Titan's Mobile Hedge Fund Platform Now Services IRAs

Joe Percoco, co-founder at Titan, an actively managed robo-advisor, discussed increasing opportunities and returns for everyday investors in an interview with Benzinga. 

Background

In 2017, Titan was founded with the goal of financial innovation, leveraging best-in-class execution, clearing, custody and insurance in providing everyday investors access to high-alpha returns.

Via a "Buffett-like" long strategy, the firm invests users directly into a basket of 20 stocks hedged against an inverse S&P 500 fund.

How It Works

“We thought investors were being charged too many fees,” Percoco said. 

Titan sought to simplify investing, he said. 

"The goal was to make it easy, as if the college version of ourselves could invest. You go to the App Store, you download the app, and with a couple of taps, you can invest a minimum of $500.”

The Titan platform itself is investor-centric: users can view portfolio holdings and educational offerings that help demystify stock market investing.

“So, for instance, when Facebook stock collapsed due to one-time issues surrounding privacy, there was a lot of noise out there — a lot of misleading information. We [alerted users] that we didn’t see effects in fundamentals.”

With Titan’s research and education offering, users can stay invested during times of uncertainty and volatility, Titan's co-founder said. 

“Our goal is to outperform for our clients, but we also want to educate them about investing — we don’t just say ‘put your money in and walk away.’”

As a result of Titan’s unique approach, 50% of the user base accesses the app on a weekly basis, he said. 

New Developments

Titan recently launched support for individual retirement accounts.

"Retirement products are really convoluted and complicated. We are excited to launch our version, which is simple, super transparent [and] in-line with the ethos of our company." 

Retirement account holders will have access to Titan’s flagship portfolio of top-performing stocks hedged via ProShares Short S&P 500 Inverse ETF holdings.

Titan charges customers a flat 1% annual advisory fee. 

Going Forward

Titan plans to leverage financial innovations in AI and machine learning to further personalize the investing experience, improving education, transparency and trust.

“If you think about the second half of our business, it’s actually educating people on what their money is doing," Percoco said. 

"[It's a] a clever idea that [involves] having a portfolio manager send 2-minute videos explaining what happened to the market." 

Titan is aiming to increase returns for younger generations of investors, he said. 

"There’s a lot of great passive options, but there’s no active option for our generation. So, next year, obviously, we hope to expand our community — in terms of clients and assets — and then, from there, we hope to launch new financial products and continue to refine the underlying investment experience." 

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Photo courtesy of Titan.