Benefits How It Works Easy to Use Pricing About FAQ Launch ALLOCATOR℠

Smarter portfolios for individuals and advisors

ALLOCATOR brings rigorous, academically grounded portfolio optimization to individual investors and registered investment advisors. Incorporate Social Security, pensions, real estate, human capital, and more, into mathematically optimal allocations.

Available to California residents only. See our User Agreement for eligibility requirements.

CA-Registered Adviser CRD #330083 Encrypted & Auditable

10

background asset classes in every optimization

14

curated ETFs comprising the Empirical Global Market Portfolio

<60s

to full household portfolio optimization

100%

audit trail for every optimization

Why ALLOCATOR℠

Built for how you work

Whether you're an individual managing your own portfolio or an advisor optimizing for clients, ALLOCATOR delivers the same rigorous, academically grounded optimization—tailored to each use case.

For Individuals

Academically rigorous optimization

Get a mathematically rigorous portfolio optimization grounded in peer-reviewed financial economics. Enter your household financial data and receive an allocation that accounts for your complete financial picture—Social Security, pension, real estate, and human capital included.

Specific, actionable results

No vague "moderate growth" labels. You get exact ETF allocations with dollar amounts, portfolio statistics, and a set of wealth-building and wealth-preserving strategies commonly used by individuals and households in wealth and income brackets similar to yours.

Easy to use, no technical expertise required

Enter your household financial data into a step-by-step web form, click submit, and receive your optimized portfolio allocation in seconds. There is no software to install, no spreadsheet to build, and no programming knowledge needed.

Pay per use by credit card

No subscription. No commitment. Pay $79.95 at the time of each optimization via debit or credit card. Use it once a year at rebalancing time, or whenever your financial situation changes.

Save your inputs and resume any time

The web form's JSON tab includes Save and Load buttons that let you keep a snapshot of everything you have entered as a small file on your own computer. At your next annual rebalance, after a major life event, or whenever your financial situation changes, paste your saved snapshot back in — update only what has changed, and re‑run ALLOCATOR℠ without re‑entering everything from scratch.

For Advisors

Differentiate your practice

Go beyond generic risk questionnaires and model portfolios. Offer optimization that incorporates each client's Social Security, pension, home equity, and remaining earning years—analysis grounded in the same peer-reviewed financial economics used in academic and institutional research.

Recommendations clients understand

When a client asks why 72% equities instead of 60%, show them exactly how the calculation works—their Social Security, their pension, their home equity, all factored in. Clients who understand the recommendation stick with it through volatility.

Web interface or API integration

Use the intuitive web form for everyday optimizations, or integrate the API directly with your CRM, financial planning software, or custom applications. Both produce identical results with full audit trails.

Charged monthly in arrears

Run optimizations throughout the month. Your payment method on file with Stripe is charged automatically at month-end for that month’s usage.

Per‑client snapshots for fast updates

Save each client’s JSON inputs as a snapshot file alongside the rest of your client records. At the next review, paste the snapshot back into the web form, update only what has changed since last year, and re‑run ALLOCATOR℠ in seconds — no re‑entering Social Security earnings histories, real estate details, or pension parameters from scratch.

Total Wealth Optimization

Unlike conventional tools that optimize only investable assets, ALLOCATOR℠ incorporates Social Security, pensions, Medicare, real estate, and human capital into a unified mathematical framework.

Risk Aversion Measured Precisely

No questionnaires. Instead, a concrete question: what's the maximum you'd pay to insure against a specific loss? That answer maps directly to a risk aversion coefficient used in the optimization.

Complete in Seconds

Enter data through the intuitive web form, click submit, and receive specific ETF allocations with exact dollar amounts. The full household optimization runs in seconds.

Personalized Wealth Strategies

Every optimization includes a set of wealth-building and wealth-preserving strategies commonly used by individuals and households in wealth and income brackets similar to yours.

Household Financial Statements

Every optimization produces a Household Economic Balance Sheet and a Household Income & Expense Summary, giving you a comprehensive view of your total financial position within the Merton optimization framework.

Save and Resume Your Inputs

Keep a snapshot of everything you enter as a JSON file on your own computer. Paste it back in at your next visit to update only what has changed — whether that’s your annual rebalance, a major life event, or anything in between. No re‑entering data from scratch.

