This in‐depth live Q&A features guests Corey Hoffstein, Chief Investment Officer of Newfound Research, and Adam Butler, CIO of ReSolve Global, alongside host Rodrigo Gordillo, President and Portfolio Manager of ReSolve Global. In this episode, the panel unpacks the current macro market shifts and their impact on managed futures strategies, discussing topics such as policy shocks, systematic trend and carry models, volatility, and historical market precedents.
Topics Discussed
• Global Macro Market Dynamics and Policy Shifts affecting asset classes across Europe, the U.S., and beyond
• The Cumulative Impact on Managed Futures and Systematic Strategies that span multiple asset classes
• Multi-Asset Carry Strategy Fundamentals, including yield extraction and financing differentials
• Trend Following Strategies under Volatile and Reversal Conditions in rapidly shifting markets
• Risk Adjustments and Portfolio Rebalancing Mechanisms as systematic models react to sudden market changes
• Historical Precedents: Lessons from events like the 1994 bond massacre and subsequent policy shocks
• The Interplay between Policy Announcements and Systematic Strategy Performance amid geopolitical surprises
• Advisory Perspectives and Long-Term Risk Management for communicating drawdowns and premiums to clients
All right.
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Looks like we are live,
ladies and gentlemen.
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Thank you everybody.
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And, uh, welcome to our live Q and A
and today we're planning on discussing
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what is going on, broadly speaking
in the macro markets today, and the
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impact specifically to the managed
future strategies of trend and carry.
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And, um, yeah, I mean, if you
guys haven't heard of us already,
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uh, my name's Rodrigo Gordillo.
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President and Portfolio Manager at
Resolve Asset Management Global.
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And today I'm joined with Corey
Hoffstein, Chief Investment Officer
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of Newfound Research, along with
Adam Butler, CIO of Resolve Global.
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And everybody here today are co-founders
of the Return Stacked ETFs and Return
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Stack Portfolio Solutions Ventures.
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So thanks gents for joining us today.
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Uh, and we.
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Turn this around quite quickly.
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I know everybody's been hard at
work trying to get a handle on
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what's going on in the markets
in the last few weeks and days.
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Um, and, uh, I'd like you guys to help
us set the stage, uh, a little bit
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on what's going on in the markets.
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I mean, in the last few weeks, um,
we've had European regulation reforms,
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the surprise German fiscal stimulus.
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The Atlanta Feds negative Q1 GDP.
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Now print.
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Not to mention the tariff
battles, you know, between
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Canada and Mexico and Europe.
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Now we have systematic.
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Now it, it, the, the reality is that
systematic managers that we are,
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we generally don't talk about these
fundamental things very much, but I do
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want to kind of pick your brain 'cause I
know we talk about it a lot internally.
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What have been the biggest market moving
stories in the, in the recent weeks?
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Corey Hoffstein: Hey Rod, I wanna, I
wanna point out, you said all that's
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happened in the last couple weeks.
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All that happened in the last three days.
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Yeah, so I think, I think it's just
that every day feels like a week.
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Look to me, the, these are
all big stories, right?
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Tariff pressure leading
to a massive negative one.
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Q, Q1 GDP forecast, print
is huge for the US economy.
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These European regulatory reforms are
huge for European growth prospects,
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but to me that, like the big one that
was a surprise and and feels like a, a
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bazooka is the German fiscal stimulus.
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For folks who, who haven't read about
it or, or looked into it, the proposed
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fiscal stimulus is really focused on
infrastructure and defense spending.
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In particular it, it allows
Germany to lift their budget cap
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for any defense related spending.
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And so the amount of fiscal
stimulus that it captures is
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between 10 or 20% of Germany's GDP.
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Right.
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So to put that into context, that's
about how much the US unleashed as a
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percent of GDP during covid, right?
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When we shut down the economy,
we did a fiscal stimulus
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package of 10 to 20% of our GDP.
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Germany just went, let's do it.
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Right.
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And so you saw massive moves
in the German fund, right?
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Uh, rates there jumped 30 bips, which
is the last time they jumped 30 bips was
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again, during covid, during ex, you know,
expectations that, uh, the government
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was gonna have to pay for this somehow.
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You saw huge moves in, um, the German.
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Uh, Dax, right?
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The equity market, uh,
both up and down, right?
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Uh, lots of volatility there, right?
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And you saw moves in, in
the Euro versus the dollar.
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And so I think in terms of like something
that had a true cross market impact, that
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was just a, a huge one in the scope of it.
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For Germany is just so
massive relative to their GDP.
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It, it feels, and again, I feel like
we use the word unprecedented every
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time something happens in the markets.
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But, but for not having, uh, a
covid like economic shutdown to
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just say we're unleashing 10 to
20% fiscal stimulus is, is huge.
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People should be aware, appreciated.
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I also appreci just one
comment real quick, Adam.
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It's, it's not in effect yet.
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The, I think the vote is March 24th.
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So in terms of what markets are
trying to digest, there's also a
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probabilistic reaction here and you
know, if markets overshoot that this
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is gonna get implemented, you could
see a whipsaw effect in, in late March.
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Adam Butler: Yeah, I actually,
just in terms of whipsaws.
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I mean, this has been an
environment dominated by Whipsaws.
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I remember coming into, February,
the tariffs were announced.
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The currencies of the target
economies are decimated, which
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was in the direction of carry.
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It was in the direction
of the prevailing trend.
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Started out being a
phenomenal day, February 1st.
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And By the end of the day, it was,
announced effectively that, the tariffs
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were not gonna come into effect, or
at least they were gonna be delayed.
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There were options for target
countries actions they could take
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in order to avoid this outcome.
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So market is completely reversed and we've
seen these kinds of policy reversals over
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and over, over the last few weeks, and
it is this strange binary outcome, right?
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25% tariffs or on Canada and Mexico on top
of 20% across the board, tariffs to China.
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That is a completely different global
world in 6 to 12 months than not
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having those tariffs in place, right?
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So investors are having
to sort of price in this,
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double-headed this binary distribution,
where, you know, you've gotta price in
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the probability of one or the other.
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And it's not like it can be the
average of the two, it's gonna
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be one or the other, and markets
are just vibrating between them.
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Right?
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Uh, just in terms of the, the, um,
uh, the size, the magnitude of this,
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um, change in Europe, you know, uh,
legislation was put in place on the
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formation of the European Monitoring
Union to enforce fiscal prudence, largely
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driven by the Bundas Bank by Germany,
which, which is typically the most, uh.
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Uh, austerity or fiscal prudence
oriented country and, and,
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and governance, uh, structure.
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Um, but it was applied broadly to
the Eurozone, broadly to the EMU.
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And, um, those rules are
not easily overturned.
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Some of them require
unanimous consent from all EMU
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participants in order to to pass.
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So, you know, while Germany has changed
their views, obviously, you know,
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180 degrees over the last few days
even yet, we still need to, we, the
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Scandinavian countries also need to
validate any major changes in rules.
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Uh, it also takes a two thirds majority
to change the, the laws around the debt
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break in Germany that would allow them to
engage in this level of fiscal expansion.
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And keep in mind, this is 10
to 20 times the level of fiscal
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expansion that is currently allowed
under Germany's debt break policy.
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So it's not just that, you
know, the politicians have
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announced their objectives or
their goals or what have you.
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It is, there's, there's, you know,
the markets are saying there's a
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reasonable probability that, that these
rules will get completely repealed or
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substantially modified in the very near
future, which will unleash a completely
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different economic environment in Europe.
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And that's what's being priced here.
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Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah.
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And, and I think, you know, talk
about unprecedented, you know, the,
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the last time that the yields move
this quickly in Germany was 1990.
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So it's been a while since we've
seen a single day move like this.
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And so I, I just wanna kind of
go through, 'cause we're gonna be
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talking about systematic strategies.
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Um, and you know, just as a
reminder, systematic strategies.
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In, in the managed future space,
invest across all equity markets,
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you know, or large swath of equity
markets, large swath of bond
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markets, commodities and currencies.
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And I just wanna, I'm gonna go take
some time to go through some of
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the major ones so that we can get a
feel for what type of the magnitude
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of moves in the last few days.
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Um, and so why don't I
begin with currencies here.
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You know, the US dollar is up 8%
against major markets from September
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to, uh, 2024 to January, 2025.
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Down 4% from mid-January
through to March, fall.
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That's the type of whip
saw we're seeing, right?
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That the German, sorry, the, uh,
the UK uh, currency is up 2.5%
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and the euro is up 4% in the last three
days, representing a 99 percentile in 99.9
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percentile three-day move.
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Right.
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Again, this is gonna be a, a
common theme as I go through these.
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Adam Butler: Yeah.
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So just, just to put that
in perspective, right.
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A 99.9
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percentile move is expected to happen
about once every thousand days.
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Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah.
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And so when I move on here
to, what do we just do?
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The currencies, German bonds,
we just talked about them.
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A 3% move in the last three days.
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That is a less than 0.1
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percentile outcome.
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Uh, gilts down 2% in the last three days.
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A one percentile outcome equities.
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The German stock market, uh, we
look at 25% increase since, uh, two
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thousand, 2024 in the last two days.
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It's been incredibly
volatile with a negative 3.5%
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on March 4th and a positive five, 3.5%
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on March 5th, right?
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Again, talking about these Whipsaws
S and P 500 NAS and, and Nasdaq.
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Strong trends in 2024, now negative
for the year in 2025, and we're
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definitely kind of seeing some
short term shift in momentum, uh,
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away from US equities and towards
European equities on the energy front.
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We're looking at a very strongly
positive 10 to 20% moves across a
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variety of contracts from the lows in
September, 2024 through mid-January.
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And the, the, um, Brent crude move
in the last three days of negative
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5% is in the fifth percentile.
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Most energies are now negative for
2025, with the exception to natural
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gas, which is, which is up quite a bit.
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It's up 35%.
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Um, all right.
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Metals, trends in gold and other precious
metals are generally strong from 2024
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through 2024 at five, even, even to date.
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Um, copper, this is the big winner here,
is up 15% year to date with a, that's
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like a massive big one day 5% move.
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That's a 99.5
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percentile outcome.
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Right.
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And that's, uh, that's
due to the tariffs, right?
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That, that we're announcing copper.
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I know people knew that that's, that's
another announcement that has come,
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you know, we focus so much on equity
markets, but, um, you know, we are,
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Adam Butler: One can be excused for
missing, um, a policy announcement.
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Amongst the, uh, barrage we've been, yeah.
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Rodrigo Gordillo: And then in grains and
sauce, the big movers were coffee up 15 to
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25% in cocoa, uh, down 30% year to date.
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Okay.
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So that's, those are the markets we're
dealing with, and that's the magnitude.
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And again, focusing on how rare
these moves are, single day, three
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day moves as we move, uh, into, uh.
