The investment research company advertises itself as an educational platform. This is the reason for the website's many free resources. However, some of you still ask if Curzio Research is a scam.
The majority of the services are from the Founder and CEO, Frank Curzio. Like his father, the investor is a fixture in the financial world.
Before venturing on his own, he used to write for other publications, including Stansberry Research. Now that he runs his company, are there similarities with his former publisher?
This is a crucial question because we know that Stansberry is a controversial firm. We have discussed some of their issues in our past review, Stansberry Research Review – Are The Services Legit?
In this article, we examine what the services are. There is also an extensive discussion on how subscribers receive some advisory under the firm.
We hope you continue reading as this will answer most of your questions about the advisory group.
Overview
- Name: Curzio Research
- Founder: Frank Curzio
- Website: www.curzioresearch.com
- Service: Investment research newsletters
Curzio Research is an investment advisory firm from popular podcaster Frank Curzio. It offers a variety of newsletters in different price ranges.
There are those that are available for less than $100, and some cost $5,000 per year.
Aside from Curzio, two other editors help run the company. These are "industry veterans" Genia Turanova and Luke Downey. Both offer two services each to Curzio's four paid services.
The advisory's topics include cryptocurrency, small- and large-cap companies, and even income plays. We discuss the specifics below.
What is Curzio Research?
The company says that it is an independent financial newsletter publisher. Its focus is on providing investors with market-beating stock ideas and tools.
These days, Curzio Research says that many industries make outrageous profit claims. It's hard to sort through the chaos and trust someone. Sadly, the financial newsletter industry is the same.
That's why Curzio's team wanted to innovate. They claim to do more than simply supply stock choices. The group says it is also big on research and teaching.
The firm says it wants to help people invest wisely and change their financial future. To do this, it goes into the stock's history and the math behind it.
Moreover, Curzio Research says it operates with total honesty and aims to exceed your expectations. The main objective is to bring back real-world investment education and attainable yet substantial gains for long-term subscribers.
Consequently, subscribers may expect original information, fresh ideas, in-depth research, and exceptional service.
Based on this narrative alone, there seems to be promise on the company. It appears that it wants to differentiate itself from more traditional investment firms.
But what services do they offer? Are they really different? How do subscribers rate their newsletters? Continue reading as we discuss these in the next sections.
Leadership Team
Although Curzio is the main headliner, he shares prominent space with his two other teammates. They share responsibility for the output of the company.
Frank Curzio
Frank Curzio is the founder of the firm. As per the website, he is one of the most well-known stock analysts in the United States.
In addition, he says he is an expert with over 25 years of experience in the markets. In fact, he has already worked for one of Wall Street's wealthiest hedge-fund managers.
His goal then was to find the most profitable small- and mid-cap stocks in the market.
Moreover, Curzio has already appeared on national programs on CNBC, ABC News, CNN Radio, and Fox Business News.
Shows on these networks invite him for his financial insights. In the past, he was also a Senior Research Analyst for Jim Cramer.
Blogs and sites like Seeking Alpha, Bloomberg, and MarketWatch have also featured his analyses.
Also, he used to be an editor at Stansberry Research. The advisories he wrote then were Small Stock Specialist and Phase 1.
His former publisher figures prominently on our website. In fact, we have already written a comprehensive review of the firm.
Also available for you are two other reviews under Stansberry. One is on Eric Wade's Crypto Capital, and the other is on a Self-Driving Car Company teaser. Read these past articles to know more about his former home.
Apparently, Curzio learned the basics from his father. When his dad was the editor of the F.X.C. Newsletter, Hulbert's Financial Digest named it the top risk-adjusted returns newsletter.
Curzio's 10-year-old Wall Street Unplugged podcast is also popular. As proof, Apple's iTunes website's business section named it the "most listened-to" financial show.
Genia Turanova
Curzio's colleague is Genia Turanova, CFA. She worked as an editor and chief investment analyst for several financial advisory firms from 2003 to 2019.
This includes the highly-regarded Leeb Income Performance and The Daily Paycheck. In addition, she helped identify emerging companies on the verge of becoming blue chips via FastTrack Millionaire.
At Leeb Capital Management in New York, she oversaw a $30 million income and growth portfolio.
Her job then was to assist clients in navigating both recession and bull markets. Eventually, she went on to work with StreetAuthority as a senior investment strategist.
