Our Story

Born of a watershed moment following the 1987 market crash, our founder, Phillip Toews saw conventional portfolios leave investors vulnerable to severe loss and emotional distress. Seeking to balance risk and reward through market swings, he pioneered a behavioral investing framework integrating a momentum price-based algorithm with the principles of neuropsychology and behavioral finance to engineer portfolios that seek to limit the risk of losses.

Early Experiences

Phillip grew up under the strict rules and frugality of the Mennonites in rural Kansas. In October of 1987, during Phillip’s first year in the business, one of the fastest stock market crashes in history occurred. This informed his belief in the importance of maintaining assets when investing.

The Challenge

During a five-year period at a firm outside Philadelphia, Phillip discovered that many relatively affluent clients needed 60% or more in stocks to remain funded through retirement. He saw the potential mathematical complication that a recession could cause, fearing clients would be forced to endure an extended, extreme bear market. This perspective led him, in 1990, to develop the first iteration of an algorithm-based system designed to attempt to limit risk of losses.

Toews Corporation is Born

After helping run risk managed models for five years, and learning many valuable and sometimes painful lessons, he set out at age 30, with no track record and zero assets under management, to establish Toews Corporation and began marketing to the advisory and brokerage community. Eventually moving to New York, he found that he thrived on expanding boundaries and challenging conventional thinking.

Through the Crises

Over three decades later, after three significant downturns —the internet bubble, the financial crisis, and COVID-19—Phillip remains committed to his system. His initial idea to build algorithms that attempt to limit risk during extreme negative markets has evolved into a suite of managed risk ETFs, asset management strategies, and mutual funds marketed to thousands of advisors across the country.

Our Team