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Assessing what those broad
market impacts are to systematic
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strategies like carry and trend.
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Uh,
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Adam Butler: I think it's important too
to remind people, like listeners, when you
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talk about managed future strategies, many
people don't realize that we're allocating
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to all of these different markets.
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Like the reason why we're talking about
how cocoa and copper and the DAX and
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the BUN and all these different markets
have been behaving is because these
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are, uh, for the most part constituents
of managed futures portfolios, right?
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So while typically investors' attention
is on what's going on in maybe in the
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s and p or maybe some are watching
the US tenure rate, uh, and maybe the
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dollar, you know, So, um, really need to
take a global multi asset perspective.
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Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah,
that's a good point.
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So let's start talking about some
of these managed future strategies.
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Let's start with carry,
um, multi-asset carry.
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To be specific, not everyone is really as
familiar with carry as with multi-asset
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carry models as they are with Trend.
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So Adam, you literally, uh, recently wrote
a large white paper for Resolve on carry.
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Can you give us a 30,000 foot review
as to how the strategy operates?
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Adam Butler: It's not that
large or intimidating.
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Definitely digestible and
approachable and worth reading.
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Um, yeah, I mean there is a reason why we,
parenthetically call carry yield, right?
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carry is the return you expect to get on
an investment if the price doesn't change.
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00:14:00,493 --> 00:14:01,903
I mean, you know, obviously.
219
00:14:02,403 --> 00:14:06,583
We're used to in this environment
getting the vast majority of our
220
00:14:07,213 --> 00:14:08,733
returns from changes in prices, right?
221
00:14:08,733 --> 00:14:12,003
Stocks go up, indices go up, et cetera.
222
00:14:12,363 --> 00:14:15,213
But there is another source
of returns and that is yield.
223
00:14:15,213 --> 00:14:17,223
And in equities it's the dividend yield.
224
00:14:17,713 --> 00:14:21,683
In bonds it's the coupons
that are paid, quarterly or,
225
00:14:21,793 --> 00:14:25,063
bi-annually or annually on bonds.
226
00:14:25,943 --> 00:14:31,018
In currencies, you can borrow in a
currency with low interest rates to
227
00:14:31,018 --> 00:14:38,308
invest in the short term, government
bills of a, of a currency or a government
228
00:14:38,308 --> 00:14:40,198
with higher interest rates, right?
229
00:14:40,198 --> 00:14:44,638
So you can borrow it, say 1% in your,
in a domestic currency, and then invest.
230
00:14:45,073 --> 00:14:51,923
Overseas in, a country that's yielding
2% and earn that 1% spread in currencies.
231
00:14:52,083 --> 00:14:56,523
and then in commodities there's
also a yield, a convenience,
232
00:14:56,523 --> 00:14:58,343
real yield, a roll down yield.
233
00:14:58,953 --> 00:15:05,043
the idea in commodities being that,
the futures markets are helping to
234
00:15:05,163 --> 00:15:10,923
ensure large investments by commodity
producers by giving them a price
235
00:15:10,923 --> 00:15:15,933
today for their production, which
probably won't come online for many
236
00:15:15,933 --> 00:15:19,673
years in the future, but by the
futures markets giving them a price.
237
00:15:19,673 --> 00:15:24,423
Today, They're able to lock in
a much better financing rate on
238
00:15:24,453 --> 00:15:29,783
building out those large projects
to, to build those, into production.
239
00:15:30,353 --> 00:15:33,183
And, therefore their cost
of financing is lower.
240
00:15:33,543 --> 00:15:36,873
the economics on these
projects are more attractive.
241
00:15:36,993 --> 00:15:39,783
And so it's this win-win in
commodity markets, right?
242
00:15:39,963 --> 00:15:44,403
So it's really just dividends on
equities, coupon payments, in bonds.
243
00:15:44,743 --> 00:15:49,693
Interest rate differentials in currencies
and this insurance and convenience yield
244
00:15:49,993 --> 00:15:52,603
in commodities that we are harvesting.
245
00:15:52,883 --> 00:15:59,093
Again, the price doesn't really need
to change though in futures markets.
246
00:15:59,113 --> 00:16:03,763
It ends up that the price changes
just in terms of how futures roll
247
00:16:03,763 --> 00:16:07,873
up or roll down the curve coming
into the maturity of the contract.
248
00:16:08,203 --> 00:16:10,933
But the simplest way to
think about it is just.
249
00:16:11,478 --> 00:16:13,578
Picking up coupons or,
or picking up dividends.
250
00:16:14,868 --> 00:16:15,228
Rodrigo Gordillo: Okay.
251
00:16:15,378 --> 00:16:20,898
So, but let's talk a little bit about,
so that's the concept of carry, but
252
00:16:20,898 --> 00:16:26,718
let's talk about the idea of those carry
measures as signals to try to predict
253
00:16:26,718 --> 00:16:28,368
future price movement of these assets.
254
00:16:28,668 --> 00:16:28,938
Adam Butler: Yeah.
255
00:16:28,938 --> 00:16:30,168
So in general, you wanna be
256
00:16:30,948 --> 00:16:34,218
Rodrigo Gordillo: flipping coupons in
front of a steam roll roller rather than
257
00:16:34,488 --> 00:16:37,818
using it as, um, as a predictive measure.
258
00:16:39,148 --> 00:16:39,478
Adam Butler: Sure.
259
00:16:39,998 --> 00:16:45,243
The, the idea is that in general, you're,
you're gonna expect to get a higher
260
00:16:45,243 --> 00:16:49,653
return from an asset with high carry,
you're gonna expect to get a negative
261
00:16:49,653 --> 00:16:52,563
return from an asset with negative carry.
262
00:16:52,563 --> 00:16:54,663
What is positive carry or negative carry?
263
00:16:54,663 --> 00:16:59,733
Well, typically carry is whatever
the, the rate of return is above
264
00:16:59,733 --> 00:17:01,743
the cost of financing, right?
265
00:17:01,743 --> 00:17:07,233
So you need to borrow money in
order to purchase, uh, an asset.
266
00:17:07,653 --> 00:17:12,778
So if the rate that you are borrowing at
is lower than the rate that you expect,
267
00:17:12,903 --> 00:17:17,133
expect to get paid on, on that asset,
you're expecting to earn a positive carry.
268
00:17:17,673 --> 00:17:21,843
So let's say this is actually not the
case in in many global equity markets
269
00:17:21,843 --> 00:17:26,673
at the moment, but let's say that,
that the expected dividend yield on
270
00:17:26,703 --> 00:17:32,898
an equity index is 5% and the current
interest rate that you would would need
271
00:17:32,898 --> 00:17:37,458
to borrow at in order to invest in that
equity index, you only have to pay 2%.
272
00:17:38,088 --> 00:17:42,138
Well, you would expect that, um,
you expect to earn about a 3%
273
00:17:42,468 --> 00:17:46,803
premium over that, the duration
of holding that instrument, right?
274
00:17:47,193 --> 00:17:52,923
If instead, as actually is the case
today, the dividend yield is, is
275
00:17:52,923 --> 00:17:55,143
actually lower than the financing rate.
276
00:17:55,143 --> 00:17:59,853
So let's say the dividend yield is 2%
and it costs four or 5% to finance it.
277
00:18:00,213 --> 00:18:05,238
Well, actually, you probably want
to be short that, um, asset and
278
00:18:05,658 --> 00:18:11,178
long cash effectively in order to
earn the, that differential, right?
279
00:18:11,538 --> 00:18:15,948
And so in that way, what we sort
of, uh, assume or expect and what's
280
00:18:15,948 --> 00:18:22,458
validated over decades of empirical
evidence is that markets tend to rise
281
00:18:22,458 --> 00:18:27,148
in price to match the expected carry.
282
00:18:27,198 --> 00:18:27,468
Right.
283
00:18:27,468 --> 00:18:32,058
So if there's an expected 3% di uh,
difference between the cost of financing
284
00:18:32,388 --> 00:18:36,468
and the coupon or dividend yield or what
have you that you're expected to get
285
00:18:36,468 --> 00:18:43,008
paid, then the price will sort of rise
in order to deliver that 3% premium or
286
00:18:43,008 --> 00:18:47,388
in the, in the case of being short, the
price will fall in order to deliver that,
287
00:18:47,448 --> 00:18:52,923
that premium, and we're measuring that
premium, that carry premium every day,
288
00:18:52,923 --> 00:18:57,273
and it changes every day depending on
changes in interest rate differentials or
289
00:18:57,513 --> 00:18:59,223
the slope of the yield curve, et cetera.
290
00:18:59,583 --> 00:19:04,623
Um, and we're adjusting every day
to try to get maximum exposure to
291
00:19:04,653 --> 00:19:09,663
markets that appear to have the
highest expected carry and the largest
292
00:19:09,663 --> 00:19:11,043
short exposure to markets that have
293
00:19:11,268 --> 00:19:13,638
the greatest expected negative carry.
294
00:19:14,298 --> 00:19:17,358
Corey Hoffstein: And so Rod, if, if I can
summarize it maybe in like one sentence.
295
00:19:17,388 --> 00:19:17,448
Yeah.
296
00:19:17,688 --> 00:19:17,868
Right.
297
00:19:17,868 --> 00:19:19,728
Because I think what's important
here, when we talk to people
298
00:19:19,728 --> 00:19:22,488
about carry strategies, they often
think about clipping coupons.
299
00:19:23,058 --> 00:19:25,998
What's critical about a multi-asset
carry strategy is it's using carry
300
00:19:25,998 --> 00:19:30,198
as a signal to try to forecast
the total returns of each market.
301
00:19:30,993 --> 00:19:34,683
Rather than a strategy that's
trying to isolate and extract
302
00:19:34,683 --> 00:19:36,183
the carry on its own right.
303
00:19:36,183 --> 00:19:40,083
So just like trend use a trend signal
to go long and short markets and you're
304
00:19:40,083 --> 00:19:44,403
trying to forecast the total return carry
strategies can do something similar.
305
00:19:45,873 --> 00:19:46,143
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yep.
306
00:19:46,803 --> 00:19:52,323
So let's then with that understanding,
um, if anybody wants to get something,
307
00:19:52,383 --> 00:19:56,763
uh, a bit deeper, we've done a ton of
other, uh, videos and, uh, papers on
308
00:19:56,763 --> 00:19:59,223
it and, and you can go return stack.com
309
00:19:59,223 --> 00:20:02,253
and read some of the,
uh, blog posts in there.
310
00:20:02,433 --> 00:20:04,893
But, uh, let's talk about what,
how carry has been affected
311
00:20:04,923 --> 00:20:06,393
in this market environment.
312
00:20:06,483 --> 00:20:11,193
So, broadly speaking, how were
multi-asset carry models, positioning,
313
00:20:11,313 --> 00:20:12,693
positioned, entering this week.
