooth and steady growth
Sharpe ratio of 2.38
Returns look smoothed: each month tends to repeat the last (autocorrelation 0.54). Corrected for that, the score is 1.57.
Illustrative smoothed series. Figures computed by the openfactsheet library.
What we show.
The standard report includes every applicable measure, and explains any that can't be calculated from your data.
The worst historical loss
How far it fell from a previous high, and when.
The wait to recover
How many months it took to get back to that high, or that it hasn't yet.
How consistent the returns were
Not just how often months were up, but how large the losses were next to the gains.
A benchmark comparison, when you supply one
Only when you add the monthly returns of a suitable benchmark covering the same months.
How reliable each estimate is
Short or smoothed records get flagged, based on the supplied data.
Technical detail, if you want it
All 102 measurements, from return relative to variability to tail risk, one tab away.
Make them prove it.
If an investment charges more than a low-cost index alternative, it should show you, in after-fee, risk-adjusted terms, that the extra fee bought something.
Not an outlook. Not a theme. Not a story. Evidence.
- After costs, the average actively managed dollar must earn less than the market.E5
- Research has found that few active funds earn enough extra to cover their costs, and that skill is hard to tell apart from luck.E6
- One study estimates investors earned about 1.2 percentage points a year less than the funds they owned, largely because of when they bought and sold.E7
- Investors react to visible upfront charges but largely ignore ongoing yearly fees.E12
The debate
What should every factsheet show?
Our proposed checklist has these, and five more. Should they be required? Tell people what you think.
- 1Returns after all feesWhat an investor actually received, shown alongside any before-fee figure.
- 2The full history, and every calendar yearFrom launch to today, plus each complete calendar year, not a chosen start date.
- 3Yearly returns next to any cumulative figureA total over many years means little without the return per year.
- 4The worst fall, and how long it took to recoverThe biggest drop from a previous high, when it happened, and the months it took to get back.
- 5Risk-adjusted return, with the method statedReturn per unit of risk, and exactly how it was calculated.
Why trust the calculations?
The same conventions, every time
Every investment is measured with the same published rules, decided in advance. Nobody picks the flattering period or the convenient ratio, including us.
Open methodology
The formulas, conventions and code are public and versioned, so anyone can check how each number was produced.
Data-quality warnings
Gaps, smoothed or stale returns and unusual months are flagged before anything is measured, and a short track record is labelled as such.
Honest about its limits
OpenFactsheet analyzes the returns you supply. It can't verify that they are complete or correct, and it never says whether an investment is right for you.
- No advertising
- No affiliation with any fund manager or seller
- No data collection
OpenFactsheet does not rate, rank or recommend investments, and it is not investment advice. It shows the historical evidence, laid out the same way every time.
Explore all 102 measurements in the methodologyOpen-source Python library
For developers & finance professionals
The same calculations as this site, in an open-source Python library (Apache-2.0) for due diligence, reproducible research and integrations, under one versioned methodology.
Your money deserves more than a sales pitch.
Explore our sample in about a minute, then check an investment you're considering. Free, and no account.