She says her prior Game-Changing Stocks subscribers can attest to her competence. Readers know her for her penchant for spotting small, unusual market disruptors.
Moreover, Curzio trusts her because of her twenty years of Wall Street and investment research track record. This is why he asked her to join the firm in October 2019.
In addition, Turanova is a CFA charter holder. She got her MBA in finance and investments from New York’s Baruch College Zicklin School of Business.
Luke Downey
Luke Downey's background is similar to Curzio's and Turanova's. He has been a Wall Street and investment research veteran with twenty years of experience.
The editor worked at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York from 2007 to 2013. He started as an equities and derivative sales trader. Eventually, he was promoted to head the ETF sales group.
He co-founded MAPsignals a year after. It is a market analytics firm with an innovative framework for identifying outlier stocks.
This technique is the cornerstone of his Curzio advisory, The Big Money Report, as well as his personal investments.
His profile states that he has an uncanny ability to spot stocks poised for rapid growth, as seen by his track record. He owns dozens of these stocks and invests in them over a long period.
Moreover, the website says that he is also a gifted teacher. His YouTube investing series "Lessons with Luke" is a must-see. Curzio also heavily promotes his free newsletter.
Services
Free content
As we navigate the website, we appreciate the volume of free content. True to its mission, the company is generous with educational information, even for visitors.
Its free commentary is divided into six categories under Wall Street Unplugged Daily.
You may search for topics on digital assets, stock analysis, and income investing. If you are into portfolio management, they cover that as well.
Also, you'll find articles here if you're looking to read more about trading strategies and growth trends.
Additionally, Curzio Research takes it up a notch with news and analyses on security tokens via Token Tracker. Expect expert takes from the articles, the firm says.
Aside from these free articles, they also venture into other media. Curzio has a well-received podcast, Wall Street Unplugged. As mentioned, many tune in to it, making it a top podcast on iTunes.
In the show, the editor talks to financial and investment research insiders. CEOs, stock analysts, and hedge fund managers give their insights on the latest market updates.
We admit that this is an exciting and innovative feature for investment research firms. The more common venue for them is YouTube. But doing podcasts mean they try to reach out to younger demographics.
Curzio promises a lot in his podcast.
He claims that he will explain the latest "unfair advantages" he discovers to defeat the markets every week. What you'll learn may just be the key to making up to ten times your money.
Curzio even claims to expose the truth that the legacy media hides from you. Listening to him will give you insights into how "financial geniuses" manage to produce large wins in any market consistently.
These are just a few of his podcast features.
Among the prominent guests on the program is James Altucher. He is indeed a popular figure; people either adore him or despise him. Actually, we have already reviewed two of his newsletters on this website.
If you want to know more, read our take on The Altucher Report and Altucher’s Secret Income. We did not hold back on those articles and included controversies surrounding him and his services.
He has also guested Jim Cramer, Jason Raznik of Benzinga, Timothy Sykes, and Doug Casey.
For the last two names, they are very familiar to us as we have also featured them already. As the firm's founder, we talked about Sykes in StocksToTrade Advisory Review – Honest Assessment.
For Casey, check out these articles:
Curzio's services
As the company lead, Curzio has four primary services. These are Curzio Research Advisory, Curzio Venture Opportunities, Crypto Intelligence, and The Dollar Stock Club.
The first one is the flagship investing newsletter of the firm. In contrast to most editors, Curzio says he "doesn’t believe the world is coming to an end."
The CEO says you just need to find knowledgeable people with the correct information. Upon doing so, you have a chance at the many opportunities available today. He brings these with Curzio Research Advisory.
The newsletter is available for $99 per year.
Meanwhile, Curzio Venture Opportunities is his top small-cap newsletter advisory. For $5,000 annually, it provides information on deals from Wall Street experts and corporate insiders.
There's also a service on digital currency.
With his Crypto Intelligence, the editor claims you will get insights not available anywhere else. He will provide market intelligence and research from well-placed sources for a yearly fee of $5,000.
His pitch for The Dollar Stock Club is intriguing. Since he has been in the industry for a while, he claims to have a "Wall Street intelligence network" already.
Through them, he is able to get ideas on shortcuts. These above-board tactics help him invest more profitably. You will have access to these when you subscribe for $39 per year.
Other services
For her part, Turanova's newsletters are Moneyflow Trader and Unlimited Income.
