Systematic, defined-risk trading · Fully managed

Quant strategies.
Defined risk.

AQ Agent runs rule-based, defined-risk strategies on your own brokerage account — Alpaca today, more brokers shipping next. The primary engine is a regime-gated equity growth sleeve (SPY or SPY+QQQ) targeting double-digit CAGR while a 200-day moving average gate steps the portfolio aside in bear markets. Paper-first for 60 days — watch the agent operate on a simulation account before any real dollar moves.

Join the paper-first waitlist See how it works

Backtests are reproducible from the source repository. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Capital at risk.

+10%
Target CAGR
Built-in
Drawdown circuit breaker
60 days
Paper-first period
Per-position
Trade tape audit
Trades via
Alpaca Interactive Brokers soon Binance soon
Who it's for

Built for the executive, not the day-trader.

You have a full-time job. You don't want a second one watching tickers. AQ Agent does the watching — you read the monthly report.

🏛

Institutional strategies from $5k

The wheel, iron condors, multi-asset trend, regime-gated equity growth — strategies a private bank typically opens at $50k+ minimums. The tier system sizes them so they actually fit at $5k, $30k, $75k, $200k.

🤖

Zero monitoring required

The agent scans the market, opens and closes positions, and respects the risk budget on its own. You check in monthly when the email report lands — or weekly if you want to see what's running.

🧘

Your mental peace stays yours

Every position is defined-risk before it opens. A portfolio-level drawdown circuit breaker flattens everything if losses cross the tier's budget. 60-day paper-first so you watch the agent operate before any real dollar moves.

Process

Three steps. Zero headaches.

01

You connect your brokerage

Bring your existing brokerage account or open one in minutes (Alpaca today, with IBKR + crypto venues shipping next). You keep full custody — AQ Agent can only trade, never withdraw.

02

We deploy the agent

We configure and launch AQ Agent on our servers within 24 hours. Live dashboard goes up. You get login credentials.

03

The agent runs itself

AQ Agent scans a curated US large-cap universe daily, manages entries, exits, and risk — completely autonomously.

How we measure

Equity premium when bull. Cash when bear.

Every tier's primary engine is the regime-gated equity_growth sleeve — long SPY (or SPY + QQQ) while the index sits above its 200d moving average, parked in 1-3 month T-bills (BIL) when it doesn't. The wheel + iron-condor + crypto + trend sleeves layer on diversified return streams. Tier CAGR targets range from +10% (Conservative) to +22% (Founders); every assumption and backtest script is committed to the source repo so you can re-run them on your own machine.

+10%
Conservative CAGR target
$5k minimum · 10% drawdown budget
+14%
Balanced CAGR target
$30k minimum · 14% drawdown budget
+18%
Growth CAGR target
$75k minimum · 18% drawdown budget
Built-in
Drawdown guard
Circuit breaker force-flattens at cap
60 days
Paper-first
Before live capital can be enabled
Public
Backtests
Reproducible from the source repo

Tier CAGR targets are forward-looking, not realised returns; they reflect the new compositions (equity_growth + tier-specific layers) and assume the 200d-SMA regime gate behaves consistently with its 2015-2024 calibration. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Per-sleeve backtests (wheel, iron condor, cash-secured put, multi-asset trend, crypto momentum) and per-(bundle × tier) compositions are committed at services/core/backtests/ and docs/validation/bundles/ in the source repository, including methodology and caveats; equity_growth backtests land in the next refresh. AQ Agent is not a registered investment advisor.

Strategies

The six engines under the hood.

Each bundle is built from these building blocks. A tier decides how much of each you run; a bundle decides which ones are on. Here's what each does, the role it plays, and how it behaves across market weather.

🚀

Regime-gated equity growth

Equity Growth Buy-&-Hold

Holds SPY (or a SPY + QQQ split in higher tiers) while the S&P 500 sits above its 200-day moving average. The moment the trend flips down, the sleeve rotates fully into 1-3 month T-bills (BIL) and waits.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
The primary return engine. Bull-regime equity premium is the cheapest alpha there is; this sleeve captures it without trying to outsmart the index, and the regime gate is what makes the exposure defensible.
Return profile
Tracks SPY closely while the regime is on — a 200d-SMA filter sits above the index roughly three-quarters of historical time. When the regime flips, you swap to T-bill yield instead of riding a drawdown.
How it behaves
Designed for sustained bull markets — the gate stays on while the trend is intact and the sleeve compounds. The weak spot is sharp V-bottoms where the SMA flips off near the low; the regime overlay re-enters on the recovery once the trend confirms.
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Premium income on US stocks

The Wheel

Sells cash-backed put options on quality US large-caps. If a put is assigned, it holds the stock and sells covered calls on top. The premium collected each cycle is the income.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
The income core. Generates steady cash flow in flat-to-rising markets and lowers your average entry price when it does get assigned stock.
Return profile
Targets a high win-rate, modest per-trade gain. Most cycles are small wins; the rare loss is owning a stock below where you'd have bought it outright.
How it behaves
Shines in calm and gently rising markets. Underperforms a raging bull (you cap upside with the calls) and takes paper losses in a sharp crash (you own the shares) — but defined and cushioned by all the premium collected first.
📊

