After a more than four-year hiatus, The Motley Fool is bringing back one of its most successful investment services. Motley Fool Supernova officially relaunches this month with two distinct "missions" designed to help different types of investors build wealth through Rule Breaker investing principles.

What Is Motley Fool Supernova?

Motley Fool Supernova is a portfolio service where The Motley Fool invests real balance sheet cash in two growth "missions" based on David Gardner's investment philosophy. The service creates cohesive, goal-oriented portfolios using companies that meet David's famous "six traits of a Rule Breaker stock."

The original Supernova ran from 2012 to 2021 and delivered an average annualized return of 21.8% over that nine-year span. The S&P 500 returned 12.3% during the same period. That performance would have doubled your portfolio roughly every three and a half years, instead of the more than seven years it takes during typical markets.

How Supernova Works Now

The relaunched service features two real-money missions using The Motley Fool's own capital:

The Odyssey Mission starts with $50,000 and invests an additional $1,000 twice monthly. This mission simulates what a wage-earning investor who wants to build wealth through regular investments would do. Tim Beyers and Dave Meier lead this mission.

The Phoenix Mission invests $500,000 in large chunks, including $100,000 at launch. This mission simulates the experience of an investor nearing retirement who wants growth exposure for their existing wealth. Rick Munarriz and Emily Flippen captain this portfolio.

Both missions draw stocks from the "Supernova Stock Exchange"-companies that fall into at least one of these specific groups:

  • Active recommendations in Motley Fool Rule Breakers
  • Active recommendations from Team Rule Breakers in Motley Fool Stock Advisor
  • Companies with a Superscore above 75 in the new Rule Breakers database

The Rule Breakers Database

The brand-new Rule Breakers database represents a breakthrough in AI-powered investment analysis. Our world-class AI engineering team has built an unprecedented system that processes hundreds of data sources across thousands of data points to automatically score 3,200 public companies based on David Gardner's proven Rule Breaker investing principles, which have identified some of the market's greatest performers for more than two decades. This cutting-edge technology aims to help Motley Fool members identify tomorrow's market leaders before they become household names and aims to make discovering great companies faster and easier than ever before. Only members of our highest membership tier (Motley Fool One) and a select group of Supernova members currently have exclusive access to the Rule Breakers database.

Our AI system evaluates 3,200 public companies through a sophisticated data processing pipeline that scores companies using the "Six Traits of a Rule Breaker" framework, ranging from 0-100, plus two more binary yes/no tests (David's "Snap" and "Cola" tests). Those six traits are:

  1. Top dog and first mover in an important, emerging industry
  2. Sustainable competitive advantage
  3. Strong management team and smart backing
  4. Stellar past price appreciation
  5. Strong consumer appeal
  6. Being called "overvalued" by financial media

Track Record and Team

The original Supernova delivered remarkable results from 2012 to 2021:

  • Odyssey 1 portfolio: 571% returns over nine years (vs. S&P 500's 196%)
  • Phoenix 1 portfolio: 446% returns over the same period
  • Combined average of all portfolios: 21.77% annualized returns
Chart of returns from original Motley Fool Supernova portfolios.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The new Supernova team includes longtime Motley Fool analysts who worked on the original service. The service is built on David Gardner's principles, frameworks, and Rule Breaker approach. Brian Richards, SVP of Rule Breakers, leads product development.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investing involves risk of loss.

Getting Access

Supernova membership includes:

  • Real-time access to both mission portfolios
  • Buy reports for all new recommendations
  • Portfolio management guidance based on Rule Breaker principles

Prospective Supernova members have the option to gain full access to the Rule Breakers database; the service also launches with Charter Member pricing for early subscribers. This introductory pricing ends at midnight on the evening of Thursday, October 2nd.

Members receive their first stock recommendations immediately upon joining, with additional picks released throughout the week as both missions build out their starting positions.

Why Now?

The team believes current market conditions create opportunities similar to those that drove the original Supernova's success. We think the combination of David Gardner's proven methodology, an experienced team, and new AI-powered research tools positions the service for strong performance.