How to actually pick a vault: a checklist
Disclosure: I run Altcopy and my Index invests in native vaults — see the map post.
Every post in this series ends at the same door: the structure stops theft, not bad choosing. So here's how I actually evaluate a vault — a checklist to run before depositing a cent.
- Skin in the game. Does the manager have real money in it alongside you? Native vaults force 5%; elsewhere, ask. No stake = they're playing with your chips only.
- Fee structure. Performance-only with a high-water mark is the gold standard. Management and exit fees raise the bar the strategy must clear (see the fees post). "Not disclosed" is a strike.
- The worst window, not the best number. Ignore headline APR — a short lucky stretch annualized into a fantasy. Look at the deepest drawdown: could you stomach that? A vault is its bad days.
- Age and survival. Has it survived a real drop, or only good weather? Cross-check the equity curve against profit — equity jumping without matching profit is deposits flowing in, not skill.
- Transparency. Can you see the positions (native: yes), or are you trusting a label?
- Exit. Lock-up? Withdrawal queue? Instant-exit fee? Know how fast you can leave before you need to.
- Consistency over heroics. Steady beats one lucky double. Return per unit of pain (roughly, return ÷ worst drawdown) says more than return alone.
The honest problem: running this by hand across hundreds of mostly-dead vaults is miserable, and the easy number (APR) is the misleading one. That's the itch I built the Altcopy Leaderboard to scratch — it scores native vaults on these dimensions instead of the headline. Use it, or build your own; just don't deposit on APR alone.
That's the series. You now know which family you're in, whether they can steal from you, what you're paying, why native vaults still earn their place, and how to choose. Each person takes it from here — which was the whole point.
Not financial advice. I'm biased; this checklist is exactly how I'd want you to scrutinize me, too.