TTU139: The Benefits of Alternative Markets ft. Simon Judes, Co-CIO at Winton
Top Traders Unplugged
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
4.8 • 712 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2023
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, we are joined by Simon Judes, Co-CIO at Winton for a conversation on how they use quantitative investment strategies and statistical research to generate alpha. We discuss how the characterization of Crisis Alpha has the potential to be misleading and why the speed of your trading should be determined by your objective, their process of discovering new ideas through research and the pitfalls of relying too heavily on automation. We also discuss how they stay diversified through alternative market selection, why it is important to look beyond volatility when assessing risk and much more.
-----
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 Portfolio” here.
Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.
Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com
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.
Learn more about Winton Group.
Episode Timestamps:
02:18 - Introduction to Winton
05:05 - Their investment philosophy
09:25 - Where does opportunities arise?
10:18 - What caused them to reduce emphasis on Trend a few years ago?
13:48 - Too concerned about Sharpe?
16:39 - The value of Crisis Alpha
20:09 - Changing the trend following narrative
22:41 - What about the non-trend?
25:22 - Need for speed?
27:49 - Their research process
31:19 - Accessing big events in markets
35:00 - The pros and cons of machine learning
38:16 - Trading and selecting parameters
42:23 - The risks of CTA replication
44:57 - More markets = better?
50:09 - Staying balanced
52:23 - The strategies in a broader perspective
54:18 - Working with clients
55:22 - Their approach to risk manangement
01:00:18 - The worst possible scenario
01:01:24 - Preparing for the worst?
01:02:37 - Question about capping the ability to go long stocks
01:03:59 - How many trend followers do you need?
01:05:14 - Setting return expectations
01:07:33 - Trend following disagreements
01:11:05 - Expectations for 2023
Copyright © 2025 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved
----
PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:
1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about
In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here
2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score
One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here
3. Other Resources that can help you
And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What we're focused on is what matters and what matters original research to find new alpha sources and improve our existing ones and on risk management. |
| 0:16.0 | And those are exactly the two things you mentioned. So we've got a really exciting research department and research process, and there's a huge amount going on all the time, |
| 0:26.6 | both in our trend, in our systematic macro and across our multi-strategy hedge fund with the long-short equities and the credits as well. |
| 0:34.6 | And at the same time, you know, our approach to risk management is the |
| 0:38.9 | one I mentioned of hypervigilance and monitoring a whole array of possible scenarios and situations |
| 0:45.9 | that could come up. So that's what we think is important for 2023 and that's what we're going to |
| 0:50.5 | continue to do. Imagine spending an hour with the world's greatest traders. |
| 0:57.4 | Imagine learning from their experiences, their successes, and their failures. |
| 1:01.9 | Imagine no more. |
| 1:03.7 | Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged, the place where you can learn from the best hedge fund |
| 1:08.6 | managers in the world so you can take your manager, |
| 1:11.4 | due diligence, or investment career to the next level. |
| 1:14.6 | Before we begin today's conversation, remember to keep two things in mind. |
| 1:18.6 | All the discussion we'll have about investment performance is about the past, and past |
| 1:22.7 | performance does not guarantee or even infer anything about future performance. |
| 1:27.3 | Also understand that there's a significant risk of financial loss with all investment strategies, |
| 1:31.5 | and you need to request and understand the specific risks from the investment manager about their product |
| 1:37.0 | before you make investment decisions. |
| 1:39.4 | Here's your host, veteran hedge fund manager, Niels Kostrup Larson. |
| 2:01.8 | Hey everyone, and welcome to another edition of Top Traders on Plot, where today, Alan Don and I are joined by Simon Jude, co-chief investment officer at Winton, as part of our miniseries focusing on the one investment strategy that beat everything else in 2022, |
| 2:04.4 | namely trend following and manage futures more broadly. |
| 2:08.1 | First off, Simon, it is really great to have you on the podcast. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
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 2026.