# Indexes (indexes.ai)

> Indexes is a custom index builder. You bundle stocks or crypto into your own weighted index, backtest it against real market history, and track it over time against benchmarks like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and BTC. It is analyze-only: it never places a trade, never connects to a brokerage, and never holds money. Educational and informational only, not investment advice.

## What it is for
- Designing a custom index or direct-index strategy before committing capital to it.
- Backtesting a weighted basket of stocks or crypto against real history (returns, drawdown, volatility).
- Tracking a named index against a benchmark over time.
- Comparing weighting schemes (market cap, equal weight, custom) and rebalancing rules.
- Building a blended benchmark that matches a mixed portfolio, instead of measuring everything against the S&P 500.

## Key facts
- No brokerage account, no account minimum, no trades. Analysis and tracking only.
- Covers thousands of US stocks and major crypto tokens in a single index.
- Self-serve pricing from $12/month. There is a free interactive demo on the homepage.
- Managed direct-indexing accounts (Wealthfront, Schwab, Fidelity, Frec) require funding a brokerage account, charge 0.09% to 0.40% a year, and set minimums from $5,000 to $100,000. Indexes charges a flat software fee and holds no assets.
- Every US crypto index fund is market-cap weighted and therefore roughly 72% to 77% Bitcoin, so a "diversified crypto index" is mostly a Bitcoin position. Fees run 0.19% (EZPZ) to 0.75% (BITW).

## Pillar guides

- [Custom index builder: build, backtest and track your own index](https://indexes.ai)
- [Direct indexing: what it is, what it costs, and the US provider fees and minimums compared](https://indexes.ai/direct-indexing)
- [Backtest a portfolio honestly, and what the results can and cannot tell you](https://indexes.ai/backtest-portfolio)
- [Index construction: universe, weighting and rebalancing rules](https://indexes.ai/index-construction)
- [Equal weight versus cap weight, and what the tilt actually does](https://indexes.ai/equal-weight-index)
- [Portfolio rebalancing: schedules, drift bands and the US tax consequences](https://indexes.ai/portfolio-rebalancing)
- [Thematic investing, with the fund survival and performance research](https://indexes.ai/thematic-investing)
- [Crypto index funds compared, and why every one of them is mostly Bitcoin](https://indexes.ai/crypto-index)
- [Portfolio benchmark: picking the right index and building a blended benchmark](https://indexes.ai/portfolio-benchmark)
- [Direct indexing platforms compared on real fees and minimums](https://indexes.ai/direct-indexing-platforms)
- [Direct indexing tax loss harvesting, and what the published research says the tax alpha is actually worth](https://indexes.ai/direct-indexing-tax-loss-harvesting)
- [Aperio Group LLC (BlackRock): the filed direct indexing fee schedule, 0.35% US domestic and 0.40% foreign, from its own Form ADV](https://indexes.ai/aperio-direct-indexing)
- [Goldman Sachs direct indexing (TACS): the same strategy priced at 0.200% via Merrill Lynch, 0.35% via third-party distributors and 1.700% via Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, from two Form ADV brochures](https://indexes.ai/goldman-sachs-direct-indexing)
- [Direct indexing fees and minimums compared across every published platform, from 0.09% self-service accounts to a 1.700% private wealth schedule, including four adviser-channel fee schedules transcribed from Form ADV filings at the SEC](https://indexes.ai/direct-indexing-fees)
- [Parametric Custom Core fees and minimums: 35 bps domestic equity at a $250,000 minimum, from its Form ADV](https://indexes.ai/parametric-custom-core)
- [Vanguard Personalized Indexing fees and the three account minimums, from VPIM's own Form ADV](https://indexes.ai/vanguard-direct-indexing)
- [Schwab Personalized Indexing: 0.40% with a $100,000 minimum, and the cross-account wash sale gap Schwab discloses](https://indexes.ai/schwab-personalized-indexing)
- [Fidelity Managed FidFolios: the $5,000 threshold, 0.40% index and 0.70% active, and the five-stock personalization cap](https://indexes.ai/fidelity-managed-fidfolios)