The former is an "elite risk-hedge service." It takes advantage of predicted asset and sector mispricings that can lead to substantial gains for investors. Its annual fee is $5,000.
Meanwhile, the latter is a "world-class income asset advisory." Her plays in the newsletter aim to give subscribers regular income. In fact, she claims that subscribing for $299 per year will help you grow your wealth.
In addition, Downey contributes two services to the firm. His $97 per year The Big Money Report is all about long-term gains. The editor claims that the companies he invests in rise up to 10 to 20 times over the years.
Curzio's newest service is also under him. Big Money Trader aims to uncover "short-term mispricings in high-quality growth stocks." As a result, you can get triple or even quadruple gains.
Unfortunately, the website does not indicate how much it costs.
He also has a free series on Youtube. “Lessons with Luke” teaches people how to invest.
Impressions
We appreciate the variety of services that the company offers. The options are also not that many, making things easier to navigate.
Also, the emphasis on financial education is commendable. Since more people are becoming interested in investing, free resources would benefit them.
Another positive point for Curzio Research is its non-alarmist approach. The founder himself pointed this out. He does not believe the end is coming soon for your money and investments.
In fact, he says that there are so many opportunities to grow your income today. You just need to learn from the right people.
Though there is a difference in approach, the company still employs a familiar tactic. We still see promises of quadruple gains. There still are double and triple-digit pitches.
These may be true, but we have not seen enough disclaimers to temper subscribers' expectations.
Track Record and Reviews
Before we proceed, we just want to disclose something important. We have read from editors' profiles that they have been leading voices in the investing world for years.
In fact, both Turanova and Downey claim to have spent two decades on Wall Street and investment research. However, we found zero results when we searched for their names on reliable review sites.
We have searched Better Business Bureau, Pissed Consumer, Trustpilot, Stock Gumshoe, and Sitejabber. We did not find a single result for the two.
Meanwhile, there were results for Curzio only on Stock Gumshoe.
We wonder why this is the case.
If they have indeed been influential figures in the industry, why does it seem like there's no interest in them? Do they operate on below-the-radar services? Or maybe they were not the lead editors?
We are not casting judgment on their claims of prominence. But we find this intriguing. With other editors, we usually find at least one result or review on our go-to sites.
But we will maximize whatever we find, so we will focus on comments and reviews on the CEO.
We first go to his now-defunct Small Stock Specialist with Stansberry. Although the Stock Gumshoe review page does not have an official rating, the comments are enlightening.
The comment below is well-balanced:
The majority of the comments suggest that Curzio is a competent editor and investor. "Michael Arold" emphasizes this. However, he is also careful and provides context to his comments.
Another comment says this:
Don’t have much track record yet with Frank Curzio, but he appears to be a careful analyst. He is sincere, dedicated, and willing to go the extra mile with subscribers.
Subscribers appreciate his insights. One of them even mentioned his podcast. "Lauren in PA" says that his show gives good analysis. "The MoneyGeek" adds that the podcast is both "educational and entertaining."
In addition, the same user also said that the editor is well-versed in macroeconomics and the markets.
Another commenter said that his newsletter was worth subscribing to. Why? According to them, Curzio is excellent at finding low-priced stocks with great potential.
Of course, not all comments are positive. Even those that praised him mentioned a few complaints.
"Alan in Los Angeles" says that he does not appreciate how the CEO seems to prefer low-volume stocks.
Perhaps this is normal with under 10 stocks, but it does wreak havoc when he publishes his picks. He has enough subscribers that his picks can move the market quickly on a thinly traded stock.
Another negative comment was on the spam emails that Stansberry sends. Well, this feedback is on the publisher. But it would be interesting if he followed the same strategy in his own company.
Another Curzio newsletter that stopped is Phase 1 Investor. Its page on Stock Gumshoe also does not have any rating. Again, the comments are helpful for us.
Unlike Small Stock Specialist, subscribers do not seem to be impressed with this service.
Another user also commented that some of his advice is "generally overstated." People think that this is not the editor's best research work. Meanwhile, the positive comments are also consistent with the previous ones.
As for his current newsletters, two are on Stock Gumshoe.
Curzio Venture Opportunities has a 3.6/5 rating from around 80 votes. This is a pretty good rating, we admit.
One commenter even said that this is way better than Curzio's Phase One days.