314
00:20:14,298 --> 00:20:14,538
Adam Butler: Yeah.
315
00:20:14,538 --> 00:20:19,878
So keep in mind, right, just
think about the evolution of the
316
00:20:19,938 --> 00:20:22,488
economic environment since say 2020.
317
00:20:22,668 --> 00:20:22,908
Right?
318
00:20:23,688 --> 00:20:30,708
So we had this large stimulus from
Covid, um, that contributed to a
319
00:20:30,708 --> 00:20:33,918
surge in inflation, can argue about
what other factors contributed,
320
00:20:33,918 --> 00:20:35,808
but surge in inflation we had.
321
00:20:36,438 --> 00:20:41,778
The Fed raised rates aggressively
and therefore short-term yields
322
00:20:42,078 --> 00:20:45,978
rose above long-term yields now,
that the yield curve is inverted.
323
00:20:46,458 --> 00:20:48,648
So that when the yield curve is
inverted, you're actually getting
324
00:20:48,648 --> 00:20:55,038
a lower expected, uh, return on the
10 year than you are on owning cash.
325
00:20:55,248 --> 00:20:57,348
And so that implies from a
carry standpoint, that we
326
00:20:57,348 --> 00:20:59,238
should be short bonds, right.
327
00:21:00,033 --> 00:21:06,513
Indeed the carryr strategy was short bonds
for much of the 2022, 2023 period, right.
328
00:21:06,963 --> 00:21:08,403
And through much of 2024.
329
00:21:09,303 --> 00:21:13,683
And then as the economy began to
cool, the Fed began to, and global
330
00:21:13,683 --> 00:21:18,933
central banks began to, to talk
more dovishly about rates imply
331
00:21:18,933 --> 00:21:21,483
rate cuts actually have rate cuts.
332
00:21:21,843 --> 00:21:25,533
The curves have normalized and, and
in many parts of the world, um, are
333
00:21:25,533 --> 00:21:27,153
now back to being upward sloping.
334
00:21:27,183 --> 00:21:27,453
Right?
335
00:21:27,663 --> 00:21:28,143
So.
336
00:21:28,533 --> 00:21:31,773
Over the last six months or so,
our, our bond exposure and the
337
00:21:31,773 --> 00:21:35,793
carry strategy has tended to be on
average more sort of long bonds.
338
00:21:36,033 --> 00:21:38,073
Now, what happened?
339
00:21:38,073 --> 00:21:43,173
And, and by the way, as a result too, um,
there were changes in currency markets as
340
00:21:43,443 --> 00:21:46,413
different economies ob uh, experienced.
341
00:21:46,743 --> 00:21:52,383
Changes in, or moderation in
inflation rates at different, um,
342
00:21:52,653 --> 00:21:56,973
rates over time or at different,
uh, speeds, let's call it over time.
343
00:21:57,183 --> 00:22:02,763
And therefore, the currency markets,
um, changed in, in order to reflect
344
00:22:02,763 --> 00:22:05,943
those changes in return expectations
and therefore changes in interest
345
00:22:05,943 --> 00:22:06,873
rates, short term interest rates.
346
00:22:06,933 --> 00:22:07,173
Right?
347
00:22:07,863 --> 00:22:12,123
So now we come into the
most recent episode.
348
00:22:12,633 --> 00:22:15,723
Um, the Trump administration
announces that.
349
00:22:16,218 --> 00:22:20,148
America is no longer in a position
to continue to fund the Ukraine
350
00:22:20,148 --> 00:22:24,138
war, to continue to support NATO
to the extent that they have.
351
00:22:24,888 --> 00:22:26,628
Europe is gonna need to
stand on their own two feet.
352
00:22:26,838 --> 00:22:32,058
Um, so-called strategic autonomy
that motivates this enormous,
353
00:22:32,058 --> 00:22:34,518
basically overnight change in.
354
00:22:35,583 --> 00:22:41,373
Both the public's perception of the
necessity of, uh, major fiscal spending,
355
00:22:41,583 --> 00:22:46,983
uh, policies in, in, uh, Europe, and
changes to the legislation that would
356
00:22:46,983 --> 00:22:51,483
be required in order to, uh, actually
operationalize those fiscal expansions.
357
00:22:52,113 --> 00:22:56,823
So the market goes from perceiving
that Europe is kinda locked into
358
00:22:56,823 --> 00:23:00,153
this low growth environment because
they've got all these regulations that
359
00:23:00,153 --> 00:23:02,433
prevent major expansionary policies.
360
00:23:03,198 --> 00:23:04,908
Overnight that's flipped on its head.
361
00:23:05,148 --> 00:23:06,828
We're getting a massive expansion.
362
00:23:07,128 --> 00:23:11,178
Therefore, nominal growth
expectations jump effectively
363
00:23:11,178 --> 00:23:14,058
overnight in Europe and Glo.
364
00:23:14,088 --> 00:23:17,628
Uh, European bond markets are
repriced higher in terms of rates,
365
00:23:18,318 --> 00:23:22,188
um, in order to reflect these
higher nominal growth expectations.
366
00:23:22,908 --> 00:23:31,698
So that was a, as Corey mentioned, a
highly irregular shock to both short and
367
00:23:31,698 --> 00:23:35,808
long-term rates on, on European government
bonds to the tune of between 20 and
368
00:23:35,808 --> 00:23:37,548
30 basis points, basically overnight.
369
00:23:38,118 --> 00:23:42,258
And as we know, when interest
rates go up, bond prices go down.
370
00:23:42,498 --> 00:23:43,608
So we're long bonds.
371
00:23:43,608 --> 00:23:45,918
The carry strategy, because
carry the, the slope of the
372
00:23:45,918 --> 00:23:47,448
yield curve has been normalizing.
373
00:23:47,748 --> 00:23:51,438
In general, we're expecting positive
returns over cash from holding bonds.
374
00:23:51,918 --> 00:23:54,318
We get this kind of overnight rate shock.
375
00:23:54,828 --> 00:23:55,308
Um.
376
00:23:55,638 --> 00:23:59,328
That obviously is highly punitive and
that was the major explanatory variable
377
00:23:59,328 --> 00:24:03,348
in terms of why we experienced that
large, uh, negative return yesterday.
378
00:24:03,738 --> 00:24:07,788
Wasn't just that there were also
sort of secondary effects too, as the
379
00:24:07,998 --> 00:24:12,948
interest rates changed between Europe
and the us, there also was then that
380
00:24:12,948 --> 00:24:18,813
made the Euro more attractive as a
currency for, you know, uh, global
381
00:24:18,813 --> 00:24:21,003
savers to hold their savings in.
382
00:24:21,453 --> 00:24:25,203
So there was a flight from
US dollars into the Euro.
383
00:24:25,263 --> 00:24:26,763
So the Euro rose.
384
00:24:27,123 --> 00:24:33,273
We were also net short the Euro because
the interest rates in, in the US have
385
00:24:33,273 --> 00:24:36,603
been structurally higher than in most
of the rest of the world over the
386
00:24:36,603 --> 00:24:39,273
last, you know, uh, 12 to 18 months.
387
00:24:39,453 --> 00:24:43,758
So we've been structurally long, the US
dollar and short uh, foreign currencies.
388
00:24:44,028 --> 00:24:47,898
So we were positioned, we were,
we were, uh, short the Euro.
389
00:24:48,048 --> 00:24:50,178
Now the Euro kind of
crashes higher, right?
390
00:24:50,178 --> 00:24:52,278
So that was also at the
margin, a bit of a hit.
391
00:24:53,088 --> 00:24:58,638
Add in the Trump tariffs, copper jumps,
meanwhile, copper, uh, is suggesting
392
00:24:58,668 --> 00:25:02,538
negative carry properties, so we were
short copper on the wrong side of that.
393
00:25:02,928 --> 00:25:08,568
And oil is reflecting supply
demand dynamics where the, um,
394
00:25:08,598 --> 00:25:10,368
oil market is in backwardation.
395
00:25:10,608 --> 00:25:13,848
So we're also offside a
major collapse in oil.
396
00:25:13,848 --> 00:25:20,928
So it was just a kind of a, a con,
a, a, a constellation of large
397
00:25:20,928 --> 00:25:26,298
surprises that went against the
prevailing tailwind that we normally
398
00:25:26,298 --> 00:25:28,728
expect to get on our carry positions.
399
00:25:29,298 --> 00:25:32,928
Rodrigo Gordillo: So that's,
um, that's very helpful.
400
00:25:32,928 --> 00:25:33,468
Thank you Adam.
401
00:25:34,098 --> 00:25:39,618
Um, I think a lot of people in the last
three days may be thinking, okay, this
402
00:25:39,618 --> 00:25:45,648
is the typical carry strategy that has
a, um, a negative tail risk, right?
403
00:25:45,678 --> 00:25:49,818
This idea of the young carry trade
going against you at the worst of times.
404
00:25:50,358 --> 00:25:55,588
Um, do you think that idea is
true here for a multi-asset carry.
405
00:25:56,068 --> 00:26:01,588
Um, what are your thoughts on, on this
concept of, of the, uh, picking up
406
00:26:02,758 --> 00:26:05,608
pennies in front of the steamroller
for, for carry, broadly speaking?
407
00:26:06,508 --> 00:26:11,188
Adam Butler: Well, I mean, if you look
back historically at, uh, recessions
408
00:26:11,548 --> 00:26:16,728
and, uh, the concept of kind of
a, a typical procyclical strategy.
409
00:26:16,728 --> 00:26:20,748
Pro cyclical meaning it does well
when the economy is in an upcycle
410
00:26:20,748 --> 00:26:23,778
and, and does poorly when, when looks
like we're falling into recession.
411
00:26:24,018 --> 00:26:27,708
So think sort of the reaction
function of global equities.
412
00:26:28,158 --> 00:26:29,868
Um, you just don't see it.
413
00:26:29,868 --> 00:26:33,108
So because we're trading all of these
different markets, we're trading
414
00:26:33,408 --> 00:26:36,768
global bonds, global currencies, global
commodities and global equity markets,
415
00:26:37,218 --> 00:26:43,068
um, you know, for example, we've been
sort of strategically short, uh, on
416
00:26:43,068 --> 00:26:45,498
average global equities for many months.
417
00:26:45,888 --> 00:26:46,308
Right.
418
00:26:46,608 --> 00:26:50,928
So, you know, if, if sadly equities
kind of didn't fall yesterday, right?
419
00:26:50,933 --> 00:26:51,023
Yeah.
420
00:26:51,028 --> 00:26:54,768
So we, that was also a strange situation.
421
00:26:55,038 --> 00:26:56,928
Um, equities are down today.
422
00:26:57,048 --> 00:27:00,018
The carry strategy is, is
benefiting from that, right?
