After the 2008/9 financial crisis, managed futures funds emerged victorious from the rubble. As equity markets around the world collapsed and most hedge fund strategies sustained severe losses, the CTAs generated strong positive performance, because most of them rely on systematic trend following strategies, which means that they tend to perform well during bear markets. … Continue reading Trend following: why it fell from grace and why it will rise again
TrendCompass Major Markets 2020/21 performance review
Our Major Markets portfolio consists of 180 trend following strategies (long, medium and short cycle trends) in 15 of the most important markets for global investors. Daily TrendCompass reports convey the directional exposure and trading signals for all these strategies. Here we'll look at the performance of these signals from the start of 2020 through … Continue reading TrendCompass Major Markets 2020/21 performance review
I-System: probably the best trend following model ever built
This is not a hollow boast. While I-System has generated superb performance over the years, the key reason for this claim reflects a higher-order quality of the model: I-System has the potential to entirely transcend uncertainty and largely replace the human factor in asset management in a broad variety of investment strategies including portfolio allocation, … Continue reading I-System: probably the best trend following model ever built
I-System and the 2020 oil price roller-coaster…
Oil price has had a wild ride this year, crashing nearly 80% from January through April. I-System strategies navigated the event remarkably well, capturing more than $42/bbl in profits. At the time, I summarized this in my article, “With I-System through the storm… with flying colors!” But trend following does less well during trend reversals … Continue reading I-System and the 2020 oil price roller-coaster…
Sack your quant!
Last few years saw something of a gold rush into quantitative investment strategies. Their appeal is obvious as a way to put discipline into trading and take the emotion and stress out. Quantitative strategies might even help improve performance. Here’s how Black Rock President Rob Kapito articulated the industry hopes: “As people get the data … Continue reading Sack your quant!
With I-System through the storm… with flying colors!
Recent weeks brought severe price shocks in many markets. Their timing and severity took most participants by surprise. In these circumstances, I-System strategies performed superbly well. As this post shows, a few strategies sustained negative results, but this is to be expected. This is why, rather than formulating a trading strategy, we built a stable … Continue reading With I-System through the storm… with flying colors!
I-System Trend Following 