Many Advisors and Information Sources Say: “We Score and Rank Mutual Funds & ETFs.” So What Makes Rita℠ So Special?

Virtually every brokerage and investment advisory firm (if asked), will tell you that they too can score and rank mutual funds and ETFs. Even investment-focused publications claim to do so and publish articles discussing which ones are “best” based upon their “scoring and ranking.” But although both can and do “score and rank,” the way they do it is very different and much less useful than the patented process used by Rita℠.

What’s the difference? They are almost always ranking mutual funds and ETFs based a single performance factor over a single time period. A single column “sort” in Excel (listing highest return to lowest, for example) will “rank” the funds. But is showing you a comparison based on only one factor over one time period really that useful? In contrast, Rita℠ gives you the ability to select, weight, and blend up to 24 time period-focused performance parameters, in whatever way you believe best for you, i.e., to perform the scoring and ranking your way. 

Here's an example of the scoring and ranking typical of the financial services industry. It’s from a December 6, 2023 article (for professional investment advisors) in the online edition of Financial Planning magazine. It’s entitled The top 20 highest-performing bond ETFs of the past decade | Financial Planning (financial-planning.com). Below is information the article presents (with commentary on risk, but with no risk-related factors shown) on the number 1, 10, and 20 “ranked” bond funds and ETFs.

Notice how they were ranked? As described above, from the highest to lowest returns averaged over a 10-year period. Had they stopped with just that, it might perhaps be a bit less confusing.  But they also put in 1 year return and expense ratio and those factors played no part in the ranking of the funds. So, here are some key questions: Does “top performing” mean that it is “best” in general? Would it be “best for you”?  Certainly, there’s a big difference between #10 and #1 in one year return. What about over 3 and 5 years?  And what about volatility and risk factors? The article mentions them but doesn’t show them and, apparently, they wouldn’t have been used in the ranking anyway. How helpful is this?  Would #1 be a better investment choice than #10?

Here's the Rita℠ Difference. Plugging in the #1 ranked fund, here’s what the free version of Rita℠ can show you:

And it can do so in mere moments. You can quickly and easily pick additional factors (and remove some or all of these) and adjust the weights placed upon any factor to better match the overall performance you believe would be best for you and see that choice rise or fall in the rankings, instantly. If you want to see the names of the funds, all you need to do is sign up for a full license.

Rita℠ can even do what they did in the article . . . you can rank on only 10-year average annual returns. All you have to do is put virtually all of the weight on 10-year return, as shown here:

We’ve left the other factors in (though without weights) so you can get a better picture of how #1 (now #2) compares to the other highest-ranked 10-year performers. Check out #4. Do you think that might be a potentially better choice?

Here’s a final key point. The above example illustrates what “scoring and ranking” means within the financial services marketplace, and that it bears virtually no resemblance to what “scoring and ranking” means with Rita℠. So, don’t be surprised, when trying to describe Rita℠ to someone “in the industry,” if they dismissively waive you off saying: “we’ve got that” or “we can do that.” Unless they have the professional version of Rita℠ (the Professional RapidReview Tool℠ / the “ProRRT℠”), NO they don’t and NO they can’t.  And, if they persist, then simply ask them to show you. Ask them to score and rank something for you. You’ll be able to verify all of this for yourself and you’ll very quickly realize that Rita℠ enables you to know more about the relative performance of mutual funds and ETFs than most investment advisors and brokers! That’s the Rita℠ difference and an important part of “The Rita Effect℠”!