We just released version 3.0 of our Portfolio Optimizer for Pro members and it’s awesome. New here? We track Tactical Asset Allocation strategies. Members can combine those strategies together into what we call “Model Portfolios”. The Portfolio Optimizer shows the optimal mix of strategies to trade in your Model Portfolios based on objectives like maximizing […]
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Dr. Keller & Keuning’s Simple Variation of “Hybrid Asset Allocation”
This is a test of the “simple” variation of Dr. Keller and Keuning’s strategy from their paper Dual and Canary Momentum with Rising Yields/Inflation: Hybrid Asset Allocation (HAA). We’ve covered the “balanced” version of HAA previously. It has become one of the more popular strategies on our platform, and members have asked us to add […]
Choi’s Dividend & Growth Allocation
Edit 01/10/24: This post has been revised since initial publication. See the end notes to learn more. This is a test of Paul Choi’s paper Balance Between Growth and Dividend: Dividend & Growth Allocation (DGA). This strategy would have delivered exceptional performance over the last 50 years, but we would temper future expectations for several […]
“Dynamic Bond” Variations of 10 Tactical Asset Allocation Strategies
Background (we’ve covered all of this before, but just to bring readers up to date): We track 70+ Tactical Asset Allocation strategies sourced from research papers, books, etc. A subset of those strategies have a significant flaw: when shifting to a defensive risk posture, they blindly dump the portfolio into bonds (mostly US Treasuries) regardless […]
Inflation and Stock/Treasury Correlation
There has been a surge in correlation between US stocks and Treasuries over the last couple of years. To illustrate, below we’ve shown the rolling 3-year correlation between US stocks and 10-year Treasuries since 1900 (based on monthly returns). Note the spike at the far right of the chart. What is correlation? In this context, […]
Long-term Returns for US Treasury Funds Are Predictable
Long-term returns for US Treasury bond funds with a constant maturity (like IEF, TLT and SHY) have been quite predictable simply using initial Treasury yields as an estimate. This observation was popularized by John Bogle. Here’s an excellent recent look from Portfolio Optimizer. How predictable? Below we’ve shown the intial yield on 10-Year US Treasury […]
Super-Secret Proprietary Black Box Strategies
Note: This is a rare non-geeky, non-quantitative, stream of thought blog post. Because we’re so deep into this world of Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA), we’re sometimes asked for our thoughts on such-and-such black box TAA strategy. By “black box” we mean a strategy for which the trading rules are not disclosed to investors (nor to […]
Tactical Asset Allocation Performance During the 2022 Bear Market
As a whole, Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) did not manage losses during the 2022 bear market as well as it has during previous downturns. Individual strategies varied and some did well, but a primary function of TAA is loss management, and any failure to do so is worth analyzing further. In this post, we’re going […]
Testing “TrendYCMacro” from Ďurian and Vojtko of Quantpedia
This is a test of the “TrendYCMacro” strategy from the paper Avoid Equity Bear Markets with a Market Timing Strategy from Ďurian and Vojtko of Quantpedia. The strategy combines trends in price, the slope of the yield curve and key economic indicators to switch between US equities and cash. Backtested results from 1927 follow. Results […]
Revisiting “Link’s Global Growth Cycle” Strategy
We’ve previously covered Link’s Global Growth Cycle strategy, which uses OECD Composite Leading Indicator (CLI) data to time the market. The strategy has navigated the market gyrations over the last few years well, so naturally it’s gotten the attention of members. Recent strategy results follow. Learn about what we do and follow 70+ asset allocation […]