Every

RIA

Investment Objective

Financial Product

WHY IT MATTERS

Personalized Indexing

Two products. One solution. Harness the power of Syntax Direct and Schwab Advisor Services iRebal® to Unlock Structural Advantages:
The Power of
Syntax Direct
Lower Cost
Own underlying stocks directly. Eliminate fund wrapper fees and pass the structural savings straight to your clients.
True Personalization
Build portfolios around what each client actually cares about: their goals, values, and tax situation, for every household in your book.
Rules-based and Transparent
Clearly define portfolio objectives, complete with comprehensive, documented methodologies to facilitate compliance and client transparency.
The Power of
iRebal
Tax Loss Harvesting
Deliver personalized tax management at scale. Automate security-level scans to harvest losses, offset capital gains, and maximize wealth.
Fractional Share Trading
Bring precision trading to every account size. Deploy cash instantly down to the penny and align portfolios more closely to model targets.
Portfolio Oversight
Automate rebalancing and trading workflows to help keep portfolios aligned with investment strategies while reducing manual effort.
Elevate your practice:
Stand apart from advisors pitching commoditized funds.
Protect your book and insulate fees by delivering a deeply customized investment experience.
Boost retention and attract new assets.
Offer prospects direct ownership and control the way modern investing is supposed to be.
Focus on clients.
Not on processes, with knowledge that investment strategy and implementation are thoughtfully automated.
Your models, your brand, deployed at scale.
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PRICING MODEL

Only pay for what you deploy

10 bps on deployed Syntax index-linked AUM
650+ index starting library
Sector, factor, ESG & thematic overlays
Backtested report in ~15 seconds
Branded fact sheet & rulebook
Daily index files
Direct export to iRebal
Additionally, iRebal offers:
Integrated experience with real-time positions, pricing and trading
Highly customizable settings to rebalance accounts according to specific needs
Tax-aware, household-level rebalancing
Automated rebalancing and trading capabilities for less complex accounts
Dynamic tax-loss harvesting
Streamlined order approval and execution, including setting parameters for block trades and allocation of trades
Extensive cash management
Cash and Allocation Reports for quick review of accounts

Tailor Your Index

Sector Tilts

11 sectors · 23 sub-sectors

Factor Overlays

12 factors · 3 conviction levels

Micro Themes

20+ product-line themes

Macro Regimes

Up to 10 environments

Controversial Industries

Up to 9 revenue-based screens

Stock Exclusions

Up to 25 names

Impact & ESG

E, S, G, or composite

Rebalance Cadence

Quarterly · semi-annual · annual

Build a Custom Index

1
OBJECTIVE
2
UNIVERSE
3
TILTS & EXCLUSIONS
4
OVERLAY & CONVICTIONS
5
ADDITIONAL CUSTOMIZATIONS

Select your index objective

Choose the type of index to build:
Benchmark and Core: Market performance with additional customization
Factor: Lean into factors like growth, value, or quality
Thematic: Focused investment concepts like AI, Infrastructure, or Space
Impact: Environment, Social, and Governance focused indices
Tiles showing the different types of indices that can be built on Syntax Direct: Benchmark, Core, Factor, Micro Theme, Macro Theme, Impact, and Off the Shelf.
UNIVERSE

Pick the starting universe and Target Count.

Select the starting universe from which securities will be drawn. Then select the number of securities to hold in the custom index, ranging from as few as 10 securities up to the full count of the universe.
UNIVERSE
Syntax Direct offers indices comparable to the S&P 500, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, and Russell 3000
Starting universes from which users can build indices on Syntax Direct.
TILTS & EXCLUSIONS

Exclude sectors or subsectors.

Exclude, underweight or overweight one or more sectors or subsectors.
CONSTITUENTS
Questions are optional — you don't HAVE to exclude one or more sectors
Sectors users can optionally exclude, underweight, or overweight in Syntax Direct indices.
OVERLAYS & CONVICTION

Pick an overlay. Set conviction.

Select the relevant factor, impact, or thematic overlays along with a conviction level that determines its strength. For example, an advisor might select a growth factor with a high conviction, or a cybersecurity theme with medium conviction.
Factors users can optionally select as overlays for indices built on Syntax Direct.
ADDITIONAL CUSTOMIZATIONS

Fine-tune the index.

Select additional customizations, depending on the objective, including:
Exclude Controversial Industries
Exclude Specific Stocks
Set Rebalance Frequency
Set Dividend Reinvestment
Set Custom Security Weight Cap
Controversial industries users can optionally exclude from indices built on Syntax Direct.
RESOURCES
Explore our collection of guides, use cases, and research

Or Simply Choose an Off-the-Shelf Index

Access 650+ indices published by Syntax, plus the benchmarks your clients already know.
A selection off of-the-shelf indices users can choose on Syntax Direct.
View All Indices
REPORTS

See 10 years of backtested performance before you deploy.

After you finish customizing your index, select up to five benchmarks to compare it to, then deploy.
Hypothetical backtest performance of an index built on Syntax Direct and its benchmark. Configurations of a hypothetical index built on Syntax Direct.Constituents of a hypothetical index built on Syntax Direct.

Documentation

Brandable documents to support transparency and compliance.
  • A full Methodology & Rules document for every index showing the transparent, rules-based logic behind every strategy. The Index rulebook details how the index is constructed and updated over time, from security selection and weighting to daily calculation and periodic reconstitution.
  • Index factsheets summarize performance and key statistical characteristics of the index so you can understand the model at a glance.
Excerpts from a rulebook for a hypothetical index built on Syntax Direct.
AI ASSISTANT

Saidee

Saidee is Syntax Direct’s exclusive AI agent for portfolio construction and research. She can help you design portfolios for all kinds of scenarios, and is ready, willing, and able to assist you.



