Verification · 2017-10-17 · Confirmed
A record, not a recommendation.
AIEQ — Amplify AI Powered Equity ETF
L1 review of EquBot/IBM Watson's AIEQ — a real, publicly traded AI-managed equity ETF (not MC AI Labs'). By the AIRVS disclosure-and-evidence bar it scores Unreliable: only 1 of 6 process axes pass (the AI never publishes per-pick reasoning, sources, downside cases, or a defined horizon), and over 8.5 years it has trailed a simple S&P 500 index fund (SPY) while charging 0.75-0.80%. FAIRNESS NOTE: "Unreliable" here measures transparency/verifiability, NOT that AIEQ is a bad fund — a quantitative model legitimately keeps its picks' rationale proprietary, which structurally fails disclosure axes. The benchmark underperformance (-7.59pp/yr vs SPY, 5Y common window) is a separate, independently measured fact. Verdict derived mechanically via MC AI Labs decision-rule v1.0.0 (frozen); Annex A-F (AI-managed-fund variant, AIRVS v1.1) applied — most queryable-LLM items are structurally N/A and do not flip Axis 5 (holdings verified real). Published under AIRVS v1.2.0.
1 · Original recommendation
2 · Process score (6 axes, Pass/Fail)
Each axis is Pass or Fail, gated on evidence. The four dimensions are never summed into a single number — they combine into a verdict via a pre-published decision rule.
1 / 6 process axes passed
EVIDENCEHoldings disclosed daily, but per-pick data sources are not cited; inputs described only in aggregate. No primary/tier classification.
EVIDENCEPer-pick rationale is a proprietary black box; no premise-to-conclusion argument is published to verify.
EVIDENCENo downside scenarios or weighted probabilities disclosed.
EVIDENCEOpen-ended fund; no entry window or defined horizon — continuous rebalancing.
EVIDENCEAll 162 holdings are real, publicly disclosed, verifiable securities (top-10 confirmed via stockanalysis.com 2026-04-13). No fabricated tickers or figures.
EVIDENCENo per-pick sources or stated conclusions are published; source-to-conclusion linkage is unverifiable.
Annex A-F (AI-managed-fund variant, v1.1): prompt-based checks (A.2 reproducibility, A.3 stability, A.4 RAG, A.5 cutoff, A.7–A.9) are N/A — structural (a fund publishes no prompt or per-pick rationale) and do not flip Axis ⑤. Assessed instead: holdings reality (A.6), holdings/methodology/cost transparency, and inter-rater (A.11, pending external pool).
3 · Macro / micro coherence
Does the call account for the macro and instrument-level environment?
Missing
4 · Outcome — continuous strategy
Continuously managed strategy — measured as realized track record vs benchmark (AIRVS v1.1 outcome_mode: continuous), not the D+30/60/90/180 windows used for single dated calls.
Annualized
9.09%
Excess vs SPY (S&P 500)
-7.59pp
Max drawdown
—
Correlation
—
horizon: —
5 · Verdict
The verdict is produced by the evaluator's pre-published, version-locked decision rule from the four dimensions above — Confirmed. It is a per-recommendation record, not a reputation score for the provider.
Loss report & right of reply
Recommenders get a 7-day pre-publication notice and one round of rebuttal, published unedited. Lost money following this opinion? AIRVS commits to a 7-day SLA on every report.
Cite this verification
APA
MC AI Labs. (2017). AIRVS Verification: EquBot / IBM Watson (Amplify AIEQ) on AIEQ — Amplify AI Powered Equity ETF (Verdict: Unreliable) [Verification record]. https://www.ai-rvs.com/verifications/2017-10-17-aieq-amplify-ai-powered-equity-etf-issue1
BibTeX
@misc{airvs_2017_10_17_aieq_amplify_ai_powered_equity_etf_issue1,
title = {AIRVS Verification: EquBot / IBM Watson (Amplify AIEQ) on AIEQ — Amplify AI Powered Equity ETF},
author = {{MC AI Labs}},
year = {2017},
howpublished = {AIRVS Recommendation Provenance Standard},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20391984},
url = {https://www.ai-rvs.com/verifications/2017-10-17-aieq-amplify-ai-powered-equity-etf-issue1},
note = {Verdict: Unreliable. A record, not a recommendation. CC BY 4.0}
}Disclaimer
AIRVS is a record of past methodology and performance. It is not investment advice, not a recommendation, and not a solicitation. Past results do not predict future returns.