How It Works

The complete optimization engine

ALLOCATOR solves a continuous-time portfolio optimization problem originally formulated by economist Robert C. Merton, extended to incorporate the full range of household assets and tax considerations.

Background Assets as Inputs

Most optimization tools consider only the assets you can trade. ALLOCATOR℠ incorporates every significant financial asset—Social Security benefits, Medicare, defined-benefit pensions, real estate equity, human capital, annuities, and more—as fixed inputs to the optimization. The result is an allocation that reflects the household's actual total wealth, not just its liquid portfolio.

Optimal Allocation

The optimization determines the ideal split between the Empirical Global Market Portfolio (a diversified basket of 14 ETFs) and a risk-free asset. This allocation incorporates the household's measured risk aversion, the covariance structure among background assets and the market, and after-tax expected returns.

Measuring Risk Aversion

The household's coefficient of relative risk aversion is elicited through a willingness-to-pay framework grounded in revealed preference theory. Unlike conventional risk-attitude questionnaires, the elicitation is based on a concrete monetary tradeoff: the maximum insurance premium the household would pay to avoid a specified portfolio loss.

Precisely Measured Risk Aversion

Measures the coefficient of relative risk aversion using revealed preference methodology—not behavioral questionnaires subject to framing effects.

Comprehensive Background Assets

Incorporates Social Security, Medicare, pensions, real estate, human capital, annuities, and more, into the optimization itself.

Household-Level Analysis

Treats couples as a single economic unit with proper handling of community property, joint ownership, and spousal benefits.

Tax-Aware Optimization

Performs iterative optimization considering federal and state income taxes, and capital gains taxes.

Specific Recommendations

Returns actionable ETF allocations with exact dollar amounts—not vague percentage ranges or generic advice.

Complete Audit Trail

All requests and responses are stored securely, providing documentation for compliance and review.

Personalized Wealth Strategies

A set of wealth-building and wealth-preserving strategies commonly used by individuals and households in wealth and income brackets similar to yours, each with rationale, risk factors, and IRS citations.

Household Financial Statements

Every optimization produces a Household Economic Balance Sheet and a Household Income & Expense Summary, giving you a comprehensive view of your total financial position within the Merton optimization framework.

ALLOCATOR℠ INPUTS BACKGROUND WEALTH Social Security Medicare Pensions Real Estate Human Capital Annuities Life Insurance Vehicles Bank CDs Businesses RISK AVERSION MEASURE Willingness-to-pay elicitation maps to CRRA coefficient (γ) ALLOCATABLE WEALTH Household liquid assets available for optimization ALLOCATOR℠ OPTIMIZATION ENGINE ALLOCATOR℠ OUTPUTS OPTIMAL PORTFOLIO 70/30 illustrative only EGMP-14 ETFs Risk-Free Asset Specific ETF allocations with exact dollar amounts HOUSEHOLD SUMMARY RISK AVERSION (γ) 3.90 TOTAL WEALTH $5.87M BACKGROUND WEALTH $4.87M ALLOCATABLE WEALTH $1.00M * Complete breakdown of total wealth, background wealth, allocatable wealth, and measured risk aversion FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Household Economic Balance Sheet Income & Expense Summary Complete financial position within the Merton framework WEALTH STRATEGIES Traditional 401(k) Roth 401(k) Roth IRA Backdoor Roth IRA HSA Tax Loss Harvesting ⋯ and more ⋯ Wealth-building and wealth-preserving strategies matched to your wealth and income bracket
Easy to Use

User-friendly web interface

The ALLOCATOR web interface puts rigorous portfolio optimization at your fingertips—no programming, spreadsheets, or technical expertise required.

Enter household information, income sources, assets, and risk preferences through clearly organized forms. Click submit, and receive a detailed optimization report with specific ETF allocations and dollar amounts.

ria.us/api/api.html HOUSEHOLD DATA Client name... Age: 52 State: CA Annual income: $185,000 Liquid portfolio: $620,000 SOCIAL SECURITY Monthly benefit: $2,840 Run Optimization OPTIMIZATION RESULTS Optimal Allocation: 68% Market / 32% Risk-Free ETF ALLOCATION AMOUNT VTI — Total Stock Market 24.8% $153,760 VXUS — Intl Stock Market 18.2% $112,840 BND — Total Bond Market 12.4% $76,880 + 11 more ETFs... RISK AVERSION (γ) 3.42 AFTER-TAX SHARPE 1.228 TOTAL BACKGROUND PV $1.82M * Illustrative example only. Your results will differ.