- [Frec direct indexing review: all 25 Classic strategies with per-strategy fees and minimums (0.09% to 0.35%, $20,000 to $50,000), plus the answer to is Frec legit and how Frec makes money at 0.09%, quoted from its Form CRS dated August 20, 2026. Frec Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered adviser, Frec Securities LLC a FINRA and SIPC member broker-dealer, assets are custodied at Apex Clearing, and the Form CRS reports no legal or disciplinary history. Revenue beyond the advisory fee, verbatim: Frec Securities "will share in revenue earned on margin interest, payment for order flow, fully paid securities lending, interest on uninvested cash swept into interest-bearing bank accounts when enrolled in the sweep program, and other ancillary fees generated by Apex." Advisory clients must open a margin or portfolio margin account. Leaving costs $75 for an outgoing ACATS transfer. Frec launched at 0.10% and now charges 0.09% for the S&P 500 strategy](https://indexes.ai/frec-direct-indexing)
- [Tax loss harvesting software compared across twelve US platforms, separating the ones that harvest on an algorithm from the ones that harvest at a portfolio manager's discretion, with each minimum and fee sourced and dated](https://indexes.ai/tax-loss-harvesting-software)
- [Capital gains tax calculator for US stock sales using the 2026 federal breakpoints from Revenue Procedure 2025-32, the statutory 3.8% net investment income tax thresholds, state tax, and the effect of harvested losses including the $3,000 ordinary income cap](https://indexes.ai/capital-gains-tax-calculator)
- [RSU tax calculator for restricted stock units: what the vest costs in ordinary income at the 2026 federal brackets, the shortfall left by the flat 22% supplemental withholding rate required by IRS Publication 15, the 2026 payroll constants including the $184,500 Social Security wage base, the vest-date cost basis that brokers do not report on Form 1099-B, and the capital gains tax on a later sale](https://indexes.ai/rsu-tax-calculator)
- [Net unrealized appreciation calculator for company stock held in a 401(k): the NUA is the market value at distribution minus the plan cost basis, excluded from gross income under IRC 402(e)(4)(B) and taxed at long-term capital gains rates whenever it is realized, while the plan cost basis is ordinary income in the distribution year. Prices the NUA election against a full IRA rollover at the 2026 federal rates, applies the 10% additional tax below age 55, and splits the long-term NUA slice from post-distribution appreciation as Treasury Regulation 1.402(a)-1(b)(1)(i) requires. Also covers the four lump-sum triggering events in IRC 402(e)(4)(D)(i), the basis-to-value ratio that decides the election, and why the NUA portion gets no step up in basis at death](https://indexes.ai/nua-calculator)
- [ESPP tax calculator for employee stock purchase plan shares: prices a qualifying disposition against a disqualifying one under IRC 423(c), which caps the ordinary income at the lesser of the total gain or the grant-date discount rather than the purchase-date bargain element that every other calculator uses, applies the 2026 federal brackets and long-term capital gains breakpoints, and shows the compensation element missing from the cost basis brokers report on Form 1099-B. Also covers the two holding period clocks (two years from the offering date and one year from the purchase date), the statutory exclusion of ESPP income from Social Security and Medicare tax under IRC 3121(a)(22), the rule in IRC 421(b) that no federal income tax is required to be withheld on a disqualifying disposition, the $25,000 a year contribution limit measured at the offering-date price under IRC 423(b)(8), the 15% maximum discount and lookback in IRC 423(b)(6), and what Form 3922 is for](https://indexes.ai/espp-tax-calculator)
