NAOI President Leland b. hevner - click the picture for more information
Welcome to the Web site of the National Association of Online Investors (NAOI). Founded by Leland Hevner in 1997 the NAOI is the nation's premier provider of comprehensive, objective and academically rigorous education to the market. The NAOI is also a major player in the areas of investing research and financial consulting.
Thousands of individuals have taken our college courses and/or read our books. However, we have found that education is not enough to empower individual investors to succeed in today's markets. Also needed are new and more effective investing methods and investment vehicles. Therefore, in addition to education the NAOI commits significant resources to investing research and the development of innovative investing solutions.
The NAOI has three major divisions as follows with links directly to more detail related to each:
Investor Education - We are the market leader in supplying comprehensive and objective education to the investing public
Investing Research and Development - Total investor empowerment requires more than education, also needed is innovation. The way we invest today is stuck in the past. The NAOI is changing it with new investment types and investing methods. See Dynamic Investments for one example of our R&D efforts.
Consulting for Advisors and Financial Organizations - Based on 20+ years of working with individual investors we know what they want and need from the financial services industry that they are not getting today. Via consulting we show financial professionals and organizations how to offer to the public what they need and by doing so gain a massive competitive advantage in a very crowded market.
Spend some time reading the material on this site. Whether you are an individual investor or a financial professional what you learn here will give you a totally new perspective on how investing should and will work in the future. And those who learn about what is coming first, will benefit the most.
Empowering Individual Investors with Education and Innovation
It is an unfortunate fact that today most individuals get their investing education from people and organizations who want to sell them financial products and services. As a result, this education is far too often tainted by sales bias. And academia is strangely silent in the area of personal investor education. Where have any of us been offered a serious course in personal investing in any institution of higher learning? Nowhere. The NAOI was formed to fill this void by providing the public with the most comprehensive, objective, innovative and effective investor empowerment programs and products available in the market today. Our mission and offerings are summarized just below. Click any picture to access further information related to each.
At the bottom of this page you will be introduced to the most significant advance to the world of investing in decades. This is the development by the NAOI of Dynamic Investment Theory - an innovative approach to investing that challenges and changes the way we are taught to invest today and that will define the future of investing!
Our Mission
The naoi mission - Investor empowerment
The mission of the NAOI is to empower individuals to become more confident and successful investors. This will only happen when individuals become smarter and the world of investing becomes simpler. The NAOI is working to ensure both of these outcomes. NAOI education resources are without parallel in the market today. We have taught thousands of individuals how to investing over the past 20 years. We are also a leader in investment research and development. The NAOI is committed to improving the methods and tools available to investors today. To this end we have recently introduced Dynamic Investment Theory that changes how investing works at a fundamental level. The combination of education and investment R&D makes the NAOI unique in the industry.
Investor Education
naoi investor education
Investor education today is in an odd and dangerous state. The investing world is so complex that the public must seek education from people who sell investing products and services. Academia is strangely absent in this area that is such a vital life-skill. A goal of the NAOI is to provide to the public unbiased, comprehensive and actionable investor education. Since our founding we have taught thousands of individuals how to invest. One task of our Research Center is to continually develop new and updated investor education content as well as innovative teaching methods for delivering it to the public. It is time to start treating personal investing as a legitimate field of study and not as a sales opportunity for the financial services industry.
NAOI Dynamic Investments
Research and Development
investing research and innovation
Today investment portfolios are designed using an approach called Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), a methodology that was introduced in 1952. While markets have changed dramatically since then, the methods used almost universally today to cope with them have not. At best MPT-based investing methods are no longer optimal, at worst they simply don't work and people that use them place their financial security at great risk. The NAOI Research Center is tasked with creating new, simpler and more powerful approaches to investing that are designed to work in current markets. And it does so not with minor "tweaks" to traditional investing methods (such as robo-advisors) but rather with bold strokes that change the core principles of how we invest today such as Dynamic Investments.
NAOI Dynamic investing and dynamic investments
What if we could start with a clean slate and create a new approach to investing from scratch? Would it look like how we invest today? The answer is a resounding "NO". Given the chance to start over we would not own the static, buy-and-hold portfolios that are universally recommended by financial advisors today. Rather, we would own dynamic portfolios that automatically adjust their holdings in order to own only equities that are trending up in price while selling or avoiding those that are moving down. On this site you will read about NAOI Dynamic Investing Theory and learn how this can be done. You will see that the simplest Dynamic Investment earned an average annual return of 20%+ during the volatile period from 2007-2015 with low risk and minimal expenses! Also visit DITheory.com.