Launch the Web Interface

Enter data, run optimizations, and view formatted reports through an intuitive graphical interface designed for financial advisors and individual investors alike.

Open Web Interface

For firms with technical staff: ALLOCATOR is also available as an application programming interface (API) that integrates directly with your existing CRM, financial planning software, or custom applications. Both access methods produce identical results and maintain complete audit trails. Read the API Guide.

Transparent Pricing

Pricing that fits how you use it

One price per use for individuals. Graduated monthly tiers for advisors. No subscriptions, no minimums, no long-term contracts.

Individual Clients

$79.95per use

Flat fee per successful API Use. Payment collected at time of use via debit or credit card. Failed requests are never charged.

RIA Clients

From $21.95per use

Graduated tier schedule, applied cumulatively to successful API uses each calendar month. Your payment method on file is charged automatically at month-end:

  • First 25 uses: $34.95 each
  • Next 75 uses (26–100): $27.95 each
  • Each additional use (101+): $21.95 each

Example: 60 uses in one month = (25 × $34.95) + (35 × $27.95) = $1,852.00. Tier counters reset each calendar month.

Enterprise and platform partnership pricing available. Contact us for high-volume arrangements.

About the Company

Building software for modern financial advice

Advisory API Systems LLC is a California-registered investment advisor that develops specialized software for the financial advisory profession and for individual investors. Our mission is to make sophisticated, academically grounded portfolio optimization accessible to registered investment advisors serving the mass affluent market and to individual investors managing their own financial futures.

Our flagship product, ALLOCATOR, is available through an intuitive web interface designed for everyday use. Simply enter household financial data into clear, organized forms, click a button, and receive optimized portfolio recommendations in seconds.

Common Questions

FAQ

You receive a complete, personalized portfolio optimization report that tells you exactly how to allocate your investable assets between a curated and globally diversified portfolio of ETFs, representing the Empirical Global Market Portfolio, and a risk-free asset. You get exact ETF allocations, with dollar amounts. The report incorporates Social Security, Medicare, pensions, real estate, human capital, and more. You also receive a Household Economic Balance Sheet and a Household Income & Expense Summary showing your complete financial position within the optimization framework, plus a set of wealth-building and wealth-preserving strategies commonly used by individuals and households in wealth and income brackets similar to yours, each with rationale, risk factors, and IRS citations.

ALLOCATOR℠ is built on the Merton continuous-time portfolio framework, a foundational result in financial economics. Unlike rule-of-thumb methods or questionnaire-based risk profiles, it derives your optimal allocation mathematically from your actual financial data and a precisely measured risk tolerance. Advisory API Systems LLC is a California-registered investment advisor (CRD #330083).

Run it again. Each optimization is a standalone analysis based on your current data. Major life events—a new job, retirement, an inheritance, buying a home—change your background wealth and risk capacity. A fresh optimization captures those changes and gives you an updated recommendation.

Yes. The web form's JSON tab includes Save Snapshot to File and Load Snapshot from Clipboard buttons. Save downloads everything you have entered as a small JSON file you can keep on your own computer alongside your tax records or financial documents. The next time you run ALLOCATOR℠—at your annual rebalance, after a major life event, or whenever your situation changes—copy the file's contents to your clipboard and Load to restore everything in seconds, then update only the fields that have changed and re‑run without re‑entering anything from scratch. Advisors can keep one snapshot file per client alongside their other client records, making annual reviews substantially faster.

No. The web interface walks you through clear, organized forms—income, assets, Social Security, pensions—and handles all the math. You enter what you know about your own finances; ALLOCATOR℠ does the rest.

Your data is transmitted over encrypted connections and is stored securely after your optimization completes. We do not sell or share personal financial information. As a registered investment advisor, we are subject to regulatory requirements governing client data protection.

Individual investors and heads of households who want a rigorous, data-driven answer to "how should I invest?" rather than relying on generic rules of thumb. Also registered investment advisors who want to bring academically grounded optimization to their clients. You must be a California resident, or an advisor with your principal place of business in California, to use the service directly.

Ready to get started?

Try ALLOCATOR and see how it can enhance your portfolio strategy.

Available to California residents only. See our User Agreement for eligibility requirements.