SI399: AI, Inflation and the Portfolio That Refuses to Sit Still ft. Alan Dunne
Top Traders Unplugged
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
4.8 • 712 Ratings
🗓️ 9 May 2026
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, Niels and Alan examine a market shaped by two forces pulling in opposite directions: AI’s promise of higher productivity and the inflationary pressure of geopolitical stress. From distorted economic data and shifting rate expectations to energy shocks, fiscal pressure, and the changing role of trend following, this conversation explores why traditional portfolios may need more flexibility than they once did. Alan also shares a world exclusive on the launch of his Regime Adaptive Fund, built around the idea that portfolios should not simply sit through changing regimes, but adjust as markets, inflation, and correlations evolve. A timely discussion on risk, resilience, and the limits of old playbooks.
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50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE
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Episode TimeStamps:
00:00 - Introduction to Top Traders Unplugged
00:36 - Niels welcomes Alan Dunne back to the Systematic Investor Series
01:31 - How AI is distorting economic data, earnings, and construction trends
06:13 - UK council elections, Reform UK, and pressure on political assumptions
09:00 - Trend following update and the shift in fixed income exposure
13:35 - Why recent macro shocks have created a favorable backdrop for trend followers
16:45 - AI, Iran, and the collision between positive and negative supply shocks
26:22 - Graham Capital’s research on macro performance across monetary regimes
37:09 - AQR’s view on multi-asset portfolios, trend following, and inflation risk
46:07 - Why diversification still comes with discomfort
51:26 - Should trend following trade equities when stacked on equities?
56:38 - Alan reveals the launch of the Regime Adaptive Fund
01:05:42 - Equity market strength, hidden risks, and portfolio construction today
01:08:46 - Closing thoughts and upcoming episode preview
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged. |
| 0:03.0 | In markets, success doesn't come from predicting what happens next. |
| 0:08.0 | It comes from being prepared for what you can't predict. |
| 0:11.0 | In each episode, we go deep with some of the world's most thoughtful minds in investing, economics, and beyond |
| 0:18.0 | to understand how they think, how they prepare, and how they decide, and the |
| 0:22.3 | experiences that shaped how they see the world. |
| 0:25.4 | No noise, no shortcuts, just real conversations to help you think better and invest with confidence. |
| 0:35.6 | Welcome and welcome back to this week's edition of the Systematic Investor Series |
| 0:39.2 | with Alan Don and I, Neil's Castor Blasen, where each week we take the pulse of the global |
| 0:43.1 | market through the lens of a rules-based investor. |
| 0:46.1 | Alan, it is wonderful to be back with you this week. |
| 0:49.3 | I hope you're doing well. |
| 0:50.1 | I see you dress well for the occasion. |
| 0:52.3 | Yes, delighted to be supporting the tough traders unblugged Gilles. |
| 0:56.4 | So thanks very much for that. |
| 0:57.8 | Not wearing it more broadly outside the home office yet, |
| 1:01.9 | but maybe we'll be brave enough to do that in time. |
| 1:05.3 | Yes, no, absolutely. |
| 1:06.9 | We got a very solid lineup. |
| 1:09.5 | Thanks very much to you. |
| 1:11.6 | We're going to be tackling a few new topics as well as a world exclusive, if I'm not mistaking. |
| 1:19.6 | So before we dive into any of that, as you know by now, I love to hear what's kind of been on your radar, what's called your attention in the last few weeks maybe. |
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