Strategy Deepdive

GenSpy — The S&P Specialist

Our S&P 500 strategy, with strong risk-adjusted returns in backtesting since 2019.

GenSpy is our S&P 500 strategy. It trades the leveraged ETFs UPRO and SPXU, which aim for three times the daily move of the S&P 500 and three times its inverse, and amplify losses as well as gains. All results on this page are from a backtest.

Strategy descriptions refer to our published backtested and live results; they are not a promise of future performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Performance metrics

Cumulative returns

5,274.0%

What does this mean? (Cumulative returns)

The total percentage gain from the starting investment over the entire period. Shows the overall growth of the strategy.

CAGR

66.3%

What does this mean? (CAGR)

Compound Annual Growth Rate: the annualized rate of return over the period, accounting for compounding. It represents the average yearly growth rate needed to reach the final value from the initial investment.

Average win

2.71%

What does this mean? (Average win)

The average percentage gain on winning trades. Higher values indicate stronger profitable trades.

Average loss

-1.50%

What does this mean? (Average loss)

The average percentage loss on losing trades. Smaller absolute values indicate smaller losses per losing trade.

Max drawdown

23.7%

SPY 33.1% · QQQ 34.8%

What does this mean? (Max drawdown)

The largest peak-to-trough decline in portfolio value during the period. Future drawdowns may be larger.

Annual std. deviation

22.6%

SPY 15.6% · QQQ 19.6%

What does this mean? (Annual std. deviation)

Measures the volatility of the strategy's returns. Higher values indicate more variable returns and higher risk.

Sharpe ratio

1.67

SPY 0.76 · QQQ 0.79

What does this mean? (Sharpe ratio)

Measures risk-adjusted returns by comparing excess returns to volatility. Higher values (typically above 1.0) indicate more return per unit of risk taken.

Sortino ratio

2.05

SPY 0.78 · QQQ 0.86

What does this mean? (Sortino ratio)

Similar to the Sharpe ratio but only considers downside volatility, focusing on the risk of negative returns.

Treynor ratio

3.94

SPY 0.12 · QQQ 0.13

What does this mean? (Treynor ratio)

Measures excess returns per unit of systematic (market) risk. Higher values indicate better risk-adjusted performance relative to market movements.

Information ratio

0.97

SPY — · QQQ 0.48

SPY is the benchmark for this ratio, so it has none of its own.

What does this mean? (Information ratio)

Measures how consistently returns exceed a benchmark, relative to the tracking error.

Returns from

Jan 1, 2019

Returns to

Oct 31, 2026

All GenSpy results, from January 2019 through October 31, 2026, are from a backtest. Backtested results are hypothetical, have inherent limitations, and may not reflect actual trading outcomes. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

GenSpy vs. S&P 500 / Nasdaq‑100

Summary

Jan 1, 2019 to Oct 31, 2026

Metric SPY* QQQ* GenSpy
CAGR16.7%21.7%66.3%
Total returns235%365.3%5,274%
Value of $10K$33,501$46,526$537,398

*SPY is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500 index. QQQ is the Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 index.

Growth of $10,000

SPY QQQ GenSpy
$10K$30K$100K$300K$1M20192020202120222023202420252026$537.4KGenSpy$46.5KQQQ$33.5KSPY
Year end SPY QQQ GenSpy
2019 $13,095 $13,914 $14,730
2020 $15,410 $20,542 $25,261
2021 $19,914 $26,329 $38,810
2022 $16,300 $17,728 $77,740
2023 $20,501 $27,309 $126,823
2024 $25,633 $34,518 $185,251
2025 $30,244 $41,624 $374,998
2026 YTD (till 10/31) $33,501 $46,526 $537,398

Annual returns vs. benchmarks (SPY & QQQ)

SPY QQQ GenSpy
-50%0%50%100%150%47%201972%202054%2021100%202263%202346%2024102%202543%2026 YTD
Year SPY QQQ GenSpy
2019 30.95% 39.14% 47.30%
2020 17.68% 47.64% 71.50%
2021 29.23% 28.17% 53.64%
2022 -18.15% -32.67% 100.31%
2023 25.77% 54.04% 63.14%
2024 25.03% 26.40% 46.07%
2025 17.99% 20.59% 102.43%
2026 YTD (till 10/31) 10.77% 11.78% 43.31%

2026 is year to date, through October 31, 2026. All results are from a backtest. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Rolling performance heatmaps

GenSpy, SPY and QQQ, and GenSpy relative to each benchmark.

