SI416: 137 Years of Trend: What the Evidence Really Shows ft. Yoav Git

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged. In markets, success doesn't come from predicting what happens next. It comes from being prepared for what you can't predict.

In each episode, we go deep with some of the world's most thoughtful minds in investing, economics, and beyond to understand how they think, how they prepare, and how they decide, and the experiences that shaped how they see the world. No noise, no shortcuts, just real conversations to help you think better and invest with confidence.

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen (0:35)

Welcome or welcome back to this week's edition of the Systematic Investors Series where Yoav Git and I, Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, where each week we take the pulse of the global market through the lens of a rules-based investor. Yoav, it is great to be back with you this week. Hope you're doing well. How is life in the UK?

Yoav Git (0:52)

Oh, Cambridge is sunny, but we are getting a little bit of water, a little bit of rain, hopefully. And I'm sitting here sipping my Indonesian Avocado Coffee that my daughter, who is back from Indonesia, made for me. So life is good.

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen (1:07)

Yeah, it certainly sounds like it. I'm not sure I would pick the same coffee, but I haven't tasted it, so you never know.

Yoav Git (1:13)

We have to try new things. You have to try new things?

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen (1:15)

That's absolutely true.

Now, we've got a few new things on the agenda, some great topics that we're going to be talking about. We're going to announce the winner of the very important TTU Merch competition that was running in August, so I'm sure there will be some exciting news there. And yeah, and then we got some papers to review as well. So all is good, however, before we get into any of that, as usual, I'm always interested in finding out what kind of has hit your radar, your desk in the last few weeks that you found interesting.

Yoav Git (1:54)

Hi, Niels, always nice to be here. Thank you. So actually, I want to talk a little bit about clients, not about current events or anything outside. It's actually we've had a few interactions with investors in the last month. And it really brought home about the nature of the relationship we have with different investors. So we have two very distinct meetings. The first one was in Zurich.

And we were discussing allocation to trend. And the guy said, oh, you shouldn't worry about it because Claude wants us to have more trend in our portfolio. So we have been advocating TPA, it makes sense to be part of a portfolio. And so there's a little bit of like total portfolio approach which is coming along. And I think AI, when you give it the data of allocators, they kind of realize Claude really wants trend. So I think actually this is really exciting for the industry. I think that's being dispassionate about what is actually best for the portfolio.

It's really interesting. So that was like the first interaction, a very technical discussion. And then the second one was a much more personal. So we had a very long-term supporter of the AQR strategy, the Commodity Strategy. And he's retiring, he's moving off to spend more time with his family. And I thought it was a really emotional meeting. And we wish him all the best, him and his family.

And it really brought home to me how much like the nature of the investor relations is really about trust and about a relationship. It's not just people allocate to you, not just because you are running a CTA, but also because they trust you. So that, and that was very, I didn't realize how emotional I would get about it.

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen (3:56)

I mean, it's interesting you say you bring that up because obviously that's the side of the business I've been working in for more than three decades. And I completely agree, of course, I think it's a very personal business or side of the business, very important. Often, of course, as you say, people tend to start by screening just for numbers.

But I think once you get into the conversations, the due diligence, and ideally, once you start having a business relationship, I think that it changes a lot. And I also find that, I mean, a lot of it is also about the journey, right? When you've been through a few difficult times with a client and they have felt supported along the way, you've given them the tools and the information they needed to essentially, you know, justify the investment to their investment committee or their colleagues. Once you build up that relationship, that trust, as you mentioned, I think, and of course, as long as you don't screw it up completely on the performance side.