We improve on our Vigilant Asset Allocation (VAA) by the introduction of a separate “canary” universe for signaling the need for crash protection, using the concept of breadth momentum. The amount of cash is now governed by the number of canary assets with bad (non-positive) momentum. The...

VAA (Vigilant Asset Allocation) is a dual-momentum based investment strategy with a vigorous crash protection and a fast momentum filter. Dual momentum combines absolute (trendfollowing) and relative (strength) momentum. Compared to the traditional dual momentum approaches, we have replaced the...

Resilient Asset Allocation (RAA) is a more aggressive version of our Lethargic Asset Allocation (LAA) strategy. It combines a more robust “All Weather” portfolio with even slower growth-trend (GT) filter and a faster market crash-protection. GT timing goes risk-off only when both the US...

Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the recent (end of 2015) pull back, investors are searching for less risky investments. Therefore, there is a growing demand for low risk/absolute return portfolios. In this paper we describe a simple dual-momentum model (called Protective Asset Allocation...

Growth-Trend (GT) timing from Philosophical Economics is a brilliant timing strategy which only signals a bear market when both the trend in the unemployment (UE) rate and the SP500 index are bearish. As a result, it captures most market downturns while switching to cash in less than 15% of the...

Macroeconomic data is often noisy, contradictory and lagging. These limitations render the data difficult to integrate into a robust quantitative investment strategy that generates excess returns. This paper outlines a new approach to macro investing that removes these inherent limitations in...

There is a considerable body of research on relative strength price momentum but much less on absolute momentum, also known as time series momentum. In this paper, we explore the practical side of absolute momentum. We first explore its sole parameter - the formation, or look back, period. We...

In the past 20 years, momentum or trend following strategies have become an established part of the investor toolbox. We introduce a new way of analyzing momentum strategies by looking at the information ratio (IR, average return divided by standard deviation). We calculate the theoretical IR of...

This paper outlines a tactical asset allocation (TAA) strategy that takes signals from the credit markets and applies them to the stock market. A power model is built using the Russell 2000 equity index and the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch High Yield B index. This model is then used in a...

Ever since Harry Markowitz published his seminal paper on portfolio selection, investors have incorporated estimates of future volatilities and correlations into their asset allocation process. While portfolio construction methods continue to evolve, many investors continue to forecast...