- [Wash sale calculator applying IRC 1091(a), which disallows a loss where substantially identical stock or securities are acquired within a period beginning 30 days before the sale and ending 30 days after it, a window 61 days wide counting the sale date. Matches partial replacement purchases share for share in the order they were bought as IRS Publication 550 requires, so buying back 300 of 400 shares disallows three quarters of the loss, adds the disallowed amount to the cost basis of the replacement shares and carries the old holding period across, and returns the first clean repurchase date, which is day 31 after the sale. Distinguishes the two outcomes almost no other calculator separates: a wash sale in a taxable account only DEFERS the loss through the basis adjustment, while a wash sale whose replacement shares are bought in an IRA or Roth IRA gets no basis adjustment at all under the "(except in (4) above)" carve-out in Publication 550 and Rev. Rul. 2008-5, so that loss is permanently forfeited. Also covers why Form 1099-B box 1g reports a wash sale only where the replacement had the same CUSIP and was bought in the same account, which means wash sales created across a second brokerage, a retirement account, a spouse account or a different fund tracking the same index are real, are still disallowed and are invisible on the tax form; the Form 8949 reporting mechanics (code W in column (f), the disallowed amount as a positive number in column (g)); what counts as substantially identical; and why the rule reaches crypto ETFs and listed crypto companies but not a direct holding of a digital asset, which the IRS treats as property rather than a security](https://indexes.ai/wash-sale-calculator)
- [Direct indexing fractional shares compared across the four US retail providers, using what each one publishes about its own replication rather than marketing copy. The finding is that none of them claims to hold every constituent, and that direct indexing is sold in three different shapes under one name. Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct attempts full replication and states "We attempt to hold all stocks that comprise each index, but due to Tax-Loss Harvesting ... the actual number of stocks in the portfolio is likely to be less", holding roughly 200 to 300 stocks at $5,000 and more than 400 above $25,000 in whole shares, fractional shares or both, at 0.09%. Frec Classic describes buying "the majority of the individual stocks that make up that index" across 25 licensed indexes at 0.09% to 0.35% from $20,000 to $50,000. Fidelity Managed FidFolios states in its Form ADV Part 2A brochure that a strategy "will invest in only a subset of the stocks that make up the index", at 0.40% for index strategies and 0.70% for active ones. Schwab Personalized Indexing states that "the investor owns a subset of individual securities that reflect the risk characteristics of a selected index", at $100,000 and 0.40% on the first $2,000,000 or 0.35% above it. Only Wealthfront US Direct Indexing genuinely blends completion ETFs into the portfolio, and it publishes the split: between $100,000 and $500,000 up to 100 individual stocks carry 50% of the original VTI weight while VXF and VOO carry the other 50%, and above $500,000 about 600 stocks from the CRSP US Large-Cap Index carry 85% while VB carries 15%. Also documents three costs of fractional ownership disclosed in Fidelity's brochure and almost nowhere else: dividend amounts that do not round up to $0.01 are never distributed, a fractional share cannot be voted unless the adviser aggregates it as proxy agent, and "Fractional shares cannot be transferred to an account outside of Fidelity; in such situations, the fractional share would need to be sold and a taxable gain or loss incurred", which is a universal ACATS constraint rather than a provider policy](https://indexes.ai/direct-indexing-fractional-shares)
- [Long short direct indexing and tax aware long short providers compared on one all-in cost basis, advisory fee plus pre-tax financing. Only Frec (from $100,000) and Cache (from $1,000,000) sell it without a financial advisor and both publish every tier: Frec 140/40 0.50% plus about 0.38% financing, 200/100 1.00% plus 0.95% and 250/150 1.30% plus 1.425%, the upper two from $500,000; Cache 130/30 0.50% plus 0.28%, 145/45 0.60% plus 0.43% from $1,000,000, and 175/75 0.75% plus 0.71% and 200/100 1.00% plus 0.95% from $3,000,000. Both vendors price financing at about 0.95% of the short extension, so the real differences are the advisory fee, the minimum and the leverage ceiling, and at 200/100 the two cost exactly the same. Their after-tax financing figures assume a 40% rate and a deduction that IRS Publication 550 limits to net investment income. Aperio's filed schedule is a 0.35% base plus a 0.20% Short Advisory Fee up to 200% gross exposure, which reproduces the 0.55% quoted for its 130/30; Parametric Custom Extension SMA is 40 bps from $1,000,000 and 58 bps high leverage from $3,000,000; AQR Flex and Quantinno publish no fees. Schwab capped new long-short SMA accounts at 200/100 in April 2026](https://indexes.ai/long-short-direct-indexing)
