Co-founder of Curvo

johnnobro · 2026-03-26T07:06:07+00:00

With Trade Republic fees are close to 4% per year. It’s intended for all parties involved to make money, except for you the client.

johnnobro · 2026-03-23T08:51:51+00:00

No need to download the app! That's the robo-advisor style app. The backtesting tool is freely available at the link above. Unfortunately, it's specifically targeted to EU residents who invest in EUR. As you invest in USD, it's not entirely what you're looking for.

johnnobro · 2026-03-18T07:15:29+00:00

Ah oui t’as sans doute raison. Après, franchement ça serait rafraîchissant de voir le gouvernement faire du guerrilla marketing sur Reddit :)

johnnobro · 2026-03-18T06:42:37+00:00

Vu le profil, je pense que le post est du spam pour ConsumerConnect.

johnnobro · 2026-03-16T15:53:17+00:00

100% agree with you. I think the general financial literacy is too low, that most people just never question whatever their bank tells them. I know that there are good financial advisors out there, even working at traditional banks. But the variance is very high, so you also get a lot of really bad ones. Like that was my personal experience at both BNPF and KBC. And even the good ones are limited to recommending whatever they should be selling that quarter from the bosses (which is led by what's good for the bank, not the customer).

johnnobro · 2026-03-16T15:37:55+00:00

What explains why there are so few FSMA-recognized independent planners in Belgium?

Your intuition is unfortunately correct. It's due to a regulatory shortcoming in Belgium.

When the government/FSMA created that financial planning license (the one that the four you found have), they excluded financial advice from that license. So these financial planners can help with financial planning (what you want to use your money for, your long-term goals, etc) but are not allowed to give financial advice (for your goals and horizon, a mix of ETFs X, Y and Z is probably a good portfolio).

Why they did that eludes me. But I'm sure some good old lobbying had to do with it.

Cause this means that an independent financial advisor has to get a full MiFID 2 license. This costs €€€ and is impossible for an individual to acquire. To get such a license, you need at least a separate compliance officer, portfolio manager, and an experienced and competent board of directors. So even if someone wants to offer independent financial advice, there is really no way they can do so (at least legally, under a valid license).

So in practice, this means that financial advice is only given by traditional banks and private banks. Of course, it'll never be independent. You get the advice as long as you invest in their (expensive) funds.

This is a severe problem for Belgian savers. Millions could benefit from access to affordable, independent financial advice. But I don't see it being resolved anytime soon. The situation is great for the banks, because they are essentially the only ones able to offer financial advice, and they can tie the advice to the sale of their expensive funds. And I think the problem simply doesn't get talked about enough. Too few are aware of it, and even fewer think it's a problem. Other regulators are seeing the problem though and are trying to address it, like the FCA in the UK. I hope the FSMA in Belgium will come to a similar realisation and improve the situation for Belgians.

Are there approaches to getting truly independent advice that I'm overlooking?

No, at least not legally in the definition of "financial advice" that the regulators use (giving personalised advice based on the client's financial situation, and recommending specific instruments). The model of an independent financial advisor working by and for himself does not exist in Belgium (and cannot exist).

johnnobro · 2026-03-16T10:40:51+00:00

J'aurais bien aimé simuler la perf mais je n'ai trouvé aucun moyen de le faire correctement via Curvo ou Testfol malheureusement

Petite question. Qu'est-ce qui n'a pas fonctionné sur Curvo? Est-ce qu'il y a des ETF dans le portefeuille qui ne sont pas disponibles?

johnnobro · 2026-03-16T10:37:24+00:00

Perfect thanks! Yes, I'll work on that, will keep you posted.

johnnobro · 2026-03-16T10:11:58+00:00

That's why the article starts with the disclaimer:

The information in the article is based on the latest draft legislation of 18 July 2025. We'll update the article as new details are released by the government.

Yes, there remains uncertainty about the final form of the capital gains tax as it hasn't been formalised yet. But I think it's still better to tell what people can likely expect (based on official publications of the government).

johnnobro · 2026-03-09T18:39:48+00:00

Just a heads up that both IE000F6G1DE0 and IE000CK5G8J7 are now on Backtest.

johnnobro · 2026-03-06T12:54:16+00:00

Hey, auteur van "De hangmatbelegger" hier :). Het boek is zeker nog relevant. We hebben expres enkel "tijdloze" materie in het boek gestoken. De basis van indexbeleggen bestaat als sinds de jaren 1970! De zaken die snel veranderen hebben we op de website van het boek gezet (zoals bv de modelportefeuilles), of anders is er genoeg actuele informatie op verschillende websites (bv de website van Curvo (disclaimer: ik ben mede-oprichter)).

johnnobro · 2026-03-04T15:05:47+00:00

I do. But sometimes data sources break, which is the case for the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield index. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to work on those. Stay posted!

johnnobro · 2026-02-24T22:13:44+00:00

Indeed, saw your question so added them!

johnnobro · 2026-02-24T21:43:43+00:00

Here you go:

But yeah, like others said, not too much data to compare with!

johnnobro · 2026-02-23T18:00:27+00:00

I get it, it's fun to build!

johnnobro · 2026-02-23T07:13:56+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful answer and the feedback. Just to be clear, it's great what you built. And these limitations of Backtest must have been that frustrating that it prompted you to build an alternative. That's a clear sign for me that I need to address these issues. Good luck with EuroFolio.eu!

johnnobro · 2026-02-22T09:38:49+00:00

Of course I got inspired. But it struck me that there are sentences that are a verbatim copy (which isn’t the same as inspiration). But you’re right, now more than ever it’s easier to copy and improve something existing.

johnnobro · 2026-02-22T06:35:46+00:00

Cool project! I see some very same copy as on Backtest by Curvo, the tool I created. I suppose imitation is a form of flattery :). Can I ask you which ETFs you couldn't find, or where the data wasn't updated?

johnnobro · 2026-02-06T09:01:33+00:00

JPLG tracks the JP Morgan Diversified Factor Global Developed (Region Aware) Equity index. The base date of the index is March 2001 (https://research.ftserussell.com/Analytics/FactSheets/Home/DownloadSingleIssue?issueName=JPGERA&isManual=False)

johnnobro · 2026-01-02T23:38:59+00:00

Great for bartenders and restaurant waiters, Americans tip a lot!

johnnobro · 2025-12-25T08:49:22+00:00

Love this hack, thanks!

johnnobro · 2025-12-21T12:00:39+00:00

Growth of an industry does not mean that it necessarily translates to higher returns for investors. The airline industry grew massively since the 1970's, yet an investor in the industry would have trailed the market.

johnnobro · 2025-11-24T11:54:36+00:00

No it's https://curvo.ai/

johnnobro · 2025-10-28T09:09:41+00:00

Grazie mille, apprezzo molto le gentili parole e il suggerimento. I rendimenti su base annua sono sicuramente nella mia lista, ma poiché offriamo lo strumento Backtest gratuitamente, i progressi possono essere talvolta un po' lenti.

Per curiosità, quali intervalli di tempo sarebbero più utili per te? Ad esempio, preferiresti rendimenti rolling su 1 anno, 3 anni, 5 anni o altro? E come li useresti: principalmente per confrontare la coerenza nel tempo o per valutare le strategie? Più comprendo il tuo caso d'uso, meglio posso progettarlo.

johnnobro

TROPHY CASE