meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Top Traders Unplugged

ALO30: The Quiet Rewire of Portfolio Construction ft. Cian Walsh

Top Traders Unplugged

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen

Business, Business News, Investing, News

4.8670 Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cian Walsh, Head of Hedge Funds and Private Debt at Formue, joins Alan Dunne to explore what it means to allocate capital when the macro regime, client expectations, and the structure of markets are all in flux. He explains why the 60/40 model obscures more than it reveals, how he is adapting institutional frameworks for thousands of private clients, and what changes when you view hedge funds not as a bucket, but as a function. From the discipline of sizing trend in a sideways regime to the slow shift from vintage private credit to evergreen, this is a conversation about building portfolios that can hold together when the ground moves.

-----

50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE

-----


Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfoliohere.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Follow Alan on Twitter.

Follow Cian on LinkedIn.

Episode TimeStamps:

02:12 - Introduction to Cian Walsh

05:30 - How does institutional asset allocation stand out?

06:39 - Asset allocation in a shifting regime

09:33 - A move towards mass customization

10:26 - The 60/40 portfolio is dying - what is next?

13:28 - The challenges of implementing a total portfolio approach

17:16 - Dealing with underperforming strategies

20:09 - More growth or more all-weather?

23:30 - Why Walsh believes in systematic trading

28:51 - Do Walsh hold any long volatility strategies?

30:04 - Walsh's process for selecting managers

36:55...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's very much a credit-focused investment mindset about not making mistakes, being sufficiently

0:15.8

diversified and putting together a robust portfolio that's going to generate income over time.

0:22.8

So there is a convergence there which we need to be aware of.

0:27.2

I think that's the right approach.

0:29.2

You're getting an extra element of diversification there as well.

0:34.6

Imagine spending an hour with the world's greatest traders.

0:38.3

Imagine learning from their experiences, their successes, and their failures.

0:42.3

Imagine no more.

0:44.3

Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged, the place where you can learn from the best hedge fund managers in the world,

0:50.3

so you can take your manager, due diligence, or investment career to the next level.

0:55.5

Before we begin today's conversation, remember to keep two things in mind.

0:59.5

All the discussion we'll have about investment performance is about the past, and past

1:03.7

performance does not guarantee or even infer anything about future performance.

1:08.2

Also understand that there's a significant risk of financial loss with all

1:11.5

investment strategies, and you need to request and understand the specific risks from the investment

1:16.6

manager about their product before you make investment decisions. Here's your host, veteran hedge fund

1:22.3

manager, Nealz Kostrup Larson.

1:37.2

Welcome and welcome back to another conversation in our series of episodes that focuses on markets and investing from a global macro perspective.

1:45.2

This is a series that I not only find incredibly interesting as well as intellectually challenging, but also very important,

1:50.3

given where we are in the global economy and the geopolitical cycle.

1:55.3

We want to dig deep into the minds of some of the most prominent experts to help us better understand what this new global macro-driven world may look like.

1:59.6

We want to explore their perspectives on a host of game-changing issues

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Niels Kaastrup-Larsen and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.