- [Tax loss harvesting calculator that runs the Schedule D netting order rather than multiplying a harvest by one marginal rate. Short-term losses net against short-term gains first and long-term against long-term separately; only then does a surplus loss on one side cross to the other side's surplus gain, where it saves at the rate of the gain it kills, so a long-term loss can end up offsetting a short-term gain at the ordinary rate plus the 3.8% net investment income tax. Only a remaining NET loss reaches ordinary income, and IRS Publication 550 caps that deduction at the lesser of $3,000 ($1,500 married filing separately) or the total net loss on line 16 of Schedule D, which is why harvesting $60,000 against no realized gains is worth $3,000 times your rate this year rather than $60,000 times your rate. The remainder carries forward with no expiry, and Publication 550 states it keeps its character: a long-term carryover reduces the next year's long-term gains before it reduces short-term gains, so the calculator tracks the short-term and long-term carryover balances separately. Includes the state rate, which for California means the Franchise Tax Board ordinary schedules apply to capital gains with no preferential rate (9.30% band opening at $72,724 of taxable income for a single filer, 12.30% top rate, plus the further 1% on taxable income above $1,000,000 that the 2025 Form 540 booklet confirms was renamed from the Mental Health Services Tax to the Behavioral Health Services Tax for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025), taking a long-term harvested loss from 18.8% to 28.1%. Also quantifies how much of the current-year saving is deferral rather than permanent benefit, because losses used reduce the basis of the replacement position and the tax reappears on a later sale unless the position is held to a step-up at death. 2026 federal brackets and long-term breakpoints from Rev. Proc. 2025-32](https://indexes.ai/tax-loss-harvesting-calculator)
- [Cost basis calculator that takes your actual purchase lots and compares first in first out, specific identification, last in first out and average cost side by side, showing the adjusted cost basis, the gain, the long-term and short-term share split and the tax under each, plus the IRS rules for inherited stock (step-up to fair market value at the date of death), gifted stock (the dual basis rule), stock splits, dividend reinvestment and disallowed wash sale losses](https://indexes.ai/cost-basis-calculator)
- [Exchange funds: the seven-year lock-up, the 20% illiquid requirement and who they suit](https://indexes.ai/exchange-funds)
- [The build, backtest and track workflow](https://indexes.ai/how-it-works)
- [Plans and what each includes](https://indexes.ai/pricing)

## Product pages

- [Create Your Own Index: Pick Holdings, Set Weights, Name It](https://indexes.ai/features/index-builder)
- [Backtest Your Own Index Against Real Market History and a Benchmark](https://indexes.ai/features/backtesting)
- [Portfolio vs Benchmark: Chart Your Index Against the S&P 500 and More](https://indexes.ai/features/benchmark-comparison)
- [Track Portfolio Performance of Your Index, Updated Every Day](https://indexes.ai/features/performance-tracking)
- [Crypto Basket Tracker: Build and Monitor a Weighted Crypto Index](https://indexes.ai/features/crypto-basket-tracker)
- [Index Weighting Methods: Market Cap, Equal Weight, or Your Own](https://indexes.ai/features/weighting-schemes)
- [Portfolio rebalancing tool: set an index rebalancing schedule, then backtest what it changed](https://indexes.ai/features/rebalancing)

## Use cases

- [Build Your Own Index Fund - the Analysis Tool, Without the Brokerage](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/build-your-own-index-fund)
- [DIY Index Fund: Model, Backtest, and Track Your Own Basket](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/diy-index-fund)
- [Thematic Portfolio Tracker: Follow a Market Theme as One Tracked Index](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/thematic-investing)
- [Stock Basket Builder: Weight Your Picks and Follow Them as One Index](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/stock-basket)
