Journal / Guide · 6 min read
How to compare your advisor's results with a rules-based portfolio: five numbers to ask for
Five numbers to ask your financial advisor for, how to keep the comparison fair, and what a 1% fee costs over 20 years.
By Lowdraft. Published October 20, 2026.
If you pay an advisor around 1% a year, you are entitled to know what you are getting. Part of that is service: planning, taxes, someone to talk to when markets are rough. Part of it is investment results. The second part can be measured, and most people have never measured it. This guide shows how, and how to keep it fair to the advisor. It is also fair to us: a rules-based Keel is not automatically better, and the point is to find out.
First, line up the basics
- Same dates. Compare over the same period. A portfolio that started in 2009 and one that started in 2019 are not comparable.
- Net of all fees. Use returns after the advisory fee, fund expense ratios and trading costs. Ask for the "net of fees" figure.
- Your actual account. Use your own statements, with deposits and withdrawals taken out, not a model portfolio from a brochure.
- A fair benchmark. If your portfolio holds 60% stocks and 40% bonds, comparing it with the S&P 500 alone is unfair to it. Compare with something that has similar risk.
The five numbers
| Number | What it tells you | How to ask |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Annual return (CAGR), net of fees | How fast the money grew each year. | "What was my annualized return after all fees, since I started?" |
| 2. Worst drawdown | The deepest fall from a peak you sat through. | "What was the biggest peak-to-low drop in my account?" |
| 3. Time under water | How long it took to get back to a previous high. The Ulcer Index and UPI capture depth and duration together. | "How long was I below my previous high at the worst point?" |
| 4. The benchmark over the same dates | Whether the effort beat doing nothing. | "What would a low-cost index fund with similar risk have done over the same dates?" |
| 5. Total cost | What you paid for all of it. | "What is the all-in annual cost: advisory fee plus fund fees plus trading?" |
Numbers 2 and 3 matter most for how a portfolio feels. A 10-point difference in worst drawdown can decide whether you stay invested through a bad year.
What a 1% fee costs over time
| Yearly fee | $50,000 after 20 years | Cost versus no fee |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $193,484 | — |
| 0.5% | $176,182 | $17,302 |
| 1.0% | $160,357 | $33,127 |
| 1.5% | $145,888 | $47,596 |
Arithmetic illustration with an assumed 7% yearly return before fees. Not a forecast.
Putting a Keel next to your account
- Pick the dates your account has existed.
- Run a Keel in the Lab over the same dates, with trading costs switched on.
- Read the same numbers: annual return, worst drawdown, UPI, and the benchmark.
- Remember what the test is. The Keel result is hypothetical and made with hindsight. Your account is real. Treat the Keel as a yardstick, not a promise.
What this comparison cannot tell you
- Advice is more than returns. Retirement planning, tax planning, estate work and talking you out of a panic sale have real value that no return number captures.
- Hindsight flatters rules. A back-test can look better than live trading will. That is why we show limits next to every result.
- Risk differs. A portfolio built to lose less in a crash may earn less in a long rally. Compare like with like.
- Taxes matter. Frequent rebalancing is simplest inside a retirement account. In a taxable account the tax cost belongs in the comparison.
What to do with the answer
If your advisor's net results, drawdowns and costs hold up well against a fair benchmark, that is good to know, and you can stay with confidence. If they do not, you now have specific questions to ask. Either way you are deciding with numbers instead of hunches. If you want a hands-on way to learn how a rules-based approach behaves, you can practice with simulated money first.
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Lowdraft is software, not an investment adviser, and this guide is not investment, tax or legal advice. It does not suggest that any adviser's results are better or worse than a Keel's, and it does not recommend ending an advisory relationship. Hypothetical results are prepared with hindsight and do not predict future results. You can lose money.