Titan basics
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Minimum investment |
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Management fees |
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Asset classes | Stocks |
Account types available |
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Features |
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Distributions | Withdraw money at any time, minimum $100
(IRAs are subject to IRS rules about early withdrawals from retirement accounts) |
Best for... | Investors willing to pay higher fees than a traditional robo-advisor for an actively managed, hedge fund-style investment account |
What is Titan?
Titan is a New York-based investment advisor registered with the SEC. The company's inception took place in 2017 and was co-founded by Clayton Gardner, Max Bernardy, and Joe Percoco. Between the three of them, the co-founders worked for hedge funds, major investment banks, and tech startups before founding Titan.
Titan is unique because it's not a hedge fund, though it has an investment strategy like one. It's also not a robo-advisor, because there's no algorithm used to manage your investments. Real investment advisors with experience working for hedge funds and investment banks make active decisions about how the money in the Titan portfolios is invested.
What does Titan offer?
Titan allows you to make an instant deposit into an individual investment account. Your money will be maintained separately from other investors, and you can invest in one of two actively managed portfolios of investments: Titan Flagship, Titan Opportunities, Titan Offshore, and Titan Crypto.
- Titan Flagship is the default option open to any investor. This portfolio invests in large-cap U.S. growth companies with the goal of beating the S&P 500 benchmark. Investor with any Titan Invest account type can put money into Titan Flagship.
- Titan Opportunities invests in small and mid-size U.S. companies that present more risk but also provide opportunities for potentially higher returns. It's only open to investors with $10,000 or more invested with Titan.
- Titan Offshore invests in non-U.S. based companies in what Titan identifies as emerging and developed markets around the globe.
- Titan Crypto invests in crypto assets. It is an actively managed portfolio that includes regular rebalancing and tactical trading. Titan's goal with this portfolio is to achieve long-term investment returns. A minimum investment of $100 is required.
Unlike most robo-advisors, Titan doesn't put your money into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are low-fee mutual funds that aim to mimic the performance of the stock market as a whole or to track various segments of it. Instead, Titan uses a team of investment professionals — many of whom have hedge fund experience — to select around twenty stocks to invest in for each of their two investment portfolios.
This means that Titan actively manages your investments in these portfolios. There are important differences when it comes to active vs. passive investing. Passively managed funds track specific market indexes or sectors, so stocks are selected automatically, as opposed to by investment professionals. For example, an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 would be invested in the stocks that make up the S&P.
When you invest with Titan, you'll have an ownership interest in each of the 20 or so stocks in your portfolio that Titan's investment team individually selected. These stocks change over time, as Titan's investment team identifies better opportunities. The investment managers continually review large companies (for the Flagship portfolio) and small or mid-size companies (for the Opportunities portfolio) and make changes to the mix of stocks as they identify companies they believe present a better risk versus reward balance.
The investment team also creates a personalized hedge to protect investors, based on their risk tolerance and financial profiles. Essentially, this hedging means that they put some of your money in investments likely to go up if the stocks they've picked for you go down. The goal is to minimize potential risk and better navigate market volatility.
With the Titan Flagship portfolio, the company invests between 0% to 20% of your money in an inverse S&P ETF (depending on your risk tolerance and whether the Titan team believes the market is in a downturn). With the Opportunities portfolio, an inverse Russell 2000 ETF is used as the hedge. These investments generally go up in value as the S&P 500 or Russell 2000 market index go down.
Although Titan Invest doesn't have strict withdrawal rules as traditional hedge funds do, the company urges you to have patience as investing for the long-term could help to reduce risk. Of course, investing in individual companies is always going to be riskier than ETFs so you'll need to be willing to gamble more with your money for potentially higher returns if you choose Titan Invest.
Who can open an account with Titan?
Any U.S. citizen, green card holder, or valid visa holder who is 18 or older with a valid Social Security number and a U.S. legal address can open an account with Titan. However, you will need to make a $100 minimum investment for a taxable brokerage account or a $500 minimum investment to open an IRA.
Before opening an account with Titan, it's also important you understand the added risk of investing in portfolios made up of a limited number of stocks chosen by individuals instead of ETFs that are often made up of hundreds of stocks and track an industry or index. Research shows that it is difficult for individuals to beat the market over time. As a result, many actively managed funds underperform the market as a whole in the long term.