423
00:27:00,198 --> 00:27:06,438
But, you know, this is not a,
uh, a procyclical type of hit
424
00:27:06,948 --> 00:27:08,328
on the carry strategy, right?
425
00:27:08,328 --> 00:27:14,148
If anything, it's, it's, we, the carry's
getting hit by a major growth shock.
426
00:27:14,793 --> 00:27:16,683
In the Euro zone, right?
427
00:27:16,803 --> 00:27:22,773
And if you look back historically, the the
carry strategy doesn't have any pattern.
428
00:27:22,803 --> 00:27:28,773
You know it if it happens to be
positioned in some bear markets.
429
00:27:29,373 --> 00:27:33,243
So that it's kind of long equities
or short rates that it can get hit
430
00:27:33,243 --> 00:27:35,043
for a time while equities get hit.
431
00:27:35,283 --> 00:27:38,583
But there are lots of times when
it runs in reverse and carry ends
432
00:27:38,583 --> 00:27:42,963
up being a wonderful diversifier
by rising substantially as
433
00:27:42,963 --> 00:27:44,643
equities fall in bear markets.
434
00:27:44,673 --> 00:27:46,863
So there's just no clear pattern.
435
00:27:46,893 --> 00:27:51,828
You know, I, I understand that many
people who've been around markets
436
00:27:51,828 --> 00:27:56,208
for 30 or 40 years kind of think of
carry as currency carry where you're
437
00:27:56,208 --> 00:28:01,488
borrowing in, say the yen or the dollar
to invest in the Mexican peso or the
438
00:28:01,488 --> 00:28:05,538
Brazilian real or what have you, to
pick up this interest rate differential
439
00:28:05,538 --> 00:28:07,728
against emerging market currencies.
440
00:28:07,998 --> 00:28:10,548
That is clearly a pro-cyclical strategy.
441
00:28:10,758 --> 00:28:12,588
It is in theory, it is empirically.
442
00:28:12,588 --> 00:28:16,818
You see them, you know, they get hit
when equity markets get hit, but because
443
00:28:16,818 --> 00:28:21,198
we're applying this concept to all
these different markets and sectors,
444
00:28:21,858 --> 00:28:24,588
theoretically, there's no reason
why it should have that profile and
445
00:28:24,588 --> 00:28:25,848
empirically we just don't observe it.
446
00:28:26,238 --> 00:28:26,628
Rodrigo Gordillo: Right?
447
00:28:26,718 --> 00:28:30,678
And, and, but let's, I think,
look, we've had a shock.
448
00:28:30,678 --> 00:28:37,818
We've had a macro shock in the last few
days, and we have seen periods where
449
00:28:37,818 --> 00:28:38,993
the carry strategy has been caught.
450
00:28:39,498 --> 00:28:40,068
Offite.
451
00:28:40,308 --> 00:28:43,488
Um, can we talk a little bit
about historical context?
452
00:28:43,548 --> 00:28:48,018
Where, where the strategy is positioned
against the policy shock, and then
453
00:28:48,018 --> 00:28:49,518
what happened and what happened after?
454
00:28:50,058 --> 00:28:52,788
Uh, give us, can we go through
some, some examples there?
455
00:28:53,598 --> 00:28:54,318
Adam Butler: Yeah, sure.
456
00:28:54,318 --> 00:28:57,468
I mean, think about
the 1994 bond massacre.
457
00:28:57,558 --> 00:29:01,428
Uh, so Greenspan, he's,
he's newly in office.
458
00:29:01,788 --> 00:29:07,518
He wants to, um, set a
standard as a, a hard liner.
459
00:29:07,998 --> 00:29:15,468
Uh, so he, he enforces this very large,
uh, surprise interest rate raise.
460
00:29:16,098 --> 00:29:22,098
And, um, you know, that that was actually
the, the, until this period, the largest
461
00:29:22,338 --> 00:29:27,223
drawdown in the carry strategy, just
this unexpected major adjustment.
462
00:29:27,783 --> 00:29:33,723
To, uh, in that case rates, it was
rates again, this time that caused a,
463
00:29:33,843 --> 00:29:40,083
a material decline took kind of a, a, a
year or so to recover from those losses.
464
00:29:40,473 --> 00:29:44,523
Uh, equities and metals also
contributed to losses in that period.
465
00:29:44,763 --> 00:29:48,498
But eventually, you know, because the,
there's not, nothing changed about the
466
00:29:48,498 --> 00:29:50,343
long-term expectation of this premium.
467
00:29:50,558 --> 00:29:53,103
It went on to, uh, to new highs.
468
00:29:53,403 --> 00:29:57,678
There were, uh, steel tariffs
introduced in March of 2002.
469
00:29:58,278 --> 00:30:02,508
The carry strategy was caught offside,
uh, some commodities in that year
470
00:30:02,658 --> 00:30:05,868
and, uh, and struggled for a couple
of of quarters, but actually ended
471
00:30:05,868 --> 00:30:09,708
up 20% on the year in 2016 to 2018.
472
00:30:10,098 --> 00:30:15,393
We also had, you'll remember the fed
tried some policy normalization during
473
00:30:15,393 --> 00:30:19,863
that period, and then markets kind
of had a temper tantrum in, in 2018.
474
00:30:19,863 --> 00:30:21,483
2018 was a very rocky year.
475
00:30:21,843 --> 00:30:28,563
So when, at, at the beginning, when, when,
uh, central banks began this normalization
476
00:30:28,563 --> 00:30:34,833
policy and markets weren't expecting it,
we had another, um, substantial drawdown.
477
00:30:35,013 --> 00:30:37,053
There was also a round
of tariffs on China.
478
00:30:37,113 --> 00:30:41,763
So another sort of similar context
to the, the current situation.
479
00:30:42,408 --> 00:30:46,158
Um, so carry, carry experienced
about a 20% drawdown then, right?
480
00:30:46,488 --> 00:30:53,178
And there was also kind of a post pandemic
inflation while the market was digesting
481
00:30:53,478 --> 00:31:00,018
what the, um, how the Fed was going
to normalize rates after raising them.
482
00:31:00,498 --> 00:31:05,178
Then it's, it's been a kind of, a bit
of a sideways to down move, right?
483
00:31:05,598 --> 00:31:08,178
Uh, it obviously in all
of these prior periods.
484
00:31:08,823 --> 00:31:14,103
Things normalized and carry went
on to actually, um, in many cases
485
00:31:14,103 --> 00:31:19,773
and kind of on average to emerge
from these troughs with a surge of
486
00:31:19,773 --> 00:31:21,363
better than average performance.
487
00:31:21,738 --> 00:31:24,468
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah, that's what we've
seen across every one of these as the,
488
00:31:24,468 --> 00:31:30,318
uh, uh, very strong outsized recovery,
um, coming out of these situations.
489
00:31:30,318 --> 00:31:35,148
So that is important to understand here,
but, um, just going back to the last three
490
00:31:35,148 --> 00:31:40,368
days, uh, a lot of people are asking,
have there been any adjustments, um,
491
00:31:40,428 --> 00:31:42,348
made as a system adjusting in any way.
492
00:31:42,438 --> 00:31:47,898
Uh, can we talk a little bit about
how often a multi carry strategy
493
00:31:47,898 --> 00:31:49,458
described in your paper as, uh.
494
00:31:49,863 --> 00:31:53,253
Is adjusting and then how the adjustments
have happened in the last three days.
495
00:31:54,213 --> 00:31:55,293
Adam Butler: So we're looking at.
496
00:31:56,043 --> 00:31:59,763
The changes in the interest rate
differentials and the slope of the
497
00:31:59,763 --> 00:32:03,513
cash yield curve and the term structure
of commodity futures, et cetera.
498
00:32:03,873 --> 00:32:06,363
Uh, we're looking at that every
day and we're making adjustments
499
00:32:06,363 --> 00:32:08,163
to the portfolio every day.
500
00:32:08,283 --> 00:32:13,023
Um, and so yeah, there has been
at the margin, uh, some reduction
501
00:32:13,023 --> 00:32:16,563
in energy exposure, equity
markets, uh, metal exposures.
502
00:32:16,803 --> 00:32:19,443
There's been a marginal
reduction in European bonds.
503
00:32:19,743 --> 00:32:23,703
What's happened is, um, there's
been an obviously a, a, an increase
504
00:32:23,703 --> 00:32:28,908
in, in volatility, which at the
margin would expect a position to
505
00:32:28,908 --> 00:32:33,528
contract, but because the yield
curve has has steepened in Europe,
506
00:32:33,858 --> 00:32:35,538
also the expected carry has gone up.
507
00:32:35,718 --> 00:32:40,983
And so to some extent expectation
of, of higher future performance
508
00:32:41,253 --> 00:32:45,633
by holding European bonds has
offset the increase in volatility.
509
00:32:45,813 --> 00:32:49,983
So there hasn't been a, a very large
reduction in European bond exposure.
510
00:32:50,163 --> 00:32:52,083
There has been some at the margin, right.
511
00:32:52,473 --> 00:32:58,593
Um, there's actually been a small increase
in exposure to US bonds, but generally
512
00:32:58,593 --> 00:33:04,473
the exposures in carry tend to, uh,
to change a little bit more slowly.
513
00:33:04,473 --> 00:33:09,918
You know, major changes to things
like, um, uh, global yield curves,
514
00:33:09,918 --> 00:33:15,018
global currency, uh, differentials, et
cetera, tend to happen over a period
515
00:33:15,018 --> 00:33:16,578
of sort of several weeks and months.
516
00:33:16,968 --> 00:33:21,738
And so we expect the strategy
to adapt on those timeframes
517
00:33:21,738 --> 00:33:24,678
more than via overnight shocks.
518
00:33:24,978 --> 00:33:28,368
And if you look back on average,
over very short horizons
519
00:33:28,368 --> 00:33:29,718
after these types of shocks.
520
00:33:30,123 --> 00:33:33,483
That actually, that strategy has actually
paid off because you, you tend to see an
521
00:33:33,513 --> 00:33:38,253
overreaction in the very short term to
this type of shock or this type of news.
522
00:33:38,793 --> 00:33:41,643
The market then moderates
that reaction a little bit.
523
00:33:41,643 --> 00:33:44,523
So we tend to get back a
little bit of what we lost.
524
00:33:44,913 --> 00:33:49,383
And then once the market
stabilizes, the, the, um, carry
525
00:33:49,383 --> 00:33:50,913
signals have also stabilized.
526
00:33:51,123 --> 00:33:56,433
We've got a, a more, uh, a better reading
on the new regime that we're in, in terms
527
00:33:56,433 --> 00:34:01,083
of the carry portfolio, and we're better
positioned for what emerges going forward.
528
00:34:02,433 --> 00:34:02,883
Rodrigo Gordillo: Perfect.