With Saidee, you can build structured portfolios based on:
‍
• Market Outlook
• Client Profiles
• Commentary
Comparison

A fund vs. your own index

Pooled funds do their job. They just can’t be customized at the security, tax-lot, or values level — and they carry someone else’s name.
Pooled fund or ETF
Syntax Direct
Who designs the methodology
The fund issuer
Your firm
Whose name is on the product
A competitor’s
Your index, fact sheet, and rulebook
Security-level tax management
Not possible inside the wrapper
Direct holdings, harvest at the lot level
Customization
A fixed menu
Sectors, factors, themes, impact, controversial industry exclusions
Where trading happens
The fund manager
iRebal
Cost basis
32–40 bps average fund fee
10 bps on deployed index AUM

Comparison is directional and describes structural differences between pooled investment products and a custom index deployed through Syntax Direct. Average pooled fund fee range per Syntax research. Fees, tax outcomes, and suitability depend on individual circumstances.

Get early access

Already trading in iRebal? Join the waitlist and get notifed when it's time to enroll for Syntax Direct.

Research and Case Studies

FAQ

What’s the difference between rebalancing the index and rebalancing an account that tracks the index?

The index periodically resets the weights of its holdings back to targets based on current market data. Accounts that track the index can leverage iRebal’s rebalancing capabilities in order to ensure they remain in line with the index. Without account rebalancing, portfolios may drift from the index because of index rebalances and other considerations that may cause drift, such as tax-loss harvesting or cash drag.

What are the differences between low, medium, and high conviction levels?

Conviction controls how sensitive the index is to the selected metric. Please refer to the user guide for specific definitions.

Can Syntax Direct be used within a unified managed account (UMA)?

Yes. Syntax Direct can supply the direct-indexed, individual-security sleeve of a UMA. It does not evaluate or rebalance the entire UMA across ETFs, mutual funds, and other sleeves, but advisors can use tools in iRebal to holistically manage client assets.

Does Syntax Direct manage the client portfolio?

Syntax Direct is an index and technology platform and does not manage client assets. Using the iRebal integration, advisors can manage portfolios to track indices built and deployed in Syntax Direct.

What broad market universes to the Syntax Direct indices provide access to?

Syntax Direct provides access to major US market segments, including the Syntax 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000, comparable to major industry benchmarks. Advisors can also select certain Russell and MSCI universes as a starting universe or benchmark.

Reach Out
Ready to explore our platform? Get in touch with our team today.
Syntax Direct is a technology platform for use only by registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, and other regulated financial entities legally authorized to provide investment advice and/or sell securities in all applicable jurisdictions. The information on this webpage is proprietary and solely for investment professional use, and should not be reproduced, redistributed, or used without the prior written consent of Syntax LLC. This webpage does not constitute an offer to sell or purchase securities. Syntax does not provide financial planning services; financial, investment, tax or legal advice; or broker-dealer services. Charts and graphs are provided for illustrative purposes only.

The use of Syntax indices, data, software, or technology to create financial products requires a license with Syntax and/or its licensors. The usage of MSCI or FTSE Russell indices on Syntax Direct requires additional fees, terms and conditions. FTSE Russell® is a registered trademark of the London Stock Exchange, plc and/or its affiliates. MSCI® is a registered trademark of MSCI Inc. and/or its affiliates. Syntax®, Syntax Direct℠ and Syntax Indices™ and are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Syntax, LLC and/or its affiliates. This webpage and Syntax Direct are not sponsored or endorsed by MSCI, Inc. or the London Stock Exchange, plc.

The index model charted and referenced on this page includes backtested performance. Backtested performance is not actual performance but is hypothetical and is suitable only for institutional investors. Backtested performance may not be predictive of actual or future performance. Backtested data may reflect the application of the index methodology with the benefit of hindsight, and the historic calculations of an index may change from month to month based on revisions to the underlying economic and/or financial data used in the calculation of the index. Funds or portfolios tracking the Syntax Indices are not sponsored by Syntax LLC or its third- party licensors. Index performance does not represent actual fund or portfolio performance, and such performance does not reflect the actual investment experience of any investor. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. In addition, the results actual investors might have achieved also would have differed from those shown because of differences in the timing, amounts of their investments, and fees and expenses associated with an investment in a portfolio invested in accordance with an index. The indices portrayed herein do not charge management fees directly to end investors or incur brokerage expenses, and no such fees, implementation costs or expenses were deducted from the performance shown; provided, however, that the returns of any investment portfolio invested in accordance with such indices would be net of such fees, implementation costs and expenses.

Syntax LLC, its affiliates and their independent providers are not liable for any informational or technical errors or incompleteness, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. Neither Syntax nor third-party providers of information in this presentation make any warranties or representations with respect to such information. Syntax does not sponsor financial products based on Syntax indices and/or data. Investments are not FDIC insured, may lose value and have no bank guarantee.

iRebal® is a technology offering of Schwab.

Schwab Advisor Services™ provides custody, trading, and the support services of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"), member SIPC, to independent investment advisors and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM").

Schwab Advisor Center is a website of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab) for the use of independent investment advisor clients that custody assets with Schwab.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab) and Syntax, Inc. are separate, unaffiliated companies. Schwab and Syntax, Inc. are not responsible for each other's opinions, policies, and services. Any information, content, and data provided by Syntax is intended for investment professional use only and is not a substitute for appropriate model or other investment due diligence. It may not be distributed to your clients or other members of the public, nor used in written form as sales literature for public use. References to Schwab or iRebal are solely for integration purposes and do not imply any partnership, endorsement, recommendation, or approval by Schwab of the Syntax platform.

Schwab may receive compensation from third-party service providers for the integration and use of their services or platform.