GenSpy - 1-Month rolling returns

How to read these tables: Each cell is the return over the month ending that month, in percent. The comparison tables (GenSpy vs. a benchmark) show the difference in percentage points: a positive number means GenSpy did better; a negative number means the benchmark did better.

GenSpy (%)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20195.81.95.24.60.07.04.5-2.60.91.55.05.8
20203.412.36.9-5.0-5.3-5.521.017.46.5-0.51.86.0
2021-5.1-1.3-1.610.73.30.72.96.23.114.78.83.0
2022-1.26.816.24.42.73.44.33.74.18.920.4-0.2
20234.36.39.45.7-0.56.6-0.82.9-4.04.115.12.3
2024-1.21.62.9-1.94.94.69.95.66.00.612.6-5.6
20255.20.36.113.61.414.5-4.42.012.616.90.26.7
202610.76.18.34.05.7-3.55.23.60.0-2.7
SPY (%)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20197.64.21.63.9-4.95.42.6-2.71.42.93.32.6
20202.0-9.4-10.911.83.70.56.38.1-4.7-1.711.22.7
2021-0.52.74.06.30.02.12.53.1-3.65.61.12.8
2022-7.1-0.95.0-10.10.8-7.98.2-3.3-8.47.11.6-2.8
20234.7-0.71.93.01.04.64.2-1.3-4.8-2.79.34.9
20243.23.13.6-2.52.44.4-0.44.01.71.53.9-2.0
20252.8-3.3-4.7-0.26.34.63.11.63.12.40.50.8
20260.7-0.9-7.612.56.3-1.80.13.7-0.4-1.1
QQQ (%)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20198.34.73.66.2-7.35.73.7-3.20.05.24.03.6
20204.8-7.4-6.313.86.44.27.411.8-5.5-2.410.84.8
20210.5-0.10.28.1-1.86.32.74.3-5.47.43.50.3
2022-12.0-1.76.2-14.5-1.3-7.911.0-4.5-9.43.4-0.2-4.8
20238.91.37.52.18.44.05.3-1.7-4.7-2.511.55.3
20243.82.32.1-2.54.36.2-4.54.12.32.02.71.3
20251.4-4.3-6.11.49.15.73.60.45.04.5-1.10.2
20260.4-2.3-7.918.411.5-1.8-5.64.83.1-6.4
GenSpy vs. SPY (percentage points)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2019-1.7-2.43.60.75.01.71.90.1-0.5-1.41.83.2
20201.421.717.8-16.8-9.0-6.014.79.311.31.2-9.43.3
2021-4.6-4.1-5.64.33.3-1.40.43.16.79.17.60.2
20225.97.711.214.51.911.3-3.97.012.51.818.82.6
2023-0.47.07.52.7-1.52.0-5.14.20.86.95.8-2.6
2024-4.5-1.5-0.70.62.50.210.31.74.3-0.98.7-3.6
20252.33.510.813.8-4.99.9-7.50.39.414.5-0.35.9
202610.07.015.9-8.4-0.5-1.75.1-0.10.4-1.6
GenSpy vs. QQQ (percentage points)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2019-2.5-2.81.6-1.57.31.30.80.61.0-3.71.02.2
2020-1.419.713.2-18.7-11.7-9.713.65.612.01.9-9.11.2
2021-5.6-1.2-1.72.55.1-5.60.22.08.57.35.32.7
202210.88.510.018.94.011.3-6.78.213.55.520.64.6
2023-4.65.02.03.5-8.92.6-6.24.60.76.63.6-2.9
2024-5.0-0.80.80.60.6-1.614.31.63.7-1.49.9-6.9
20253.74.612.212.2-7.78.8-8.01.67.512.41.36.6
202610.38.516.2-14.3-5.8-1.710.8-1.2-3.13.7

All results on this page are from a backtest. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Interested in GenSpy?

GenSpy is priced at $100 per month. Sign up for a QuantVantage.ai account, or contact us with any questions.