Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of the KAIM Research website, indexes, calculators, and reports (together, the Service). The Service is provided by KAIM Research LLC, a South Dakota limited liability company ("KAIM Research", "we", "us"). By creating an account, subscribing, or using the Service, you agree to these terms. They are a contract between you and KAIM Research LLC.
Important disclosures
KAIM Research LLC publishes the Knowledge Asset Impairment Model (KAIM) and related index data for informational and educational purposes only. KAIM is a supplemental, non-GAAP analytical framework. It treats research and development, advertising, and patent spend as capital, using public filings. It does not seek to change GAAP or replace audited financial statements. KAIM figures are meant to be shown alongside, never instead of, the corresponding GAAP figures, and reconciled to them.
KAIM figures are not audited or certified, and nothing here asks any preparer to certify them under Section 302 or 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Nothing on this site is investment advice. KAIM Research LLC does not recommend or rate any security, does not state whether any security is undervalued or overvalued, does not claim investment performance or market outperformance, and does not give suggestions tailored to any person's finances. KAIM Research LLC is not registered as an investment adviser.
Underlying data comes from public sources such as SEC filings and CFTC reports, and KAIM Research LLC is not responsible for errors in that base data. Figures that depend on a market price use a price entered by the user. KAIM does not source or verify prices.
KAIM Research LLC and kaimresearch.com are a data and analytics service provider. Nothing on this site is an offer, invitation, or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold any security or other asset, and KAIM Research LLC does not offer, arrange, execute, or solicit any sale or trade of any asset. KAIM Research LLC is not a broker-dealer or trading platform and does not hold customer funds or securities. The Service does not take into account any person's objectives, financial situation, or needs. Any decision you make using this information is your own responsibility, and you should obtain independent professional advice where appropriate.
The KAIM indexes, the company calculator, the commodities calculator, and KAIM reports are not investment advice. Please contact a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Not a "Main Index." KAIM Research LLC does not offer any product that meets the definition of a "main index" under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (the Capital Requirements Regulation, or CRR) and its implementing technical standards. No KAIM Research index, tier, or dataset should be treated as eligible collateral or as a liquidity benchmark, for the following reasons:
- Purpose. A main index is concerned with liquidity. Its equities must be realistically sellable when an institution needs to liquidate collateral. The KCS indexes measure knowledge-factory spend. Membership is based on reported R&D, advertising, and patent dollars, not on tradability.
- No liquidity screen. The inclusion threshold is a reported value above $1 in the relevant XBRL tag. Constituents therefore include microcap and thinly traded companies, whereas the CRR test asks whether an index consists mainly of equities that can reasonably be expected to be realizable.
- Weighting. Weighting by Knowledge Factory Value per Share has no link to market capitalization or trading volume.
- Not a benchmark for holdings. There is no investable product or price series tracking these indexes, and they are not designed to value a portfolio.
- Closed list. The qualifying indices are named in the Commission's Implementing Regulation, such as the TSX60 and Nikkei 300. An index qualifies by being listed, not by self-certification.
As used by KAIM Research LLC, the word "index" means only a rules-based figure computed from a defined set of constituents under a published methodology, reconstitution date, and weighting formula. It carries no regulatory meaning. The KCS All Sector family, its tiers, and the Departure Index (a dispersion statistic) are indexes in this general sense only.
Your account
You sign in with your email address. We email you a one-time sign-in link, so you must be able to receive email at the address you give us. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your sign-in emails private. One subscription is for one person. You must be at least 18 years old to subscribe. If you subscribe on behalf of a business, you confirm that you have authority to bind it. You agree to give accurate information and keep it up to date.
Subscriptions and billing
We offer a monthly plan at $9.99 and an annual plan at $79, in US dollars (USD). Taxes may be added at checkout depending on where you live. Each plan is billed in advance and renews automatically at the same price until you cancel. We will give notice before any price change takes effect for your subscription.
Orders are processed by our reseller and Merchant of Record, Paddle. Paddle handles payment, tax, invoicing, and refunds, and its buyer terms apply to your purchase. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time with the manage subscription link in your Paddle receipt email. If you cancel, you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for.
Refunds are covered in our Refund Policy.
What you may do with the Service
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to view the Service and to use its calculators for your own use while your subscription is active. Index tables, departure data, and other index content are provided for viewing on the site and are not available for download.
The one exception is the report the calculator produces for a ticker you enter. You may download that report and keep it for your own records. The report is produced by KAIM Research and carries our name, website, and disclaimer at the bottom of each page, along with the name, ticker, and price you entered. You may not remove or change that branding or disclaimer, publish the report, or present it as an endorsement or recommendation by KAIM Research of any company, security, or person.
You may not copy, scrape, or systematically collect index content, redistribute or publish it, offer it for resale, use it to build a competing product, share your access with others, or interfere with the operation of the Service.
The KAIM methodology, indexes, calculators, reports, and site content belong to KAIM Research LLC. The public data they draw on, such as SEC filings and CFTC reports, remains subject to those sources' own terms. Your subscription gives you a license to use the Service as described above, and it does not transfer ownership of anything to you.
Using the Service from other countries
The Service is offered internationally, and your subscription is not tied to a country. You may use it while you travel or live outside the United States, and you may connect through a VPN or similar privacy tool. We do not limit access by country, and a change in your location or IP address is not by itself a breach of these terms. If a security check on our hosting provider blocks a legitimate sign-in, email us and we will help you get access.
This does not change the rule that one subscription is for one person. You are responsible for making sure your use of the Service is lawful where you are. You may not use the Service from a country or territory where applicable sanctions or export laws prohibit it, or where our Merchant of Record cannot sell to you, and you may not subscribe if you are on a sanctions list. Taxes at checkout are set by Paddle based on the billing details you give it.
Data and accuracy
We build our figures from public sources and published methodology. Public data can contain errors or be restated, and results depend on the inputs used, including any price you enter. We work to keep the Service accurate, but we do not promise that it is complete, current, or free of errors.
Disclaimer of warranties
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under mandatory consumer law.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, KAIM Research LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, or investment results arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us for the Service in the 12 months before the claim arose. Some places do not allow these limits, and in those places they apply only as far as the law permits. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold KAIM Research LLC harmless from claims, losses, and reasonable costs that arise from your unlawful use of the Service or your breach of these terms, except to the extent the law does not allow this.
Suspension and ending your access
You may stop using the Service at any time by cancelling. We may suspend or end access if you break these terms or misuse the Service. If we end your access without cause during a paid period, we will refund the unused part of that period. When your access ends, we keep your account records as described in our Privacy Notice and then delete or anonymize them.
Changes
We may update the Service and these terms. If a change materially affects you, we will post the new terms here with a new effective date, and by email if the change affects your subscription. Continued use after a change means you accept the new terms.
Assignment
You may not assign or transfer these terms or your subscription without our written consent. We may assign these terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or reorganization.
Events beyond our control
Neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure to perform that is caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as natural disasters, war, pandemics, power or internet outages, or failures of our service providers. Your rights under our Refund Policy and under mandatory consumer law are not affected.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Dakota, without regard to conflict of law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in South Dakota, except where mandatory consumer law gives you the right to bring a claim where you live.
Contact
KAIM Research LLC
1119 S Newport Pl, Sioux Falls, SD 57106, United States
info@kaimresearch.com