529
00:34:02,913 --> 00:34:07,473
Okay, so that's, that's a very good
overview of, you know, carry, what's going
530
00:34:07,473 --> 00:34:09,303
on in carry, and, and how it's changing.
531
00:34:09,333 --> 00:34:14,013
Let's flip over to trend, uh,
following managed futures.
532
00:34:14,013 --> 00:34:17,402
Corey, maybe you can help us
out here get some, uh, better
533
00:34:17,402 --> 00:34:18,693
understanding of what's been going on.
534
00:34:19,322 --> 00:34:19,862
Um.
535
00:34:20,217 --> 00:34:23,007
Trend following strategies generally
succeed when they catch these very
536
00:34:23,007 --> 00:34:27,027
strong sustained moves and they tend
to struggle in these type of reversals
537
00:34:27,027 --> 00:34:27,928
that we've been talking about.
538
00:34:28,288 --> 00:34:32,068
So over the last three days, uh, why
don't you give us an overview of which
539
00:34:32,068 --> 00:34:34,318
markets have contributed the most and why.
540
00:34:35,068 --> 00:34:37,318
Corey Hoffstein: Yeah, and I think it's
always interesting to think about when you
541
00:34:37,318 --> 00:34:40,697
have these big reversals in some cases.
542
00:34:40,697 --> 00:34:46,007
In other cases it's been substantial
extensions of the trend are how much are
543
00:34:46,007 --> 00:34:49,308
those surprises really priced in versus
how much was the market predicting?
544
00:34:49,308 --> 00:34:52,398
And we, we can talk a little bit
about that, but just in terms of, you
545
00:34:52,398 --> 00:34:56,268
know, what we saw over the last couple
days, obviously gains in European
546
00:34:56,268 --> 00:34:58,503
equities were strong though volatile.
547
00:34:58,773 --> 00:35:03,243
And we've been overexposed to European
equities, largely underexposed to US
548
00:35:03,243 --> 00:35:08,043
equities as US equities have been flat
to negative over the last three months.
549
00:35:08,043 --> 00:35:11,013
We've been seeing a moderation of
that position while European equities
550
00:35:11,013 --> 00:35:15,483
have been very strong, plus 10 to 15%
depending on which market you look at.
551
00:35:15,483 --> 00:35:17,843
So we continue to see
positive trends there.
552
00:35:18,613 --> 00:35:21,423
we've been long metals,
gold, silver, copper.
553
00:35:22,113 --> 00:35:24,003
And continue to see strong trends there.
554
00:35:24,243 --> 00:35:28,113
Energy is one that we've been flat-ish,
and it depends on particularly where
555
00:35:28,113 --> 00:35:29,553
in the energy complex we've been.
556
00:35:30,063 --> 00:35:32,943
You know, we had some gains
in net gas that were offset
557
00:35:32,943 --> 00:35:34,903
by losses in, crude right.
558
00:35:34,903 --> 00:35:36,433
And, RBO gasoline.
559
00:35:36,453 --> 00:35:39,423
So, that's sort of a mixed
bag over the last couple days.
560
00:35:39,833 --> 00:35:46,623
Bonds, we've been short and so, while
we're down year to date on bonds, 'cause
561
00:35:46,623 --> 00:35:49,773
bonds have been a, I mean, bonds have
just been a struggling trade for the last.
562
00:35:50,628 --> 00:35:53,868
I don't know, call it 18 months
almost as they just get whipsaw
563
00:35:53,868 --> 00:35:57,498
back and forth by different, the
market digesting policy decisions
564
00:35:57,498 --> 00:36:01,428
and what's happening with inflation
and, economic impacts of tariffs.
565
00:36:01,538 --> 00:36:05,088
but we did get the benefit from
bonds and then probably the
566
00:36:05,088 --> 00:36:06,468
biggest loss was in currencies.
567
00:36:06,468 --> 00:36:06,648
Right?
568
00:36:06,648 --> 00:36:10,038
We have been predominantly long, the US
dollar, as you mentioned at the beginning,
569
00:36:10,038 --> 00:36:12,348
Rodrigo, the dollar as a basket was up.
570
00:36:12,678 --> 00:36:14,118
8% last year.
571
00:36:14,118 --> 00:36:14,958
It's not a surprise.
572
00:36:14,958 --> 00:36:19,248
We were long the dollar against a good
cross section of other G10 currencies.
573
00:36:19,578 --> 00:36:22,848
And then we had these very rapid
repricing, particularly in the British
574
00:36:22,848 --> 00:36:28,608
pound and the Euro that led to a, pretty
substantial, you know, one or two day
575
00:36:28,608 --> 00:36:32,308
loss, not, substantial in knocking the
whole portfolio off sides, but substantial
576
00:36:32,308 --> 00:36:34,518
in the size of that individual position.
577
00:36:35,418 --> 00:36:39,948
Rodrigo Gordillo: And so since these we've
seen extreme volatile moves here in the
578
00:36:39,948 --> 00:36:44,568
last few days, uh, have we seen any major
adjustments in positioning as a result?
579
00:36:45,258 --> 00:36:47,298
Corey Hoffstein: Yeah, and, and
when we think about, again, we're,
580
00:36:47,298 --> 00:36:48,768
evaluating trends every single day.
581
00:36:48,798 --> 00:36:52,338
When we think about trend following,
there's, two drivers for us.
582
00:36:52,338 --> 00:36:56,478
There's the volatility component where we
are volatility targeting these positions.
583
00:36:56,478 --> 00:37:00,948
So as volatility expands, we'll
naturally reduce the size long, will get
584
00:37:00,948 --> 00:37:03,018
less long, short will get less short.
585
00:37:04,068 --> 00:37:08,148
And if trends change materially,
right, that can change the direction
586
00:37:08,148 --> 00:37:10,368
or moderate how much exposure we have.
587
00:37:10,368 --> 00:37:15,408
So, again, with weakening US equity
and increased equity volatility,
588
00:37:15,408 --> 00:37:18,708
we've seen some of our equity
position to continue to come down.
589
00:37:19,038 --> 00:37:22,158
We've actually seen a marginal
increase in the metals as gold,
590
00:37:22,158 --> 00:37:24,288
silver, and copper continue to perform.
591
00:37:24,738 --> 00:37:27,288
We've seen a marginal
decrease in energies.
592
00:37:27,948 --> 00:37:31,113
trends continue to reverse
from popositive and somef them
593
00:37:31,113 --> 00:37:32,463
are showing as negative now.
594
00:37:32,853 --> 00:37:35,263
We have increased our short bond exposure.
595
00:37:35,663 --> 00:37:41,513
bond prices have been trending negatively
since around September last year, and,
596
00:37:42,013 --> 00:37:47,433
the trend continues and so we'll, press
the shorts there and, we've been reducing
597
00:37:47,493 --> 00:37:52,483
long US dollar exposure now reducing here.
598
00:37:52,483 --> 00:37:52,763
Right.
599
00:37:52,763 --> 00:37:55,203
I, think when we look at a couple
multi-day changes, you know,
600
00:37:55,203 --> 00:37:56,823
our bond exposure has jumped up.
601
00:37:57,363 --> 00:37:58,413
40%.
602
00:37:58,713 --> 00:37:59,003
Right?
603
00:37:59,003 --> 00:38:02,403
But it's, important to keep in mind
vol of a five year treasury is very
604
00:38:02,403 --> 00:38:03,693
different than vol of equities.
605
00:38:04,023 --> 00:38:07,893
Currencies have dropped, you
know, about 20 percentage points.
606
00:38:07,893 --> 00:38:11,963
But again, vol of the Euro is
very different than vol of equity.
607
00:38:11,963 --> 00:38:16,143
So on a, risk basis, there haven't
been really substantial changes
608
00:38:16,143 --> 00:38:17,193
from these last couple of days.
609
00:38:17,193 --> 00:38:19,083
But as markets continue to digest.
610
00:38:19,683 --> 00:38:22,173
The probability of these
things going into effect.
611
00:38:22,293 --> 00:38:23,913
That's where trends can emerge, right?
612
00:38:23,913 --> 00:38:26,313
I think that's a really
important point here is people
613
00:38:26,313 --> 00:38:28,023
often ask, why do trends exist?
614
00:38:28,713 --> 00:38:34,473
We talk about this one day change with the
German fiscal policy proposal that has to
615
00:38:34,473 --> 00:38:38,673
go to vote, and Adam talked about all the
potential risks of this going to vote.
616
00:38:38,973 --> 00:38:44,373
The market over the next month will
start to price in the probability
617
00:38:44,373 --> 00:38:50,013
of realizing that the first move was
just recognizing that it could occur,
618
00:38:50,433 --> 00:38:53,943
and then as it becomes more or less
likely, if it becomes less likely that
619
00:38:54,033 --> 00:38:57,813
those moves will likely revert as it
becomes more likely they might continue.
620
00:38:57,873 --> 00:39:01,053
And again, that's how those trends
can persist as markets price in the
621
00:39:01,053 --> 00:39:04,818
probability of, these bimodal events.
622
00:39:05,238 --> 00:39:05,448
Rodrigo Gordillo: Right.
623
00:39:05,448 --> 00:39:09,768
So let's talk about just the same thing
as, as carry, like historically we've
624
00:39:09,768 --> 00:39:13,158
seen similar geopolitical movements
affect trend in different ways.
625
00:39:13,878 --> 00:39:18,468
Um, what lessons from those kind of
past events can we apply to the price
626
00:39:18,468 --> 00:39:20,148
movement of managed future trend today?
627
00:39:20,988 --> 00:39:21,138
Corey Hoffstein: Yeah.
628
00:39:21,138 --> 00:39:26,778
Not surprisingly, it's actually a lot of
the same events that happened in Cary.
629
00:39:27,528 --> 00:39:29,148
We're trend events as well.
630
00:39:29,178 --> 00:39:29,538
Right?
631
00:39:29,538 --> 00:39:34,128
And it's because a lot of these events
that catch their carry or trend offside,
632
00:39:34,338 --> 00:39:37,908
it's not because trendy carry actually
historically are similar signals.
633
00:39:37,908 --> 00:39:39,678
They're actually quite dissimilar,
and that's what makes them
634
00:39:39,678 --> 00:39:40,578
such a great compliment.
635
00:39:41,028 --> 00:39:45,558
But it's because the policy or
market shift has been so against
636
00:39:45,558 --> 00:39:47,538
the prevailing expectation.
637
00:39:48,528 --> 00:39:50,688
That you get this sudden
reversal in these markets.
638
00:39:50,688 --> 00:39:57,318
So, you know, um, 1994, you know, again,
the interest rate, uh, event in 94
639
00:39:57,378 --> 00:40:00,738
with a massive unexpected rise in rates
caused trend to have a negative year.
