Today, we examine a year that looked chaotic but felt familiar to trend followers. Gold surged, equities rotated globally, and non-US markets quietly gained momentum. Yet beneath strong returns lies a deeper debate about model design, short versus long horizon signals, and whether innovation in liquid alternatives serves investors or sales desks. From AI disruption to product engineering and allocator behavior, this episode explores where systematic strategies truly create value and where structural incentives distort outcomes. In a changing macro regime, clarity of purpose may matter more than ever.

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Episode TimeStamps:

00:00 - Introducing the Systematic Investor series

01:17 - AI disruption and systematic investing

06:52 - The shifting perception of US risk

09:21 - Winter Olympics and market metaphors

12:59 - Hedge funds versus private equity

19:23 - 2025 review and the importance of risk allocation

22:17 - Why CTAs did not fully capture gold

29:48 - Short term versus long term trend models

35:27 - Letting risk run versus investor palatability

44:43 - The problem with liquid alternatives

51:21 - Product design versus fiduciary duty

59:06 - QIS, innovation and investor sophistication

01:04:41 - Model risk and the myth of risk premia

01:10:51 - Hopes for a trending year ahead