Start with what you want your portfolio to do.
You do not need to know terms like momentum, relative strength, or quantitative investing to ask a useful question. These guides are for investors exploring a more disciplined alternative to owning only a broad index fund, following market commentary, or choosing individual stocks without a repeatable process.
Starting Index invests its model portfolios in selected individual S&P 500 stocks. It does not invest in private equity, real estate, commodities, cryptocurrency, hedge funds, or a portfolio of ETFs.
Looking for a different way to build a portfolio?
Understand investment model portfolios, monthly portfolio updates, and the difference between a rules-based approach and picking stocks yourself.
What is momentum investing?
Learn why a momentum strategy measures existing market leadership instead of trying to predict which stock will become popular next.
How should you evaluate an investment backtest?
Use drawdowns, benchmark comparisons, point-in-time data, validation work, and live results to separate evidence from a polished chart.
Momentum investing or broad index investing?
Compare what each approach owns, how holdings change, where costs and risks differ, and why the investor experience can be very different.
What do return, CAGR, drawdown, and benchmarks mean?
Learn which performance measures answer which questions and why no single percentage describes an investment strategy.
How do monthly model portfolio updates work?
See how a scheduled model review becomes a target portfolio and what investors should consider before making changes in an actual account.
What is a rules-based investment strategy?
Learn how predefined inputs, rankings, portfolio rules, and review schedules turn an investment idea into a process that can be examined.
What changes when a stock portfolio is more concentrated?
Explore how position count and weight affect diversification, benchmark differences, drawdowns, and the influence of each holding.
How can you paper trade an investment model?
Use a simulated portfolio to practice monthly updates, observe swings, and decide whether you can follow a model before committing capital.
What is an investment model API?
Learn how portfolio model APIs deliver structured allocations, performance, publication, and research data for analysis and internal workflows.
Review the S&P 500 momentum method, inspect the backtest and validation evidence, compare the model profile records, or explore the investment model data APIs.