If you are already well-diversified and want to put a portion of your money into a higher risk option with the potential to beat the market, you might be interested in letting Titan Invest actively manage some of your money.
How much can you earn with Titan?
Titan claims its Flagship fund has earned a 10.72% annualized return rate and has outperformed the S&P 500 as well as several other popular robo-advisors. However, there is no guarantee your investments will earn the same rate of return.
In fact, whenever you invest, there's an inherent risk that you could lose money. The risk of potential losses is greater with an actively managed fund that invests in just a few stocks, compared with an ETF. But the potential reward is greater too.
Your earnings will ultimately depend on how the assets you're invested in perform, the amount of risk you are willing to take on, and the fees you have to pay. That said, Titan does provide an opportunity to offset the fees you pay by making referrals.
Each eligible referral has a chance of awarding you between $25 and $10,000 in stocks or cryptocurrency while giving the person you referred 100 days to use Titan for free. An important disclosure Titan makes is that the probability of winning higher amounts is progressively smaller.
FAQs
Is it good to invest in Titan?
Whether it's good to invest with Titan depends on your personal investment goals:
- If you are interested in paying a $5 monthly fee or 1% fee to invest in their actively managed portfolios and take a chance at beating the market, investing in Titan might make sense for you. These fees are far lower than the standard asset management plus performance fees that a typical hedge fund charges. Titan could provide you access to a hedge-fund-style investment, even if you couldn't invest in a traditional hedge fund.
- If you would prefer to pick your own investments or invest in individual stocks, then investing in Titan might not be the best choice for you. You might look into our list of the best investment apps.
- If you would prefer to pay a lower fee for a robo-advisor that automatically picks a mix of ETFs for you based on your stated risk tolerance, then Titan might not be the best fit for you either. You might want to check out our list of the best robo-advisors.
Is Titan a hedge fund?
Titan is not a hedge fund. Hedge funds are typically open only to accredited investors and may have high minimum investment requirements. Money in hedge funds is also pooled with that of other investors. With Titan, you have a separate account from other investors. You'll pay just $5 per month or a 1% fee, depending on your account balance, which is typically lower than what hedge funds charge.
Is Titan FDIC insured?
When you invest with Titan, Apex Clearing Corp. is the custodian of your investments. They are covered by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000. Titan is not covered by FDIC insurance because the FDIC insures banks, not investment firms.
How to open a Titan Invest account
To open a Titan Invest account, you'll need to provide basic details including:
- Your name and contact details
- Your U.S. address
- Your Social Security number
- Your bank account information so you can submit the minimum required initial deposit
Any U.S. citizen, green card holder, or individual with an eligible visa who is 18 or over can open an account as long as they have a valid U.S. address and Social Security number. You'll also need the minimum $100 required, or minimum $500 if you want to open a retirement account.
Other investing platforms to consider
You have quite a number of options when it comes to how to invest money. When you sit down to do your financial planning, consider your entire portfolio as well as your financial goals before you choose an investment service.
Wealthfront
If you'd prefer a more traditional robo-advisor that charges lower fees or with a lower account minimum, you may wish to consider Wealthfront. Wealthfront is one of the best brokerage accounts for passive investing. Once you deposit your money, a proprietary algorithm will distribute it across a mix of ETFs. You'll pay just a .25% annual advisory fee (along with any fees charged by the funds you're invested in). And Wealthfront will take steps to reduce the tax consequences of your investing.
Stash
If you're interested in having more control over your investments, Stash might be a better fit. With Stash, you'll be able to invest in fractional shares of both ETFs and stocks, and Stash offers tools that help make selecting investments simple. Stash also offers a round-up feature. With round-ups, when you spend with a linked bank account, your purchases are rounded up to the next full dollar amount, and your spare change is automatically invested for you.
Bottom line
Titan bridges the gao between hedge-fund strategies and accessible retail investing. If you're seeking active management and have tolerance for a higher level of risk and some fees, Titan could be a good match.
That said, the investment minimums and management fees make it less ideal for small portfolios or investors who prefer low-cost passive options. If you're newer to investing and want something a little cheaper and less demanding, check out our list of the best robo-advisors.