The Future of Investing
NAOI Products and Services
Naoi products and services
The NAOI provides a full range of investing products and services to both individuals and the financial services industry. For individual investors we provide education resources and new investing methods that will enable them to become confident and successful investors whether working with an advisor or on their own. For financial organizations we offer Seminars, Classes and Consulting Services that show them how to "evolve" their offerings to cope with increasingly volatile markets and to meet the changing needs of the investing public. The NAOI is the only organization that caters to the needs of both the investing public and the financial organizations that serve them. By doing so we are uniquely positioned to create the better "future of investing" you will read about on this site.
NAOI Vision of the future of investing
Today the average person with money to invest has no power. They are almost totally dependent on financial salespeople to manage their financial futures. In the NAOI's vision of the future of investing, power will shift from the financial industry to the public, creating a more equitable balance. When this occurs the world of investing as we know it goes away and a simpler more profitable world emerges for both individual investors and for financial professionals. In this section of the site you will read about the NAOI vision for a better future of investing that defies what today's experts will say is possible. It is a world in which 20%+ annual returns are achievable without excessive risk in any economic condition. It is a world that that will be significantly "evolved" from the one we face today.
Two Investing Problems, Two NAOI Solutions
Based on 20+ years of interacting and teaching individuals how to invest, the NAOI has identified two huge roadblocks to meeting our goal of empowering individuals to invest with confidence and success. They are as follows:
Problem 1: Lack of Objective Investor Education
Individuals today are dangerously under-educated in the field of investing. Growing and protecting one's wealth is a vital life skill yet virtually all investing education today is provided by financial advisors who are also sales people and objectivity is compromised. In addition, academia is a no-show in this area. Where have any of us been offered an academically rigorous course at any level of higher education? Nowhere.
The NAOI Solution
The NAOI is solving this problems with comprehensive, objective investing study courses and complete study programs. You will read on this site that we are offering education solutions to the financial industry to enhance their product / service offerings. To read more go to the Education and Education Support areas of this site.
Problem 2. The Use of Fundamentally Outdated Investing Methods
The world of investing today is a chaotic mess. It is a world so confusing and lacking in logic that most individuals have little option but to entrust their financial futures to third party salespeople and just hope for the best. At the root of the problem is the universal use of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) to design portfolios today. This is a theory introduced to the market in 1952 when the market was a far different place. While markets have evolved significantly since then, MPT has not, and its asset-allocation, buy-and-hold methodology cannot cope with modern markets.
The NAOI Solution
The NAOI has tackled and solved this problem with the discovery and development of Dynamic Investment Theory (DIT). DIT creates a new investment type called Dynamic Investments that automatically change the ETFs they hold based on a periodically sampling of market trends. They are designed specifically to work in modern markets and they do so amazingly well. You will see how and why in these areas of the site: Dynamic Investing and Dynamic Investing Support.
Our Latest Development: Dynamic Investment Theory
Our most recent major accomplishment is the discovery of a new portfolio design methodology called Dynamic Investment Theory (DIT). DIT is at least a viable alternative to Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and at most a complete replacement. This new theory creates a unique, new investment type called Dynamic Investments (DIs) that are the financial world's first "market-sensitive" investment vehicle. DIs produce returns that MPT portfolios can't touch with significantly less risk. We are confident that they will dominate and define the future world of investing. Go to the "Dynamic Investment" area of this site to read an overview of this powerful new investing approach.
The Amazing Future of Investing Book
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The Amazing Future of Investing book is the most significant investing book to be published in decades. It challenges Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) as the "settled science" approach to portfolio design today. It shows how NAOI Dynamic Investment Theory (DIT) is a far superior approach for building portfolios that thrive in modern volatile markets.
This book reveals an entire new world of investing opportunities and profits. Go to the NAOI store for more information and to purchase it.
If you are an individual investor reading this book will give you the confidence to take full advantage of today's market gains potential without excessive risk.
If you are a financial professional or a member of a financial organization this book will give you the competitive edge needed to increase revenues in a crowded market.
A Unique Organization
The National Association of Investors in unique in the market. Our goals are two-fold. First we seek to empower individuals to become confident and successful investors. Second, we provide consulting services that enable financial organizations to gain a massive competitive advantage in a crowded field by including NAOI Dynamic Investments in their offerings.
Few organizations would take on the massive tasks of changing the fundamental way we invest as well as creating a new curricula for investor education where one does not currently exist. Neither effort will be particular popular with those who are getting rich in the status quo. Both efforts are wildly popular among the individual investors with whom we interact on an almost daily basis.
Join Us In This Effort
Take a few minutes to read the material on this site. If you would like to join our effort to make the world of investing a more user-friendly and profitable place for the investing public, let's work together. Contact me, Leland Hevner, President of the NAOI, at LHevner@naoi.org and lets talk.
Dynamic investment empower you to invest with confidence and without fear
The Perfect Portfolio Book
If you reached this page by way of "The Perfect Portfolio" book, you can find the online calculators and worksheets referenced in the book at this link.