640
00:40:00,738 --> 00:40:04,638
Steel tariffs in 2002, 2015 through 2018.
641
00:40:04,638 --> 00:40:08,748
Just a struggling period for
trend in general as it was.
642
00:40:09,158 --> 00:40:13,358
Sort of these ambiguous central bank
decisions around the world as to whether
643
00:40:13,358 --> 00:40:17,378
they were or were not gonna come off of
the, you know, zero interest rate policy.
644
00:40:17,918 --> 00:40:22,628
Um, you know, start and stop growth in
global economies in the early 2000 tens,
645
00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:27,428
again, causing, causing, uh, struggles
for a lot of, uh, trend strategies.
646
00:40:27,428 --> 00:40:27,848
And then.
647
00:40:28,533 --> 00:40:30,003
2021 to 2024.
648
00:40:30,003 --> 00:40:36,543
Obviously 2022 was a very strong
trend year, but then we had post 2022
649
00:40:36,753 --> 00:40:41,643
again trying to renormalize trends
to post pandemic inflation 2023 in
650
00:40:41,643 --> 00:40:44,133
particular, being very tough in bonds.
651
00:40:44,313 --> 00:40:47,913
I mean, I think the majority of losses
last year were in bonds, but we can
652
00:40:47,913 --> 00:40:49,833
highlight the move in the yen as well.
653
00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:53,673
Last year as being a big driver,
a sudden surprise, a big sudden
654
00:40:53,673 --> 00:40:56,913
policy surprise that went against
the prevailing positioning.
655
00:40:57,473 --> 00:40:58,943
The last thing I'll add there is.
656
00:41:00,033 --> 00:41:02,883
While some of these moves can go
against the prevailing positioning,
657
00:41:02,883 --> 00:41:06,873
right, the trend is your friend
until it ends, you can still net
658
00:41:06,873 --> 00:41:10,173
make money on trend following, even
if the end is a violent reversal.
659
00:41:10,233 --> 00:41:13,773
And if you look at a lot of trend
following p and l last year, the
660
00:41:13,773 --> 00:41:17,223
yen was a violent reversal in
August that caused a lot of pain.
661
00:41:18,033 --> 00:41:21,393
But the net p and l for the year
on the Y trade was still positive.
662
00:41:21,673 --> 00:41:23,983
'cause the performance was
tro so strong before that.
663
00:41:24,013 --> 00:41:28,003
And so some of these can be very
painful when they occur simultaneously.
664
00:41:28,033 --> 00:41:31,033
Trend actually hasn't really been
that bad over the last couple of days.
665
00:41:31,063 --> 00:41:31,183
No.
666
00:41:31,183 --> 00:41:32,443
Especially compared to carry.
667
00:41:32,863 --> 00:41:36,943
Um, but again, some of these things when
they are trend surprises can be painful,
668
00:41:37,033 --> 00:41:39,928
but you have to consider it in the
position, you know, in, in the context of
669
00:41:39,928 --> 00:41:43,693
the larger trend in p and l that you've
generated over the last six to 12 months.
670
00:41:44,323 --> 00:41:47,563
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah, and, and look,
I, I'm just reminded of '08 when I
671
00:41:47,563 --> 00:41:50,353
was a very heavy investor in trend.
672
00:41:51,363 --> 00:41:54,453
You know, we're talking about three
days and when Lehman happened,
673
00:41:54,513 --> 00:41:59,493
the volatility in trend was just
insane over those three days.
674
00:41:59,553 --> 00:42:01,983
And, um, it wasn't necessarily favorable.
675
00:42:02,958 --> 00:42:05,268
Again, this is, the thing about
all of these is that there's a,
676
00:42:05,538 --> 00:42:07,308
there's a period of adjustment.
677
00:42:07,548 --> 00:42:11,118
Um, and, uh, we saw it in
2020 during Covid, right?
678
00:42:11,268 --> 00:42:14,448
That first leg, it just, the trend
happened to be positioned in the
679
00:42:14,448 --> 00:42:16,488
opposite of the prevailing trends.
680
00:42:16,488 --> 00:42:21,273
And so the first week or so, it had a
similar reaction to what was happening
681
00:42:21,273 --> 00:42:24,828
in global markets, but then it quickly
transitioned the other way, right?
682
00:42:24,828 --> 00:42:28,578
So the, the adaptability of
this is something to remember.
683
00:42:28,618 --> 00:42:32,098
But in any given day, you know, really
whether we're gonna be on the right
684
00:42:32,098 --> 00:42:35,878
or wrong side of a geopolitical move
will depend broadly on whether that
685
00:42:35,878 --> 00:42:41,638
geopolitical move is in the, in, in the
prevailing, uh, trends or against it.
686
00:42:41,638 --> 00:42:44,668
So, um, it, it, three days is not much.
687
00:42:44,698 --> 00:42:49,198
We gotta talk about it, we gotta put
it into context, but, um, but it, let's
688
00:42:49,198 --> 00:42:50,758
remember the big picture ultimately.
689
00:42:50,818 --> 00:42:53,668
So let's talk a little bit about just
kind of comparing this, uh, trend
690
00:42:53,668 --> 00:42:54,958
following and multi-asset carry.
691
00:42:55,078 --> 00:42:57,478
Um, you know, they're both
trading the same contracts.
692
00:42:58,188 --> 00:43:02,868
Um, what, uh, why do we have
those two different signals?
693
00:43:02,868 --> 00:43:08,178
And, and how did, how do they tend to
relate to each other, especially, um,
694
00:43:08,208 --> 00:43:13,878
when they react slightly different
to, uh, global macro events?
695
00:43:14,058 --> 00:43:15,468
Any, anybody grab that one?
696
00:43:16,973 --> 00:43:20,628
Adam Butler: I mean, they're
mechanically, they're similar.
697
00:43:21,798 --> 00:43:24,978
In so far as you know, we're,
we're, we're broadly trading
698
00:43:24,978 --> 00:43:27,078
the same universe of markets.
699
00:43:27,738 --> 00:43:33,108
Um, we're, we're broadly finding an
optimally diversified portfolio of those
700
00:43:33,108 --> 00:43:37,998
markets based on the trend and or carry
signals at, at the end of every day.
701
00:43:38,628 --> 00:43:43,068
Um, and, you know, they're,
they're systematic, right?
702
00:43:43,158 --> 00:43:48,468
And the other thing to recognize
that, that Corey has hinted at, um.
703
00:43:49,158 --> 00:43:53,538
Is that systematic strategies, at
least the ones that carry and and
704
00:43:53,538 --> 00:43:57,468
trend rely on, are relying on.
705
00:43:58,398 --> 00:43:59,928
Changes in prices.
706
00:43:59,928 --> 00:44:04,818
You know, for, for trend it's the
change in effectively the rolled front
707
00:44:04,818 --> 00:44:07,648
month, um, futures contract for carry.
708
00:44:07,668 --> 00:44:14,028
It's changes in the prices of, of
contracts along the, um, along the curve,
709
00:44:14,028 --> 00:44:15,978
the futures curve or along the spa curve.
710
00:44:16,698 --> 00:44:20,328
Um, but we're taking signals
from the market itself.
711
00:44:20,608 --> 00:44:26,248
So, you know, as, as market participants
are, are shifting capital away
712
00:44:26,248 --> 00:44:31,288
from one market and toward another
trend and carry are picking up
713
00:44:31,288 --> 00:44:33,268
on that, why do we rely on that?
714
00:44:33,298 --> 00:44:39,328
Well, it's because we do assume that
at the margin participants making
715
00:44:39,358 --> 00:44:42,088
decisions in markets on average.
716
00:44:42,588 --> 00:44:44,628
Reflect information, right?
717
00:44:44,868 --> 00:44:51,258
So we are picking up on the information
that the market is transmitting via its
718
00:44:51,258 --> 00:44:57,648
price movements and just by virtue of the
fact that these movements are basically
719
00:44:57,648 --> 00:45:03,343
impossible to decipher narratively or
using, using some kind of, uh, clinical.
720
00:45:03,918 --> 00:45:08,328
Framework, just in your mind, you
know, we are forming portfolios
721
00:45:08,328 --> 00:45:11,508
based on all these different signals
across 27 different markets, right?
722
00:45:11,508 --> 00:45:17,268
But it's all just reacting to or digesting
information that the market is giving us.
723
00:45:17,268 --> 00:45:22,998
So when the market is not doing a
very good job of adjusting because
724
00:45:23,028 --> 00:45:28,548
it is confused or uncertain, or
doesn't know what is likely to happen.
725
00:45:28,998 --> 00:45:33,168
These are the periods when our,
when the trend and carry strategies
726
00:45:33,168 --> 00:45:34,398
are most likely to suffer.
727
00:45:34,488 --> 00:45:36,048
And that's exactly what
we're seeing today.
728
00:45:36,378 --> 00:45:40,488
We're in a period of extreme
policy ambiguity, right?
729
00:45:40,878 --> 00:45:44,118
We won't always be in a period
of extreme policy ambiguity.
730
00:45:44,178 --> 00:45:48,288
Once that sort of settles out, either
the market will get used to the way
731
00:45:48,288 --> 00:45:53,208
that, for example, Trump communicates
and be able to, you know, read the tea
732
00:45:53,208 --> 00:45:57,738
leaves and, and anticipate what his true
intentions are and adjust towards that.
733
00:45:58,068 --> 00:46:03,468
Sort of over the intermediate term
or just, you know, Trump may get
734
00:46:03,468 --> 00:46:07,188
what he wants and therefore there
won't be the same number of these
735
00:46:07,548 --> 00:46:09,468
policy changes, um, happening.
736
00:46:09,468 --> 00:46:13,788
But at some point there will be, the
market will adapt to the new environment.
737
00:46:13,788 --> 00:46:17,658
There will be a new equilibrium,
and these strategies will continue
738
00:46:17,658 --> 00:46:21,798
to go on and do what they've always
done, which is just deliver on
739
00:46:21,858 --> 00:46:23,898
this nice, uncorrelated premium.
740
00:46:26,973 --> 00:46:31,893
Rodrigo Gordillo: So the, let's,
let's just kind of discuss,
741
00:46:32,313 --> 00:46:36,483
you know, the difference here
between market moves on headlines.
742
00:46:37,173 --> 00:46:40,398
Uh, just kind of wrap it up really,
you know, what are the strateg, the,
743
00:46:40,863 --> 00:46:42,453
the strategies operate on principles.
744
00:46:42,513 --> 00:46:47,323
And, uh, the question is whether
recent returns are a feature or a bug.
745
00:46:47,673 --> 00:46:53,358
Um, and so which is it like,
is this a feature or a bug?
746
00:46:53,358 --> 00:46:56,358
What we're seeing in these,
in these, um, two strategies?
747
00:46:57,558 --> 00:46:57,678
Corey Hoffstein: Yeah.