User "MarcS" provides us with great insights on the advisory. He says that the editor seems to have adjusted his focus in the last years.
The “Venture” in the title suggests it’s focused on resource stocks. However, Frank has had to change direction and diversify into pharma, defense, semiconductors, oil, etc.
For his part, he admits that he has already lost thousands based on Curzio's picks. However, he says that he has had more winners than losers. So he does trust the editor and his newsletter.
For him, you need to understand well how the system works. He says that it is an advisory mainly for large accounts. The commenter even agrees that life-changing gains are possible with the advisory.
However, you must have deep pockets and must invest a lot. He recommends having at least $80,000 allocated to your picks for this newsletter. You must be comfortable with the amount.
Below this amount, you would find it hard to reap the benefits. Here are some other insights from the subscriber. We believe this will be helpful for you as you consider this newsletter.
This is a newsletter that requires a lot of capital, risk management, and good trader psychology to handle the losers.
Don’t try to salvage a lost on a position that’s been stopped out, just get it off your screen and forget it. Don’t risk more than you can afford to lose without losing sleep.
I would also say, respect the stop losses, but I often use options to implement that when I can and don’t worry about downside as much.
Finally, the day after you get the newsletter might also not be the right day to buy, but don’t sit on the pick for months either.
Travis Johnson of Stock Gumshoe also provides a backgrounder on Curzio. He says that the editor's father was an expert newsletter writer who predicted the 1987 crash in his FXC Newsletter.
As a result, the father gained quite a reputation. The son has already worked for several big publishers over the last decade. Today, Curzio has his own newsletter company and is getting more attention from the press.
Johnson also says that many people like Curzio's free podcast, Wall Street Unplugged. For him, it is worth listening to; that's why he has a lot of fans.
In fact, it actually has a 4.6/5 stars from 1,000 ratings on the Apple Podcasts website.
His other advisory on Stock Gumshoe is Curzio Research Advisory. The average rating from 355 voters as of this writing is 3.3/5.
As usual, the comments have been mixed. However, both sides are passionate about their positions on the advisory.
Those who like it say that they have been subscribers for years. Based on their experience, they have seen winners and gains. They also commend the editor's writing style and insights.
However, we could say that the overwhelming majority of the comments have negative things to say.
Some even advised readers to stay away from the newsletter. They said that he tends to be too optimistic with his picks. Moreover, the advisory does not seem to be grounded in reality.
Others also opined that Curzio seems to be following in the footsteps of Stansberry. Like his former publisher, he spams a lot. Clearly, subscribers hate this tactic.
"Sloop" thinks that the focus does not seem to be picking winners. For them, the goal just seems to be to sell as many newsletters as possible. He adds this:
Frank Curzio is a snake oil salesman that really needs to look into the mirror and realize he is doing way more harm than good.
The bottom line here seems to be that he is not good at picking winners.
What do you think so far?
You are the reason why we spend time dissecting Curzio's record. We think you deserve to know more than the promises. More importantly, you need to understand how investors like you feel about him and his services.
Sure, the other editors have different styles. But they would get direction from the CEO and Founder. So we think you need to know the unvarnished truth.
But then again, we would like to remind you to exercise wisdom as you read comments. Your experience may not be the same as that of the others.
Conclusion - Should You Give It A Try?
The investment research firm does not have too many services. However, if you look at the range of their newsletters, they cover regular investors' major interests.
What it has a lot of is free articles and analyses on its website. Its editors even have a free podcast and YouTube series.
According to the Founder and CEO, it is a conscious move because of their financial and investment literacy advocacy.
This is a commendable move. More information and education would help people who want to try investing. After all, many are starting to look at it as a key to financial independence.
If you look at the paid services, you can also see that they cover the most in-demand topics. A regular investor can undoubtedly find a service that suits their preferences and strategies.
The range of costs also varies. There are free newsletters, and there are some that cost a whopping $5,000 per year.
How do subscribers receive the relatively new firm? There are mixed reactions. Some commend Curzio's podcasts, writing style, and insights.
However, those who criticize his services give compelling reasons why people are to stay away from the company. As mentioned, all the reviews were on Curzio. There were no available reviews on the two editors from our go-to websites.
In the end, you just have to decide based on what's here at the moment. Weigh your options and study what kind of an investor you are.
After reading our review and going through your thought process, we are confident you would know for yourself if Curzio Research is a scam or not.