Who verifies our record
Alpha Performance Verification Services does one thing: investment performance verification. It works with investment managers to independently verify their track records, and it has no role in running SkySail's strategies.
The firm is led by its founder and managing director, Michael W. Hultzapple, who holds three credentials that matter here:
He brings more than 25 years in the financial and investment industry, including time as an auditor and consultant at a Big 4 accounting firm and as director of investment operations for a large fund-of-funds. You can read more at alphaverification.com, and Alpha will confirm the engagement to any prospective client who reaches out to them.
What gets audited
The verification answers the question every investor should ask about a track record: did these returns really happen, and were they calculated honestly?
It starts with records SkySail doesn't produce. The executing broker issues the account statements and execution records. Alpha audits our reported trades against those records, recalculates the returns using our written methodology and signs an opinion on the record.
These are live trades in a real brokerage account, traded at standard size and following the strategy's signals, audited against the broker's own records.
Why a financial-statement audit doesn't apply
People sometimes ask why a CPA firm hasn't audited SkySail's financial statements. There's a specific answer.
A financial-statement audit tests whether a company's own books are accurate: what it owns, what it owes, what it earned and spent. That's the right test for a pooled fund, where the manager holds investors' money and has to prove it's all there and properly accounted for. SkySail Strategies doesn't hold client money.
SkySail Strategies LLC is non-custodial by design. Clients keep their capital in their own brokerage accounts, and we provide the strategy. There are no client assets on our books for an auditor to confirm.
Every trade is executed, held and reported by a regulated futures broker. Clients get statements directly from the broker and can see their own account any time they want.
An audit of our company books would cover our own revenue and expenses. The only way to prove the track record is to go to the broker's records, and that's exactly what our verification does.
A pooled fund and SkySail, side by side
| At a glance | Pooled fund | SkySail Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| Where client money sits | Pooled together in the fund, under the manager's control | In each client's own brokerage account, in the client's name |
| Who holds custody | The fund and its manager | A regulated futures broker |
| Who issues statements | The fund's administrator or manager | The broker, directly to the client |
| What a financial-statement audit would confirm | That the fund's assets exist and investors' capital is accounted for | SkySail's own business revenue and expenses, nothing about trading results |
| How the track record is proven | Fund audit plus performance verification | Performance verification against broker statements |
How we calculate and report returns
Every number in our record follows the same written conventions, and these conventions are part of what Alpha verifies.
Return on capital employed
The strategy trades a fixed position size on a fixed $32,500 capital base. Position size doesn't grow with profits, so each month's return is measured on the capital actually at work. Whether a client withdraws profits or leaves them in the account is the client's choice. It doesn't change what the strategy earned on the capital it used. It also keeps every month on the same footing: a 10% month this year means the same dollars as a 10% month two years ago.
Summed, not compounded
Because profits aren't reinvested, annual returns are the sum of the monthly returns. It's also the more conservative presentation. The common practice of compounding monthly returns produces a bigger number from the exact same months.
Drawdown
Drawdown is measured peak to trough on the realized account path: every closed trade, in the order it hit the account, as a percentage of the $32,500 capital base. Losses are counted trade by trade, not netted into a daily total, so a losing trade in the morning still shows even if a later trade that day makes it back. See our drawdown record.
Frequently asked questions
Is SkySail Strategies' track record audited?
Yes. Our NQ-GX7 record is independently audited against broker statements by Alpha Performance Verification Services. Alpha audits the broker executions and statements behind our returns, recalculates the results and signs off on the record.
Why hasn't a CPA firm audited SkySail's financial statements?
Because SkySail Strategies isn't a pooled fund and never holds client money. Clients keep their capital in their own brokerage accounts, so there are no client assets on our books to audit. The track record is proven where the trades actually live, in the broker's records, audited by a CPA, CFA, CIPM verifier.
Who holds my money?
You do. Your capital stays in your own account at a regulated futures broker, in your name, and you receive statements directly from the broker.
Why aren't the returns compounded?
Profits aren't reinvested and position size stays fixed, so each month's return is measured on the same $32,500 of capital employed and the months are added together. Compounding the same months would produce a bigger number. We report the smaller one.
Are the returns before or after fees?
Returns are after all trading costs and before the strategy lease, which is disclosed separately.
Can I see the verification report?
Yes. We provide it to serious investors looking to become capital partners. Schedule an investor introduction and we'll go over the report with you on the call.
Can I contact the verifier myself?
Yes. Alpha Performance Verification Services will confirm the engagement to prospective clients who contact them through alphaverification.com.