748
00:46:57,678 --> 00:46:57,858
Right.
749
00:46:57,858 --> 00:47:01,608
So we have these systematic strategies
that we talk about trying to harvest these
750
00:47:01,608 --> 00:47:03,588
premium that we believe exist, right?
751
00:47:04,668 --> 00:47:05,868
Trend following in carry.
752
00:47:05,868 --> 00:47:08,418
And we believe that there are,
particularly with carry, I think there's
753
00:47:08,418 --> 00:47:11,448
a very strong argument that there's,
that's tied to intrinsic risk premia that
754
00:47:11,448 --> 00:47:13,458
exists in the market carry of a trend.
755
00:47:13,458 --> 00:47:16,668
You might argue there's some risk
premia there, some behavioral right,
756
00:47:16,668 --> 00:47:20,748
but they can be caught off side by
these sudden market headline movements.
757
00:47:20,748 --> 00:47:24,528
And I, and I think that's just the
reality of any investment strategy.
758
00:47:24,528 --> 00:47:30,348
Certainly it's never fun for something
like a carry strategy to be down 5% in
759
00:47:30,348 --> 00:47:33,888
a day, or you know, 5% over three days
and four and a half percent in one day.
760
00:47:34,218 --> 00:47:37,849
Um, but we see that happen
in other markets, right?
761
00:47:37,913 --> 00:47:39,318
Not just alternative strategies.
762
00:47:39,318 --> 00:47:42,258
We see, we've seen that happen
in equity markets frequently.
763
00:47:42,588 --> 00:47:44,898
We've seen that happen in bond markets.
764
00:47:45,198 --> 00:47:48,483
Rarely over the last 20 years,
but it has happened right.
765
00:47:48,483 --> 00:47:51,963
And those sort of things happen
when there is a fund, the market is
766
00:47:51,963 --> 00:47:56,733
fundamentally repricing something
that it, it didn't get right.
767
00:47:56,763 --> 00:48:01,383
And a strategy can do the same thing
where the strategy can be offsides.
768
00:48:02,013 --> 00:48:06,153
Um, because again, in our case if
we're trend and, and carry relying
769
00:48:06,183 --> 00:48:11,433
on market derived signals, and those
market derived signals are just
770
00:48:11,433 --> 00:48:14,853
not capturing or didn't anticipate.
771
00:48:15,258 --> 00:48:18,198
These sudden rapid, in
this case, policy changes.
772
00:48:18,198 --> 00:48:20,838
So the reality is it,
it's a feature, right?
773
00:48:20,838 --> 00:48:24,468
The thing I always say is, if a strategy
becomes too easy to hold over the
774
00:48:24,468 --> 00:48:28,368
long run, everyone would hold it and
all the premium gets squeezed out.
775
00:48:28,668 --> 00:48:30,108
It's not a fun answer.
776
00:48:30,108 --> 00:48:31,968
It's a little flippant, frankly.
777
00:48:32,598 --> 00:48:35,658
But you know, I've said time and
time again, no pain, no premium.
778
00:48:35,658 --> 00:48:38,628
If we believe there's a risk premium
here that's different than equities
779
00:48:38,628 --> 00:48:42,348
and bonds it, we should expect it
to behave like equities and bonds.
780
00:48:42,348 --> 00:48:44,838
And no one really questions.
781
00:48:44,868 --> 00:48:47,508
Equities dropping by
5% over a couple days.
782
00:48:47,538 --> 00:48:48,198
It's happened.
783
00:48:48,198 --> 00:48:49,698
It'll happen again in the future.
784
00:48:50,028 --> 00:48:52,638
But when it happens in an alternative
strategies, the sudden question
785
00:48:52,638 --> 00:48:54,108
is, well, is the strategy broken?
786
00:48:54,858 --> 00:48:56,748
And I think a lot of that
just comes from a lack of
787
00:48:56,748 --> 00:48:58,128
transparency in these strategies.
788
00:48:58,488 --> 00:49:01,938
Going back to the beginning of this
call, we rattled off all these markets.
789
00:49:02,763 --> 00:49:04,653
That impacted carry, especially, right?
790
00:49:04,653 --> 00:49:09,633
Just carry, just fundamentally, this
week was on the on wrong side of three
791
00:49:09,633 --> 00:49:14,163
or four massive policy announcements
that came out of nowhere, right?
792
00:49:14,523 --> 00:49:18,453
You got the Canada Mexico tariffs, you
got the copper tariff, you have European
793
00:49:18,453 --> 00:49:22,713
deregulation, you have the German fiscal
policy announcement all happening in
794
00:49:22,713 --> 00:49:26,733
a two or three day period, and carry
was on the wrong side of all of those.
795
00:49:27,798 --> 00:49:31,788
And that un, that's unfortunate, but a
lot of people don't even realize when
796
00:49:31,788 --> 00:49:34,908
they're investing a strategy like this
because again, it changes over time.
797
00:49:35,208 --> 00:49:40,163
They might be long the Dax, long the
dollar, you know, long German bundts.
798
00:49:40,323 --> 00:49:42,663
That's where the beneficial
diversification comes in,
799
00:49:42,663 --> 00:49:43,833
hopefully over the long run.
800
00:49:44,223 --> 00:49:46,413
But that can, that can cut
in the short run as well.
801
00:49:46,773 --> 00:49:50,523
And so it is, I don't wanna say losses
are a feature, but losses are a reality.
802
00:49:50,598 --> 00:49:54,603
Rodrigo Gordillo: And, and so are, you
know, large positive gains that offset
803
00:49:54,603 --> 00:49:59,103
losses in your traditional portfolio
that, you know, we don't talk about much
804
00:49:59,193 --> 00:50:02,853
'cause everybody wants to focus on what,
what's, what's going quote unquote wrong.
805
00:50:03,393 --> 00:50:07,413
The wrong is the pain that
you're paying for that premium.
806
00:50:07,923 --> 00:50:12,153
Uh, one of the questions here was, you
know, this, the, the drawdown in carry
807
00:50:12,153 --> 00:50:14,193
has recently, recently been pretty large.
808
00:50:14,763 --> 00:50:17,643
Um, and you know, one of the biggest
challenges for advisors here is to
809
00:50:17,643 --> 00:50:20,103
help clients stick to strategies
through different market environments.
810
00:50:20,463 --> 00:50:24,363
And a, a good way to set expectations
here, and I, I bring this up over and
811
00:50:24,363 --> 00:50:26,433
over again, is, look, you're taking risk.
812
00:50:27,198 --> 00:50:31,368
You are taking risk in equities, you're
taking risk in bonds, you're taking risk
813
00:50:31,368 --> 00:50:33,198
in a carry strategy or trend strategy.
814
00:50:33,618 --> 00:50:36,958
A good rule of thumb for me
has always been, what, are my
815
00:50:36,958 --> 00:50:39,468
expectations of the best and worst?
816
00:50:39,918 --> 00:50:41,178
Let's focus on the worst year, right?
817
00:50:41,178 --> 00:50:44,278
So if you have a strategy like
the carry strategy that we discuss
818
00:50:44,278 --> 00:50:48,678
as a, on an average volatility of
standard deviation of around 10%.
819
00:50:49,458 --> 00:50:53,673
Well, I think the expectation here needs
to be that there will be a negative three
820
00:50:54,003 --> 00:50:56,163
standard deviation move in that strategy.
821
00:50:56,373 --> 00:50:58,533
It is broadly normally distributed.
822
00:50:58,983 --> 00:51:02,643
You need to expect those types of
moves to happen every so often.
823
00:51:03,183 --> 00:51:07,653
It happened back in 1994 during
the, bond massacre in 94.
824
00:51:08,443 --> 00:51:13,443
it happened, in the mid noughts and we're
seeing a little bit of it again today.
825
00:51:13,443 --> 00:51:18,933
And what's a three standard deviation
for a 10%, volatility, strategy, you
826
00:51:18,933 --> 00:51:21,363
know, assuming a sharpe ratio of 0.5?
827
00:51:21,743 --> 00:51:24,683
That's a 25% drawdown is a
three standard deviation, right?
828
00:51:24,683 --> 00:51:27,313
It's probably gonna go plus
or minus that at some point.
829
00:51:28,253 --> 00:51:29,093
that's the risk.
830
00:51:29,123 --> 00:51:32,423
That is the kind of the long-term risk
that you're gonna take in order to see
831
00:51:32,423 --> 00:51:37,533
it then in every case, it's rebounded
pretty aggressively from that bottom.
832
00:51:37,653 --> 00:51:41,963
And, you know, this is the
behavioral side that I think, you
833
00:51:41,963 --> 00:51:43,463
know, I want to bang the table on.
834
00:51:44,273 --> 00:51:48,693
This is where you might
want to start thinking about
835
00:51:48,693 --> 00:51:51,683
allocating if you have it, right?
836
00:51:51,683 --> 00:51:54,963
if, you believe that it's normally
distributed, you believe that it's,
837
00:51:54,963 --> 00:51:57,253
it's going to revert back to its mean.
838
00:51:58,083 --> 00:52:01,653
it might not be a bad idea to start
seriously thinking about allocating here.
839
00:52:01,893 --> 00:52:02,193
Um,
840
00:52:02,223 --> 00:52:04,383
Adam Butler: This is where
you earn your premium, right?
841
00:52:04,383 --> 00:52:07,803
So if you're gonna earn it, are you gonna
stick around and get paid for it, right?
842
00:52:08,068 --> 00:52:09,603
I, I also like to think about.
843
00:52:10,398 --> 00:52:13,128
With these trend and carry strategies,
I think it works for others as well.
844
00:52:13,128 --> 00:52:16,068
But the, I just bring it back
to middle school science.
845
00:52:16,428 --> 00:52:18,618
It's potential energy and kinetic energy.
846
00:52:18,858 --> 00:52:22,178
Kinetic energy is when you're
getting, when the bets that
847
00:52:22,178 --> 00:52:23,928
you're, making are paying off.
848
00:52:24,048 --> 00:52:24,408
Right?
849
00:52:24,828 --> 00:52:29,208
But in carry, you're building
potential, potential energy as,
850
00:52:29,238 --> 00:52:33,108
okay, you're, in bonds because
they've got high rates versus cash.
851
00:52:33,798 --> 00:52:38,538
Well, there's a loss on that position,
which means that rates just went up.
852
00:52:39,378 --> 00:52:45,858
So now you're, yeah, you just took a loss,
but your expected return is higher, right?
853
00:52:46,098 --> 00:52:49,218
And so you've, got this sort
of negative kinetic energy
854
00:52:49,218 --> 00:52:51,018
translating into potential energy.