Index range income

Iron Condor

Defined-risk options on broad index ETFs (SPY, QQQ, IWM). Sells out-of-the-money calls and puts, buys further-out wings so the maximum loss is fixed before you ever enter.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
The pure-premium harvester. No directional bet — it profits from the index simply staying inside a range, which it does most of the time.
Return profile
Highest Sharpe of the income sleeves in our backtest: lots of small defined-risk wins. The wings cap the worst case so a tail event can't blow up the position.
How it behaves
Best in low-to-moderate volatility. Its bad days are sharp directional moves (big rally or selloff) — but the loss is bounded by the wing width, known in advance.
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Discount-entry income

Cash-Secured Puts

Sells cash-secured puts on liquid ETFs. Every cycle collects premium; if the market dips through the strike, you buy the ETF at the discounted strike price — a disciplined way to scale into the market.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
Income with a built-in buy-the-dip. Pairs a yield stream with deliberate accumulation at lower prices.
Return profile
Similar to the wheel's first leg: frequent small premium wins, occasional assignment that hands you the ETF below the prior market price.
How it behaves
Comfortable in sideways and dip-and-recover markets. In a sustained crash you accumulate the ETF on the way down — intended, but it ties up cash.
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All-weather trend defense

Multi-asset Trend

Holds each asset class — US stocks, international, bonds, real estate, commodities, gold — only while its long-term trend is up. Rotates fully to cash when a trend breaks. The Faber GTAA rule.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
The drawdown shield. This is the sleeve that keeps the portfolio out of prolonged bear markets by stepping aside instead of riding them down.
Return profile
Won't top a buy-and-hold in a straight bull run. Its job is risk-adjusted: capture most of the upside trend, skip the worst of the downside.
How it behaves
Excels in sustained directional regimes — long bulls and, crucially, long bears (it's in cash). Its weak spot is choppy, trendless markets where it gets whipsawed in and out.
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Crypto, only when trending up

Crypto Momentum

BTC + ETH allocation gated by a 100-day moving-average filter. Holds while the trend is positive, steps fully aside the moment it breaks. Volatility-targeted so it never dominates the portfolio's risk.

Role, returns & dynamics
Role
The asymmetric growth kicker — only in the higher tiers. A small, risk-capped sleeve meant to capture crypto's upside bursts without exposing the whole portfolio to its drawdowns.
Return profile
Lumpy: long quiet stretches in cash, punctuated by strong runs when crypto trends. The vol target keeps any single period from swamping the rest of the book.
How it behaves
Captures sustained crypto bull legs; sits in cash through bear markets. The lag is the SMA flip — it gives back some gains at the top and waits for confirmation before re-entering.

There's also a cash buffer in every bundle — unallocated capital kept as collateral support and dry powder for the income sleeves. Mix and weighting are set by your tier and bundle; you can re-tune from Settings any time.

How the sleeves blend in each tier

Click a tier to see which sleeves are active and what weight each one carries. The mix is set; you don't tune individual weights, you pick the tier.

  • Equity growth (regime-gated) 55%
  • Multi-asset trend 20%
  • Iron condor — range income 20%
  • Cash buffer 5%
  • Equity growth (regime-gated) 45%
  • Wheel — premium income 20%
  • Iron condor — range income 15%
  • Multi-asset trend 15%
  • Cash buffer 5%
  • Equity growth (regime-gated) — SPY + QQQ 40%
  • Iron condor — range income 20%
  • Wheel — premium income 15%
  • Crypto momentum 15%
  • Multi-asset trend 5%
  • Cash buffer 5%
  • Equity growth (regime-gated) — SPY + QQQ 35%
  • Wheel — premium income 20%
  • Crypto momentum 20%
  • Iron condor — range income 15%
  • Multi-asset trend 5%
  • Cash buffer 5%

Minimum capital: $5k / $30k / $75k / $200k by tier. Composition matches the canonical tiers in services/core/src/aq_core/tiers/registry.py.

What you get

What's included in every plan.

🤖

Fully automated agent

Runs every market day. No intervention needed — set it once, let it work.

📊

Live dashboard

Track P&L, open positions, trade history, and signals in real time.

🛡️

Multi-layer risk management

ATR stop-loss, portfolio drawdown circuit breaker, position-size caps, low-volatility filter.

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Your money stays yours

The broker API keys we use are trade-only. AQ Agent cannot move or withdraw funds.

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Automatic updates

Strategy improvements are deployed silently. No action required from you.

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Monthly performance report

Email summary of returns, trades, and strategy state every month.

Pricing

Pick the tier that fits your capital.

Four tiers, each with its own risk budget and strategy mix. Setup is a one-time fee; monthly is fixed regardless of how much your account grows.

