SI412: Portable Alpha: Asking the Questions That Matter ft. Harry Moore

Systematic investing and trend following strategies provide essential resilience against unpredictable market shocks, particularly when traditional asset correlations converge during left-tail events. Trend following’s capital efficiency allows investors to maintain core equity exposure while layering uncorrelated alpha strategies, such as portable alpha, to enhance risk-adjusted returns. Effective implementation requires rigorous cash buffer management—ideally 40% to survive extreme drawdowns—and careful consideration of rebalancing rules to minimize tracking error. Furthermore, modern quantitative research benefits from AI-driven productivity gains, though these tools necessitate higher levels of critical analysis from practitioners. Historical frameworks, such as the Turtle Trading rules, demonstrate that successful systematic trading relies less on simple breakout signals and more on disciplined, volatility-based position sizing and robust risk management protocols that mitigate the probability of ruin.