Top Traders Unplugged

“You have to be an optimist in this business to survive, you have to bring an original point of view, why you want to do it in a certain way and you need to be able to explain to people in a way that makes sense to them why you are doing what you are doing” On today’s show I am talking to Tushar Chande, Co-Founder and Head of Research at Rho Asset Management.  Tushar is also the author of a number of books on the topic of how to design rule based trading systems as well as having been actively trading these systems for more than 20 years. Thank you for visiting, now let's get to the interview with Tushar Chande. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why the random nature of the markets attracted Tushar to develop systems for trading these markets Background information on Rho Asset Management and it's philosophy How Tushar utilizes behaviors of discretionary traders to make estimates of conviction about their individual trades How Rho has designed it's Altius Program to offer meaningful protection when equity markets go down "We try to automate all the immediate trading tasks and processes so that we can have tremendous control, consistency and disciplined action at all times." What to be aware of when exploring an Asset Manager's performance over a 20 year period Offense/Defense Ratio, What it means and How to use it to Measure the quality of systems design "We've mostly gone with break out style systems as opposed to a moving average cross over type systems." How Rho's models have been designed in order to achieve the overall objective of the Program What Trend Following Indicators are used for and why Exploring the volatility of the equity curve The input data needed to run the the Altius Program, the time it takes and when they run the model "The core advantage of having a CTA in your portfolio is to be able to offset significant declines in the equity and bond markets." Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode: Beyond Technical Analysis by Dr. Tushar Chande Learn about the Rho Trend Barometer: Hedge Fund Journal - Rho Trend Barometer Explained (PDF download) "And all the rules are automated so in terms of day to day we don't really have to think because that's all taken care of" Sponsored by Swiss Financial Services and Saxo Bank: Connect with Rho Asset Management: Visit the Website: Rho Asset Management E-Mail Rho Asset Management: investor@rhoam.ch

"Why is what you're doing going to continue into the future similar to what you're showing me that you've done in the past?" In this episode we continue our conversation with the founder and CEO of Brandywine Asset Management and discuss the aspects of what makes his rule based asset management style so successful. This is episode 004 with, Mike Dever. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Continuing the Conversation around why Trend Following can be more difficult Describing Disparate Return Drivers How Brandywine Assets Management actually implements the decisions of their trading model "I wasn't fully joking when I said that the downside is I could have owned a professional baseball team today." Why Position Sizing and Risk Management Principles are Everything How position sizes are managed across various Return Drivers Why Sharpe Ratio is a meaningless measure on it's own. It doesn't give you any idea on predictability of returns. The professional traders approach to the emotional challenges of drawdown. "I think that's the point. We have to accept that nothing is perfect and we make mistakes. We learn from them. We move forward." Managing regulation challenges The environment of marketing trend following strategies to investors What it takes to become a great trader today Who Mike started out aspiring to be like If Mike has any personal habits that contribute to his success "I'm kind of pretty normal and regular for the most part I guess." Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode: Jackass Investing by Mike Dever Learn about Dick Donchian the Grandfather of Trend Following Connect with Brandywine or learn more about them Learn about Poul Tudor Jones of Robin Hood Foundation Learn about John W. Henry Sponsored by Swiss Financial Services and Saxo Bank: Connect with Brandywine: Visit the Website: www.brandywine.com Call Brandywine: +1 630 361 1000 E-Mail Mike Directly: Mike@brandywine.com

"They were asking...How do we achieve the most optimal performance? And they got that. But the question that they should have been asking was...How do I get the most predictable performance? - Nothing else matters."

"Research and implementation are, by far, the core of our business."

"It's not about how much money you manage in this business, it's about the quality. Can you deliver returns for your investors? If the quality is not there, the quantity will never come."