An open call to @eToroTeam regarding visibility, discovery design, and incentive alignment in the Popular Investor program.
To me, the current discovery and reward structure creates a clear asymmetry in how Popular Investors are surfaced and compensated.
As I see it, eToro rewards higher PI tiers largely based on Assets Under Copy. That is a transparent business decision. At the same time, discovery filters and sections such as “Beat the Market” lean heavily on the number of copiers. The result is that PIs who already have mature (large) followings systematically receive more visibility than PIs who deliver strong results within similar risk boundaries but have not yet built a large copier base.
This is easy to verify — please try it after reading this post. Default filters consistently surface the same established names. When the popularity threshold is lowered or removed and rankings are based more strictly on return and risk score, a different group appears — often with higher returns and far fewer copiers, or none at all. This is not simply a collection of one-off lucky results. Within that group are also PIs who show multi-year positive performance and consistent green streaks, yet still remain largely invisible under the current discovery logic. Even the “Popular Investors” section still largely features well-known Elite names.
This dynamic has consequences. Visibility and, ultimately, income opportunities become more dependent on already-achieved popularity than on current risk-adjusted performance. Over time this concentrates AUC heavily at the top (some Elite Pro PIs manage over $100M) while many PIs who perform well and put in consistent work remain largely invisible.
It also creates an incentive to post frequently and visibly, not necessarily because the content adds analytical value, but because volume helps the algorithm pick you up. The result is a feed that can become crowded with low-value updates, which risks pushing away people who originally came for genuine discussion and insight.
There is also an ethical and design question worth considering. eToro and many Elite PIs regularly emphasize the importance of diversification. Yet the current system allows serious concentration of AUC in a small number of hands. Is concentration of this scale fully consistent with the principles that are otherwise promoted on the platform? A hard upper limit on AUC — for example $20 million — would still provide a very substantial income under the existing fee structure, while distributing opportunity more broadly and potentially increasing healthy competition among PIs.
I am transparent about my own interest here. Of course I would like to receive monthly AUC payments. That income can be used to open new positions that benefit my copiers, or simply improve my own financial situation. In a well-designed system this should be a win-win. I would even support a rule requiring a meaningful portion of AUC payments to be reinvested into the portfolio, so the reward is more directly aligned with the people who are copying. Isn’t that closer to the core idea of social investing?
Some practical improvements could strengthen the system:
1. A performance-oriented discovery route: Add a dedicated view based primarily on return and risk, with little or no minimum copier requirement. This would not reduce the visibility of established Elite and Elite Pro investors. It would simply create an additional route based more directly on performance.
2. A performance condition on AUC income: Introduce a threshold or ladder so that AUC-related income can be reduced or paused if performance falls below a defined standard for a sustained period. This would help keep the financial reward linked to ongoing quality rather than becoming the primary objective.
3. A possible upper limit on AUC: A clear ceiling (for example $20M) would still allow the largest investors to earn very well, while opening more room for other strong performers.
Together, these changes would give stronger visibility and fairer income opportunities to PIs who deliver solid, multi-year performance within clear risk limits. Over time this could improve strategy diversity, strengthen incentive alignment between PIs and copiers, and support a healthier balance between popularity and performance on the platform.
Open to thoughts from the community and from @eToroTeam.... Show More
Not investment advice. The author may have financial interests in the mentioned instruments.
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