- [Custom Crypto Index: Bundle Tokens Into a Weighted, Tracked Basket](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/custom-crypto-index)
- [Personal Index Fund: Your Convictions as a Named, Benchmarked Index](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/personal-index-fund)
- [Compare Your Portfolio to the S&P 500 or SPY and See the Gap Over Time](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/compare-portfolio-to-sp500)
- [Build a Stock Basket, Set the Weights, and Backtest It in Minutes](https://indexes.ai/use-cases/build-a-stock-basket)

## Comparisons (honest, with sources)

- [Composer Alternatives That Track and Analyze, Not Trade](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/composer)
- [Koyfin Alternatives Where the Custom Index Is the Hero](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/koyfin)
- [Portfolio Visualizer Alternatives With a Living, Tracked Index](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/portfolio-visualizer)
- [PortfoliosLab Alternative: Portfolios Lab vs an Index You Build, Backtest and Track](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/portfolioslab)
- [Frec Alternatives With No Account and No Minimum](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/frec)
- [Wealthfront alternatives: cheaper direct indexing compared on fee, minimum and index](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/wealthfront)
- [Schwab Personalized Indexing Alternatives: Build and Backtest Your Own Index](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/schwab)
- [Fidelity Direct Indexing Alternatives: Test the Index Before You Fund It](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/fidelity)
- [Vanguard Direct Indexing Alternatives: Vanguard Personalized Indexing Is Advisor-Only](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/vanguard)
- [Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund Alternative: Build Your Own Custom Crypto Index](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/bitwise)
- [Grayscale Crypto Index Fund Alternative: Build a Custom Crypto Index Instead of GDLC](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/grayscale)
- [Betterment Direct Indexing: What It Costs, What Exists Today, and the Alternatives](https://indexes.ai/alternatives/betterment)

## Articles

- [Direct Indexing Without an Advisor: Best Platforms vs 1% AUM](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-direct-indexing-without-financial-advisor): On $500,000 a 1% advisor plus a 0.35% manager costs $6,750 a year against $450 at a 0.09% platform. Which platforms take you directly, and what you give up.
- [Direct Indexing Russell 3000: Best Platforms for the Total US Market](https://indexes.ai/blog/direct-indexing-russell-3000-total-market): Frec publishes a 55% harvest rate on the Russell 2000 against 25% on the S&P 500. Broad benchmarks harvest twice as much, and only three providers sell them.
- [Best Tax Loss Harvesting Software for California Investors](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-tax-loss-harvesting-software-california): California taxes gains on the ordinary schedule, so a long-term harvested loss is worth 28.1% there against 18.8% in Texas. Which fees that does and does not rescue.
- [Parametric vs Aperio Pricing: Direct Indexing SMA Fees](https://indexes.ai/blog/parametric-vs-aperio-pricing): Both file 0.35% for a US domestic mandate. The gaps that move a quote are Parametric's unquoted 23 bps tier, Aperio's screen surcharges and the platform stack.
- [Best Direct Indexing Platforms for Employees With Company Stock](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-direct-indexing-employees-company-stock): Every provider lets you exclude your employer, and you only need one exclusion. What decides it is the minimum: $5,000 at Fidelity against $250,000 at Parametric.
- [RSU vs Stock Options: After-Tax Value Compared for 2026](https://indexes.ai/blog/rsu-vs-stock-options): RSUs and NSOs are taxed identically, so the choice is about leverage, not tax. Only an ISO changes the rate, worth $19,440 on a $120,000 spread. The AMT trap.
- [HIFO Cost Basis: Which Brokers Offer Highest In First Out Lot Relief](https://indexes.ai/blog/hifo-cost-basis-brokers): All five major US brokers default to FIFO, selling your cheapest shares first. Only Vanguard names a true HIFO method, and the default cost $4,689 more in tax.