Conservative Equity growth with a regime gate
Setup $99
Monthly $19/mo
Minimum: $5,000
  • Regime-gated equity growth (55%) + Multi-asset trend defense (20%) + Index range income (20%) + Cash buffer (5%)
  • Target CAGR ~10% · 10% drawdown budget · circuit breaker at cap
  • Live dashboard · monthly email report
  • Email support
Reserve your spot
Recommended
Balanced Equity growth + premium income
Setup $199
Monthly $39/mo
Minimum: $30,000
  • Regime-gated equity growth (45%) + Premium income on stocks (20%) + Index range income (15%) + Trend defense (15%) + Cash buffer (5%)
  • Target CAGR ~14% · 14% drawdown budget
  • All three packaged bundles available (Defensive / Income / Multi)
  • Live dashboard · monthly email report
  • Email support
Reserve your spot
Growth Adds Nasdaq beta + crypto
Setup $299
Monthly $69/mo
Minimum: $75,000
  • Regime-gated equity growth — SPY + QQQ (40%) + Index range income (20%) + Premium income on stocks (15%) + Crypto trend (15%) + Trend defense (5%) + Cash buffer (5%)
  • Target CAGR ~18% · 18% drawdown budget · vol-targeted crypto sleeve
  • All bundles available
  • Live dashboard · monthly email report
  • Priority email support
Reserve your spot
Founders Operator-curated, custom-mixable
Setup $399
Monthly $99/mo
Minimum: $200,000
  • Regime-gated equity growth — SPY + QQQ (35%) + Premium income on stocks (20%) + Crypto trend (20%) + Index range income (15%) + Trend defense (5%) + Cash buffer (5%)
  • Target CAGR ~22% · 25% drawdown budget
  • Custom bundle: pick the active sleeves individually
  • Onboarding call · direct line to the operator
  • Live dashboard · monthly email report
Reserve your spot

We onboard a limited number of clients per month to maintain service quality. Paper trading is included in the setup fee — no live capital moves until you opt in after the 60-day paper period.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Will AQ Agent beat the market?

Past performance isn't a promise — but the architecture *is* designed to capture equity premium. The primary engine is a regime-gated equity_growth sleeve: long SPY (or SPY+QQQ) while the index is above its 200-day moving average, parked in T-bills (BIL) when it isn't. Layered on top, the wheel + iron condor + crypto + trend sleeves add diversified carry. The tier CAGR targets (10–22%) bake that in. The drawdown circuit breaker also force-flattens if losses cross the tier budget. You can re-run every backtest on your own machine; the source is committed.

Is AQ Agent a registered investment advisor?

No. AQ Agent provides algorithmic trading software as a service. It is not an investment advisor, broker, or fund manager. You make your own trading decisions by choosing to activate the service. All trading activity is in your own brokerage account.

Can AQ Agent withdraw my money?

No. The broker API keys we use are trade-only. They have no access to ACH transfers, withdrawals, or external wire transfers. Your funds can only move in or out through your own brokerage account portal.

What happens if I want to cancel?

Cancel any time with 30 days notice. We stop the agent, hand you the dashboard credentials, and your brokerage account keeps the trading history. No lock-ins, no penalties.

How much capital do I need?

Conservative starts at $5,000 — equity_growth (55%) + multi-asset trend (20%) + iron condor (20%) + cash (5%). Balanced starts at $30,000 and adds the wheel. Growth at $75,000 widens equity_growth to SPY+QQQ and turns on the crypto sleeve. Founders at $200,000 unlocks the flagship wheel underlyings (SPY/QQQ) plus the Custom bundle. The tier minimums exist so each sleeve has room to size properly — no point running a 5% wheel allocation on a $2,000 account.

Do I need any trading experience?

No. The agent handles everything. You just need a supported brokerage account (Alpaca today; more coming) and capital to deploy.

Can I run it on paper trading first?

Yes. We can deploy the agent in paper mode so you can watch it operate before going live. Paper deployment is included in the setup fee.

What is the strategy?

AQ Agent composes up to six rule-based sleeves: **equity_growth** (SPY or SPY+QQQ buy-&-hold gated on a 200-day SMA — the primary return engine), **multi-asset trend** (Faber GTAA on 13 ETFs across equities, bonds, REITs, commodities and gold), **wheel** (cash-secured puts → covered calls on SPY/QQQ/IWM), **iron condor** (defined-risk option premium on the same index ETFs), **cash-secured put** (the wheel's first leg in isolation), and **crypto momentum** (BTC/ETH gated by a 100-day SMA regime filter). Each tier ships a default sleeve mix; on top of that you pick a **bundle**: *Defensive* (equity_growth + trend), *Income* (option income only), *Multi-strategy* (everything the tier allows), or *Custom* (Founders tier — you pick sleeves individually). A portfolio-level drawdown circuit breaker force-flattens positions if losses exceed the tier's risk budget. Signals are fully deterministic — no generative AI is used for trade decisions.