855
00:52:51,528 --> 00:52:56,238
And so the potential return on the
portfolio, is probably considerably
856
00:52:56,238 --> 00:53:03,258
higher now because, you know, the, rate
differentials have, widened the, slope of
857
00:53:03,258 --> 00:53:04,908
the yield curve has steepened, et cetera.
858
00:53:05,298 --> 00:53:10,128
And so you just have to wait for this
potential energy to translate into
859
00:53:10,368 --> 00:53:15,318
kinetic energy once it's unleashed
in, you know, the next regime, right?
860
00:53:15,378 --> 00:53:17,418
Um, it really is just a waiting game.
861
00:53:17,928 --> 00:53:20,748
This is where you pay and
the payoff happens later.
862
00:53:22,533 --> 00:53:22,923
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah.
863
00:53:23,313 --> 00:53:29,583
Um, I mean, look, just to kind of wrap
things up, any parting words from any
864
00:53:29,583 --> 00:53:36,423
of you as to, you know, how to think,
how to kind of help advisors talk to
865
00:53:36,423 --> 00:53:41,673
clients with regard to this type of
environment with rapid policy shifts.
866
00:53:41,703 --> 00:53:43,623
Uh, we talked a little bit
about no pay, no premium.
867
00:53:43,623 --> 00:53:44,763
Any, any other thoughts?
868
00:53:45,123 --> 00:53:47,283
Adam Butler: Well, I, I have one thing
and somebody mentioned it about, you
869
00:53:47,283 --> 00:53:52,773
know, um, how much trend versus carry
would you recommend in, in a portfolio?
870
00:53:52,803 --> 00:53:53,163
Right.
871
00:53:53,523 --> 00:53:54,123
Um.
872
00:53:54,678 --> 00:53:58,158
And I mean, in general, we, we
have about the same expectation
873
00:53:58,158 --> 00:53:59,268
for both, at least I do.
874
00:53:59,328 --> 00:54:01,728
You know, I'm not sure whether
everyone would come down in the
875
00:54:01,728 --> 00:54:05,268
same exact place, but I think about
about the same expectation for both,
876
00:54:05,568 --> 00:54:09,648
especially over, you know, a five
or 10 or 20 year investment horizon.
877
00:54:10,308 --> 00:54:12,228
Um, I have about equal expectation.
878
00:54:12,258 --> 00:54:16,428
So, and what's great is that off,
you know, they're uncorrelated,
879
00:54:16,428 --> 00:54:20,358
they're reacting to different,
information at different times.
880
00:54:20,898 --> 00:54:25,518
So, you know, I always say you
should, if you own trend, you
881
00:54:25,518 --> 00:54:28,038
should 100% also own carry.
882
00:54:28,038 --> 00:54:32,868
They are, they're tremendously
good diversifiers for one another.
883
00:54:33,228 --> 00:54:37,488
They're, it's like having two eyes
and being able to, view things in 3D
884
00:54:37,488 --> 00:54:40,843
through binocular vision, you're, getting
information from the term structure.
885
00:54:40,863 --> 00:54:43,698
You're getting information from
price, momentum, and together
886
00:54:43,758 --> 00:54:45,478
it's just a really fine.
887
00:54:46,728 --> 00:54:52,428
well-crafted dish and the experience
of them together is just so much
888
00:54:52,698 --> 00:54:57,768
smoother and more palatable than
holding either of them on their own.
889
00:54:59,928 --> 00:55:03,468
Corey Hoffstein: Yeah, I mean, I, I
have a tremendous amount of sympathy
890
00:55:03,468 --> 00:55:07,158
for advisors who particularly
have line item sensitive clients.
891
00:55:07,158 --> 00:55:10,458
When any line item goes through
a big one day drawdown, you
892
00:55:10,458 --> 00:55:11,898
know, they've gotta field calls.
893
00:55:11,898 --> 00:55:12,198
Right.
894
00:55:12,198 --> 00:55:14,748
And that's, and you can't
rent conviction, right?
895
00:55:14,748 --> 00:55:19,428
So if an advisor isn't truly
understanding what this strategy is, I,
896
00:55:19,428 --> 00:55:21,228
I understand the desire to get out of it.
897
00:55:22,338 --> 00:55:25,608
And frankly, I felt the same way
yesterday looking, looking at our,
898
00:55:25,803 --> 00:55:29,673
you know, the carry strategy I have,
I, you know, we eat our own cooking.
899
00:55:29,673 --> 00:55:34,323
I have a substantial amount of,
my portfolio has a carry overlay.
900
00:55:34,443 --> 00:55:37,143
But to Adam's point, I also
have a trend overlay and I
901
00:55:37,143 --> 00:55:38,673
have other overlays that I add.
902
00:55:38,673 --> 00:55:41,853
I have a huge amount of overlay on
my core stock and bond position.
903
00:55:42,363 --> 00:55:47,653
Carry is just a slice and somehow
despite loss, substantial losses in
904
00:55:47,653 --> 00:55:50,183
carry yesterday, my PA was positive.
905
00:55:50,523 --> 00:55:50,823
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah.
906
00:55:51,243 --> 00:55:51,513
Corey Hoffstein: Right.
907
00:55:51,513 --> 00:55:52,688
And, and so I go back to.
908
00:55:54,063 --> 00:55:57,183
Even I have to check myself,
like I can become over line item
909
00:55:57,183 --> 00:56:01,293
focused, but at the portfolio
level, like diversification worked.
910
00:56:01,893 --> 00:56:05,703
You know, it wasn't fun to have that part
of the portfolio down, but there was other
911
00:56:05,703 --> 00:56:12,183
stuff that was substantially up that net
offset it because I wasn't so dramatically
912
00:56:12,303 --> 00:56:14,823
overweight that one particular trade.
913
00:56:14,823 --> 00:56:18,423
And so again, it is one risk
premium that we have high
914
00:56:18,423 --> 00:56:20,613
confidence in, but it's one of many.
915
00:56:21,258 --> 00:56:25,788
And it's one that is gonna operate well
or not well in different environments.
916
00:56:25,788 --> 00:56:29,028
The same way stocks and bonds operate
well and not well in other environments,
917
00:56:29,028 --> 00:56:30,868
trend may operate well and not well.
918
00:56:31,368 --> 00:56:36,228
And, for me, trying to market time or,
determine when these things do well
919
00:56:36,228 --> 00:56:42,408
or not, is totally, undermining the
potential benefits of diversification.
920
00:56:42,408 --> 00:56:46,998
And when you have diversification
across a huge swath of different
921
00:56:46,998 --> 00:56:50,508
strategies, the hurdle rate for
market timing just goes up so much.
922
00:56:50,508 --> 00:56:55,758
And so for me, I just go back to
those basic principles of do I have
923
00:56:55,758 --> 00:56:57,768
conviction in the strategy long term?
924
00:56:58,698 --> 00:57:01,548
Is it appropriately sized in my portfolio?
925
00:57:01,698 --> 00:57:05,208
Yesterday was a great test and for
me it was, you know, and what else do
926
00:57:05,328 --> 00:57:09,358
I have next to it that I do believe
is truly diversifying and, did it
927
00:57:09,358 --> 00:57:10,878
behave in a diversifying manner?
928
00:57:10,908 --> 00:57:13,728
And so I looked at my PA yesterday
and I said, it did exactly
929
00:57:13,728 --> 00:57:14,418
what I thought I would do.
930
00:57:15,318 --> 00:57:17,898
Rodrigo Gordillo: Yeah, and, and
again, I think what we've seen
931
00:57:18,318 --> 00:57:23,193
is that these strategies are
non-correlated to equities, bonds,
932
00:57:23,193 --> 00:57:25,293
and themselves in the last three days.
933
00:57:25,353 --> 00:57:29,673
And we've certain, like, look, an
another acute moment of pain for managed
934
00:57:29,673 --> 00:57:32,313
futures was during the SVB fiasco, right?
935
00:57:32,328 --> 00:57:37,983
The, the, um, Silicon Valley drop trend
had a, it was just caught really offside.
936
00:57:38,923 --> 00:57:41,693
Carry was not, it was
a non-event for carry.
937
00:57:41,773 --> 00:57:43,573
Slightly up, I think, during that period.
938
00:57:43,573 --> 00:57:43,783
Right.
939
00:57:43,783 --> 00:57:46,303
So again, it's, it, it,
it can be the opposite.
940
00:57:46,303 --> 00:57:51,073
Right now carry's struggling more than
trend, um, and that's what we've, what it
941
00:57:51,073 --> 00:57:56,623
is, it's, it's just, it's added diversity
across different areas of your portfolio.
942
00:57:57,253 --> 00:58:03,168
Um, and they all tend to have a positive
expected return, and we're gonna be in
943
00:58:03,168 --> 00:58:07,038
around that over time in different ways,
which is exactly what we're looking for.
944
00:58:08,148 --> 00:58:13,218
Okay, so with that, um, sorry
we weren't able to get into
945
00:58:13,218 --> 00:58:15,618
any fund specific content.
946
00:58:15,618 --> 00:58:20,628
Here we are, um, restricted from, uh,
speaking to, uh, with regard to the
947
00:58:20,628 --> 00:58:25,673
funds, due to regulatory restrictions,
but I, I hope that this was useful in
948
00:58:25,793 --> 00:58:30,203
providing some context on the macro
environment and the kind of managed
949
00:58:30,203 --> 00:58:31,553
future strategies that are out there.
950
00:58:32,243 --> 00:58:36,623
Um, if you do have any questions,
you can reach out to us directly,
951
00:58:36,623 --> 00:58:39,083
you can go to return stacked.com
952
00:58:39,113 --> 00:58:42,323
and go to the contact section
and talk to any one of our reps.
953
00:58:42,683 --> 00:58:45,683
If you want to go directly to
us we are on Twitter and pretty
954
00:58:45,683 --> 00:58:47,153
active there, or LinkedIn.
955
00:58:47,228 --> 00:58:47,978
These days.
956
00:58:48,338 --> 00:58:49,418
So look us up.
957
00:58:49,538 --> 00:58:53,328
Um, uh, Corey is Cho at choffstein.
958
00:58:53,348 --> 00:58:58,628
Adam is at Gestalt U and
I am at Rod Gordillo.
959
00:58:58,658 --> 00:59:01,118
P Um, all right.
960
00:59:01,208 --> 00:59:02,978
Any, any parting thoughts?
961
00:59:03,223 --> 00:59:05,888
Adam, I know you needed
to go 15 minutes ago.
962
00:59:05,888 --> 00:59:06,908
Thank you for sticking around.
963
00:59:07,268 --> 00:59:09,248
Thank you everybody for
sticking around this long.
964
00:59:09,278 --> 00:59:14,528
Really appreciate your, uh, time
today and, uh, looking forward to
965
00:59:14,528 --> 00:59:16,148
seeing you in our next live q and a.
966
00:59:16,968 --> 00:59:17,238
Adam Butler: Thanks.