- [Best Direct Indexing Platforms for a Concentrated Stock Position](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-direct-indexing-concentrated-stock-position): Standard direct indexing does not unwind a low-basis position. The four routes that do, priced: Frec Diversify, Cache and Parametric's extension accounts.
- [Best Tax Loss Harvesting Software for a $1 Million Taxable Account](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-tax-loss-harvesting-software-1-million-account): The fee spread at $1M is about $3,100 a year and harvesting is worth $1,800 to $4,400 on Wealthfront's own backtest. Which option clears its own fee.
- [Best Brokerages for Borrowing Against a Direct Indexing Portfolio](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-brokerages-borrow-against-direct-indexing): Frec lends at 4.64% against 70% of the portfolio, Wealthfront at 4.71% against 30%, Schwab publishes no rate. Why harvested accounts are best to borrow against.
- [Best Direct Indexing Platform for a $50,000 Account](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-direct-indexing-50k-account): At $50,000 the SMA managers are closed to you. Frec unlocks all 25 indices at exactly this size, Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct is 0.09%, Schwab needs $100k.
- [Best Direct Indexing Platforms for Financial Advisors](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-direct-indexing-platforms-for-advisors): Aperio and Parametric both charge 35 bps, Vanguard starts at 0.20%, Schwab 0.40%. The real SMA fee schedules, read out of filings the managers never publish.
- [ACATS Transfer Rules: Fractional Shares Get Liquidated](https://indexes.ai/blog/acats-transfer-direct-indexing): Whole shares move in kind tax free. Fractional shares cannot move through ACATS at all, so they get sold, and a direct indexing account is mostly fractions.
- [Frec Diversify vs Cache Exchange Fund: Fees and Lock-Up](https://indexes.ai/blog/frec-diversify-vs-cache-exchange-fund): Comparing Frec Classic at 0.09% to an exchange fund is a category error. Frec Diversify costs 0.60% plus financing, Cache starts at 0.95%. The real gap is 12 bps.
- [Frec vs Wealthfront vs Betterment: Lowest BPS Under $100k](https://indexes.ai/blog/frec-vs-wealthfront-vs-betterment): Frec and Wealthfront tie at 0.09%. Betterment does not sell stock-level direct indexing at all. Plus the balance at which the fee stops eating the tax benefit.
- [Direct Indexing a Custom Index: Who Lets You Pick the Benchmark](https://indexes.ai/blog/direct-indexing-custom-benchmark): Wealthfront, Fidelity, Schwab and Frec all sell fixed menus. Only institutional managers like Parametric will run a benchmark you define. Checked August 2026.
- [Frec vs Schwab Personalized Indexing: Fees and Minimums](https://indexes.ai/blog/frec-vs-schwab-personalized-indexing): Frec charges 0.09% to 0.35% from $20,000. Schwab charges 0.40% from $100,000 and does not offer the S&P 500 at all. Fees verified August 2026.
- [Wealthfront vs Fidelity Direct Indexing: Minimums and Fees](https://indexes.ai/blog/wealthfront-vs-fidelity-direct-indexing): Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct costs 0.09% from $5,000. Fidelity Managed FidFolios costs 0.40% and harvests losses at the manager's discretion. Checked August 2026.
- [Fidelity FidFolios vs Frec: Fees, Minimums, Verdict](https://indexes.ai/blog/fidelity-fidfolios-vs-frec): Frec charges 0.09% to 0.35% from $20,000. Fidelity charges 0.40% from $5,000 but harvests losses only on a limited, discretionary basis. Checked August 2026.
- [Frec vs Wealthfront Direct Indexing: Fees, Fractional Shares](https://indexes.ai/blog/frec-vs-wealthfront-direct-indexing): Both charge 0.09% for S&P 500 direct indexing. Wealthfront starts at $5,000, Frec at $20,000 with 25 indexes. Fees and fractional shares, verified August 2026.
