The 100% Strategy · Answers

How do you choose an investment fund?

By Saad El Soussi, UAE-authorized finfluencer · Updated 2026-11-04

Choose a fund by checking eight things in its official documents: who licenses the manager, what the fund holds, all the fees, how and when it pays out, how fast you can take money out, its record over several years against a benchmark, its risk level, and whether it fits your goal. A fund that hides any of these is not a fund to buy. The 100% Strategy, run by Saad El Soussi, an authorized finfluencer listed by the UAE Capital Market Authority, is not a fund but is judged the same way: every cycle is in a live record.

Run by a UAE-authorized finfluencerSaad Nizar El Soussi, who runs the 100% Strategy, is listed by the UAE Capital Market Authority as an authorized finfluencer (entry 193, added 24 September 2026). Check the official list.

What are the 8 checks before you buy a fund?

Check	Where to find it	Red flag
1. Licence of the manager	The regulator's list of licensed firms (see below)	Manager not on the list, or licensed somewhere else for something else
2. What the fund holds	Fact sheet and terms and conditions (top holdings, asset mix)	Vague words like "diversified opportunities" with no holdings
3. All the fees	Terms and conditions: subscription fee, management fee, performance fee, total expense ratio	Fees spread over several documents, or a performance fee with no hurdle
4. Payout	Distribution policy: monthly, quarterly, yearly or reinvested	A "fixed" or "guaranteed" distribution
5. Liquidity	Dealing days: daily, weekly, monthly, or every few months	Long lock-ups you only discover when you want to leave
6. Record	Fact sheet: 1, 3 and 5-year returns against a benchmark	Only the best year shown, or no benchmark
7. Risk level	Risk indicator or risk section in the documents	No risks listed, or "no risk"
8. Fit with your goal	Your own plan: income, growth, time horizon	Buying because a friend or an advert said so

Which fees should you compare?

Compare the total cost, not one fee. A subscription fee is paid once; a management fee and other running costs are taken every year, and over many years they add up. Investor.gov, the SEC's investor education site, explains how fees reduce returns and what an expense ratio is. The same logic applies to funds in the Gulf and in Europe: ask for every fee in one place before you invest.

Should you choose a fund that pays monthly?

Only if you need the income. A monthly distribution is paid out of what the fund earns and sometimes out of its capital, so a steady payout can hide a falling unit price. Look at total return (payout plus change in unit price) over several years. For named funds that pay monthly, see monthly income in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait and Qatar.

How do you check that a fund manager is licensed?

Saudi Arabia: public funds follow the Capital Market Authority's Investment Funds Regulations; check the manager on the CMA list of authorised persons.
UAE: the Capital Market Authority's licensed companies and warnings lists.
Kuwait: the Capital Markets Authority. Qatar: the QFMA and the QFC public registers.
Europe: the national regulator in your country (for example Finanstilsynet in Denmark, BaFin in Germany, the AMF in France).

Fund, gold fund or trading strategy?

	Equity or income fund	Gold fund or gold ETF	Trading strategy in your own accounts (e.g. the 100% Strategy)
Who holds the money	The fund (custodian)	The fund (custodian)	You: accounts in your own name
How you earn	Dividends, interest, price changes	Only the gold price	Profit from trading cycles, moved to a savings account in your name
Income	Depends on the fund	None (gold pays no income)	After each round, never fixed
Risk	Low to high	Moderate, follows gold	High; cycles can lose
Record to check	Fact sheet	Fact sheet and the gold price	Every cycle in the live record

Where does the 100% Strategy fit?

It is not a fund: there is no pooled money and no manager holding your capital. It is an automated gold strategy for investors with $10,000 or more, run in trading accounts in your own name, in pairs of $1,000 accounts that hold both sides of the same gold trade; the bonus credit on the accounts absorbs the losing side, and the running cost is $6 per cycle per pair. Use the same eight checks on it: Saad Nizar El Soussi is listed by the UAE Capital Market Authority as an authorized finfluencer (entry 193), which covers financial content, not managing money; the record is read from client accounts after every cycle; the risks are on one page. It is high risk, so only use money you can afford to lose.

See the record, then apply

The live record is read from client accounts after every cycle. Joining starts with the waiting list and a WhatsApp call.

Join the waiting listFrom $10,000. We call you on WhatsApp first. See the live recordEvery cycle, every month, read from client accounts.

Less than $10,000? Start with Saad's free community instead: SesTrading on Telegram

Questions people ask

What is the most important thing to check in a fund?

That the manager is licensed by the regulator in the country where the fund is sold. Without that, nothing else in the documents can be relied on.

What is a good expense ratio?

There is no single number. Index funds are usually the cheapest and actively managed funds cost more. Compare funds of the same type and ask for the total yearly cost in writing.

Is a fund with a high past return a good choice?

Not on its own. Past returns do not guarantee future returns. Compare several years against a benchmark, and check the worst year as well as the best.

Are Sharia-compliant funds checked differently?

The same eight checks apply. In addition, the fund should name its Sharia board or adviser and say how it screens what it holds.

Is the 100% Strategy a fund?

No. There is no pooled fund: the money stays in trading accounts in your own name and the strategy trades gold in those accounts. It is high risk, starts at $10,000, and every cycle is in the live record.