Beyond Tickers
The Investing DNA of Gurus
Profiling the style of 92 investors and 119 portfolios: a six-axis DNA fingerprint and a copy-with-delay backtest against S&P 500 using the real 13F publication lag.
How to Read the Radar
The radar breaks down an investor's style across six axes. The solid shape is the current quarter, the dashed line is the median across all profiled gurus, and the faint outline is the trajectory of past quarters. The farther a point from the center, the stronger that trait.
Methodology
Each axis is a percentile rank from 0 to 100 relative to the profiled guru cohort; 50 is the cohort midpoint. The higher the value, the stronger the trait. The dashed overlay is the median shape of the guru's behavioral peer group, so you can read where this investor is unusual within their own style. The Trajectory arrows trace the drift from four quarters ago to now — an illustration of the method over a short window, not a statistical claim.
- Value (Value / Growth) — how cheaply the portfolio's stocks are priced versus the market, by valuation multiples (e.g. price-to-earnings). A higher score means cheaper, value-style picks; a lower score means pricier, growth-style bets the market expects to grow fast.
- Risk (Risk Appetite) — how much price volatility and business fragility the portfolio carries. A higher score means bolder, more volatile holdings (think biotech or meme stocks); a lower score means defensive, steady names like utilities and staples.
- Concentration (Portfolio Focus) — how much of the portfolio sits in its few largest positions. A higher score means a focused book of big convictions; a lower score means bets spread thinly across many names.
- Turnover (Trading Activity) — how much the lineup of holdings changes from one quarter to the next. A higher score means an active trader rotating names in and out; a lower score means a patient, buy-and-hold roster.
- Quality (Profitability) — how profitable and financially solid the businesses in the portfolio are. A higher score means durable, profitable companies; a lower score means speculative or pre-profit bets.
- Contrarian (Contrarianism) — how often the guru's trades go against what the other gurus are doing. A higher score means buying what the crowd sells and vice versa; a lower score means moving with the consensus.
Four Distinct Styles
Four investors with different DNA — each with their own peaks and troughs across the six axes.
- Standard
David Jeffrey Fear
Thunderbird Partners
ActiveAgainst CrowdGrowth over 2 years · on $100 000
- Guru
- +161,1%
- Copier (13F)
- +61,2%
- Standard
David Katz
Matrix Advisors Value Fund · Matrix Advisors Value Fund
ProfitableLow RiskGrowth over 2 years · on $100 000
- Guru
- +43,2%
- Copier (13F)
- +41,1%
- Marquee
David Tepper
Appaloosa Management
High RiskGrowth over 2 years · on $100 000
- Guru
- +84,4%
- Copier (13F)
- +64,4%
- Standard
Donald G. Smith
Donald Smith & Co.
ValueSpeculativeGrowth over 2 years · on $100 000
- Guru
- +65,0%
- Copier (13F)
- +59,0%