- [60/40 Portfolio Benchmark: The Best Benchmark and How to Calculate It](https://indexes.ai/blog/benchmark-for-60-40-portfolio): The standard 60/40 benchmark is 60% S&P 500 plus 40% Bloomberg US Aggregate. How to pick the indexes, calculate the blended return, and rebalance it right.
- [Build Your Own ETF at Fidelity, Schwab, Robinhood and M1](https://indexes.ai/blog/build-your-own-etf-fidelity-schwab-robinhood): Fidelity Basket Portfolios costs $4.99 a month for a real 2 to 50 position basket. M1 auto-routes contributions. Schwab and Robinhood offer no basket tool.
- [Best Crypto Index Funds in 2026: Fees, Holdings and the Bitcoin Problem](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-crypto-index-funds): The four US crypto index ETFs compared on fee and holdings, why all are roughly three quarters Bitcoin, and when to build your own instead.
- [Best Portfolio Backtesting Software in 2026: An Honest Comparison](https://indexes.ai/blog/best-portfolio-backtesting-software): Portfolio backtesting tools compared on price and what each is for, the five things that decide whether a backtest is trustworthy, and how to test a basket.
- [Thematic ETFs vs Building Your Own Basket: What the Research Shows](https://indexes.ai/blog/thematic-etfs-vs-building-your-own-basket): Only about one in ten thematic funds both survived and outperformed over fifteen years. What a thematic ETF gives and takes, and when to build your own.
- [How Often Should You Rebalance Your Portfolio? A Straight Answer](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-often-should-you-rebalance-your-portfolio): How often you should rebalance your portfolio, why annual plus a drift band beats a monthly schedule, what the 5/25 rule is, and how US taxes change the answer.
- [Does Portfolio Rebalancing Improve Returns? What Research Shows](https://indexes.ai/blog/does-portfolio-rebalancing-improve-returns): Portfolio rebalancing usually costs a little return rather than adding any. Where the rebalancing bonus is real, how it compares to buy and hold.
- [How Much of Your Portfolio Should Be in One Stock?](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-much-of-your-portfolio-should-be-in-one-stock): The 5%, 10% and 20% concentration limits, why employer stock gets a stricter cap, the look-through exposure in your index fund, and how to check your own weights.
- [How Many Stocks Do You Need to Diversify? The Research and a Practical Number](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-many-stocks-do-you-need-to-diversify): How many stocks you need to diversify, what Evans, Archer and Statman found, why weighting matters more than the count, and how many an index needs.
- [Are Crypto Index Funds Worth It? Fees vs Building Your Own](https://indexes.ai/blog/are-crypto-index-funds-worth-it): Whether a crypto index fund is worth it depends on fees, Bitcoin concentration, and whether building your own basket suits you better.
- [Crypto Index Fund vs Bitcoin: Should You Diversify?](https://indexes.ai/blog/crypto-index-fund-vs-bitcoin): Compare a crypto index fund vs Bitcoin, why cap-weighted baskets track BTC, and how to backtest diversification against Bitcoin.
- [Market Cap Weighted Index: Capitalization Weighting Explained](https://indexes.ai/blog/what-is-a-capitalization-weighted-index): A market cap weighted index weights each company by market value, so the largest names drive the level. The formula, a worked example, and the concentration risk.
- [How Often Are Index Funds Rebalanced? Schedules Explained](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-often-are-index-funds-rebalanced): Index funds rebalance when their underlying index does, usually quarterly for the S&P 500 and once a year for the Russell indexes. The real schedules and tax effect.
- [No Losses Left to Harvest: Direct Indexing Tax Alpha Reset](https://indexes.ai/blog/direct-indexing-no-losses-left-to-harvest): Direct indexing accounts stop producing harvestable losses after a few years while the fee stays flat. The four things that work, and when harvesting is done.
