How the Idea Behind Anantys Was Born
1. Idle money melts like snow in the sun
What do you do with your savings? That money you've set aside over the years — is it sitting in a checking account? Have you maxed out your savings account? At some point, I decided to take this seriously. Old habits die hard — my programmer brain immediately asked: how do I optimize this?
The question feels more urgent than ever. With retirement systems under mounting pressure (let's be realistic), individual initiative is becoming — in my view — a necessity. And judging by the explosion of communities like r/personalfinance and r/Bogleheads, I'm not alone in thinking this.
But there's a cultural hurdle — at least in France, where I'm from. The word "capitalism" is a boogeyman. In the collective unconscious, it carries a pejorative, almost moral connotation. Influenced by an intellectual tradition that distrusts money and frames Labor vs. Capital as a zero-sum game, many of us have learned to see investing as a Faustian bargain — the pastime of cigar-smoking "Capitalists" in top hats.
This view strikes me as not just damaging, but fundamentally wrong. Labor and Capital aren't mutually exclusive — they're two sides of the same coin: our time and its monetary value in society.
My work converts my time into capital. Investing is nothing more than allowing that capital — the surplus of time already exchanged — to keep working for me. Rather than letting it erode, it can grow and generate value in turn.
Why deprive yourself of that? Why see evil in it? Capital, viewed this way, is simply the extension of our labor. Investing isn't speculation — it's emancipation. It's not about "playing the market" or "gambling at the casino." It's about patiently buying yourself freedom for tomorrow.
2. Advisors, banks, and wealth management
My first instinct was to turn to the traditional route: the bank. The meeting with an advisor is a well-rehearsed ritual. But behind the veneer of personalized counsel, I quickly spotted the gears of a sales-driven model. The goal isn't so much to optimize my situation as to steer me toward in-house products whose fee structures benefit the institution first and foremost.
The conflict of interest is structural: compensation is often tied to the products subscribed to, not to the actual performance of my portfolio. The question of value-add becomes central. Does this service justify annual fees that eat into returns before the money has even started working? And let's not forget — those fees are due regardless of performance...
It would be unfair to generalize, and there are certainly competent, honest professionals out there. I've met some myself. But even with the best intentions, the business model creates a glass ceiling. The manager's interest is never exactly aligned with mine... The only actor perfectly aligned with my interests is me.
3. The myth of complexity
"Investing is a profession," "it's risky," "I don't know anything about it." This narrative is the financial industry's primary revenue generator. It has every incentive to maintain the myth that investing is an obscure domain reserved for an elite of insiders.
The script is well-rehearsed: on one side, the promise of dazzling returns if you follow the "experts"; on the other, the threat of losing everything if you venture out alone. Both claims — when it comes to long-term investing — are false.
The reality is that the fundamental principles of passive, diversified investing are disarmingly simple. You can understand them in a few hours. The real challenge isn't intellectual — it's behavioral. The difficulty isn't grasping the strategy, but sticking to it without caving to market panic or euphoria.
Another myth widely promoted by the financial industry is that of the "star manager" or "stock picker" who can beat the market through expertise. Wrong. The data from the SPIVA 2024 report is unequivocal: in 2024, 65% of actively managed US large-cap equity funds underperformed the S&P 500. Worse, over longer horizons (5, 10, 15 years), no category of active funds manages to outperform the majority of benchmark indices. In other words, most actively managed funds, despite often high fees, do worse than a simple ETF that tracks a major index like the MSCI World or the S&P 500.
This is precisely the appeal of ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds): these are exchange-listed funds that simply replicate the performance of an index, without trying to beat it. They automatically invest in all the companies that make up the index, in the same proportions. This delivers:
- Instant diversification: by buying a single ETF, you own hundreds — even thousands — of stocks worldwide.
- Very low fees: there's no manager to pay, just automatic index tracking.
- Total transparency: you know exactly what you're invested in.
Most importantly, global stock indices have an upward trend over the long term. Despite crises, wars, and crashes, the curve of major indices (MSCI World, S&P 500...) climbs over decades, because they reflect global economic growth and corporate innovation. Investing in an ETF means betting on humanity's ability to create value over time — without having to guess which company will be the next Apple or Tesla.
This logic convinced me: no need to play trader or hunt for the "big score" — just expose yourself to the global market, diversify, minimize fees, and let time do its work.
A few books were invaluable in my financial education. Here are the ones I found richest and most essential for anyone looking to demystify "investing and markets":
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The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham: For the philosophy. This is the book that lays the foundation for distinguishing investment from speculation, anchoring the approach in a long-term perspective.
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Just Keep Buying by Nick Maggiulli: For the method. This book deconstructs — with data — most of the beginner investor's anxieties and demonstrates the power of a simple, consistent approach.
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Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: For the psychology. Perhaps the most important of the three. Understanding our own cognitive biases — how our brain pushes us toward irrational decisions — is the best protection against the costliest mistakes. Behavioral finance isn't a gimmick, it's the heart of the matter.
4. From spreadsheet to Anantys
So I started investing, methodically. But over time, my approach grew more refined. I wanted to move beyond 100% equities to diversify my allocations, integrate other asset classes, and better manage my portfolio's overall risk.
My first developer instinct was to build a dashboard in Google Sheets. At first, it was enough: charts, stats, automatic price imports... But DIY has its limits. The GOOGLEFINANCE formulas and macros grew increasingly complex, maintenance was time-consuming, and the smallest change in strategy turned into a full redesign project. My tool — supposed to bring clarity — had become a Rube Goldberg machine.
Frustrated by these limitations and finding nothing on the market that matched my philosophy (simplicity, long-term focus, allocation-centric views, performance splits by portfolio strategy, long-term metrics, etc.), I decided to build it myself. That's how Anantys was born.
Anantys also features a unique database of over 12,000 stocks and ETFs, analyzed and ranked by our proprietary AI. Through a free portal and search engine, anyone can explore this database, access detailed profiles, check real-time prices, and easily compare investment products. Whether you're a beginner or experienced, this tool helps you quickly find the stocks or ETFs suited to your strategy across European and American markets.
The goal was never to create yet another trading platform, but a genuine long-term investment guide that plays on my side. A dashboard that brings peace of mind, that lets you track performance and allocations rigorously, without the noise and complexity — all built on the philosophy of a spreadsheet on steroids.
The alpha version has been open for several months, with about forty users already on board. The company was incorporated in summer 2025. Our first objective is to ship the finalized paid version in 2026. If you'd like to learn more, feel free to click the link below.