- [Tax Loss Harvesting Rules: The Wash Sale Rule and the $3,000 Limit](https://indexes.ai/blog/tax-loss-harvesting-rules): The tax loss harvesting rules that decide whether a loss counts: the 61 day wash sale window under IRC 1091, the $3,000 limit, and the IRA trap that forfeits a loss.
- [Can You Do Direct Indexing Yourself? A Realistic Answer](https://indexes.ai/blog/can-you-do-direct-indexing-yourself): Yes, and at a modest account size you probably should. What DIY direct indexing involves, what you give up, and the four ways it goes wrong.
- [Is Direct Indexing Worth It? The Math, Run Honestly](https://indexes.ai/blog/is-direct-indexing-worth-it): Direct indexing pays off only when harvested tax losses beat the fee premium. The break-even math at every account size, and the three things that break it.
- [What Is Direct Indexing? A Plain-English Guide](https://indexes.ai/blog/what-is-direct-indexing): What direct indexing is, how it differs from buying an index fund, who it suits, and how building your own weighted basket lets you tune and track an index yourself.
- [How to Build Your Own Index Fund, Step by Step](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-to-build-your-own-index-fund): How to build your own index fund from a rulebook: pick a universe, a weighting scheme, rebalancing rules, backtest the history, and track it against a benchmark.
- [How to Backtest a Portfolio: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-to-backtest-a-portfolio): How to backtest a portfolio honestly: define the rules, choose a period, apply weights and rebalancing, and read the hypothetical results without fooling yourself.
- [Weighted Index Calculation: How Index Values Are Computed](https://indexes.ai/blog/weighted-index-calculation): Weighted index calculation explained with worked examples: market-cap, price, and equal weighting, the index divisor, and a daily index level.
- [How to Create a Custom Index From Scratch](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-to-create-a-custom-index): How to create a custom index: write a rulebook for the universe, weighting, and rebalancing, set a base value, backtest it, and track the level against a benchmark.
- [Market Cap vs Equal Weight Index: Which Weighting Wins?](https://indexes.ai/blog/market-cap-vs-equal-weight): Market cap vs equal weight index weighting compared: concentration, rebalancing, turnover, and factor tilts, plus how to backtest both on the same basket.
- [Index Rebalancing Explained: Why, When, and How Often](https://indexes.ai/blog/index-rebalancing-explained): Index rebalancing explained: why weights drift, how reconstitution differs from rebalancing, common schedules and bands, and how rebalancing shows up in a backtest.
- [Thematic Investing Examples: 12 Themes and How to Track Them](https://indexes.ai/blog/thematic-investing-examples): Thematic investing examples across AI, clean energy, cybersecurity, and more, with how to turn a theme into a weighted basket you can backtest and track over time.
- [How to Compare a Portfolio to a Benchmark the Right Way](https://indexes.ai/blog/compare-portfolio-to-benchmark): How to compare a portfolio to a benchmark: pick a fair one, align the dates, and read active return, tracking error, beta and drawdown, not just the headline.
- [How to Build a Custom Crypto Index Fund You Can Track](https://indexes.ai/blog/how-to-build-a-crypto-index): How to build a custom crypto index: choose the coins, pick a weighting scheme, cap concentration, set rebalancing, and backtest and track the basket against BTC.
- [Backtesting Mistakes to Avoid (and How to Backtest Honestly)](https://indexes.ai/blog/backtesting-pitfalls): The backtesting mistakes that make results look better than they are, from lookahead bias and survivorship to overfitting, and how to run a backtest you can trust.
- [Direct Indexing vs ETF: Which Is Right for You?](https://indexes.ai/blog/direct-indexing-vs-etf-guide): Direct indexing vs ETF compared on control, customization, cost, taxes, and effort, so you can decide when to hold a fund and when to run your own index instead.

## Boundaries
Indexes does not give investment advice, does not execute trades, does not custody assets, and does not harvest tax losses. Backtests are hypothetical and past performance does not predict future results.