SI370: Sharpe Ratios, Tail Risks, and the Cost of Comfort ft. Nigol Koulajian & Alan Dunne

SI370: Sharpe Ratios, Tail Risks, and the Cost of Comfort ft. Nigol Koulajian & Alan Dunne

Nigol Koulajian, founder of AlphaQuest rejoins Niels and Alan for a conversation about markets shaped less by fundamentals than by perception. As political influence deepens and volatility is managed rather than discovered, traditional risk signals lose meaning. Sharpe ratios climb not through edge, but through exposure to hidden fragilities. Diversification is narrowing. And while systematic strategies continue to hold their line, the forces around them are shifting - slowly, structurally, and with consequences. This episode is about recognizing imbalance in real time, resisting the comfort of consensus, and asking whether today’s apparent stability is masking tomorrow’s risk.

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

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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 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.

Episode TimeStamps:

00:32 - Introduction to our special guest

01:57 - How did the economy end up the way it is today?

09:15 - Is it just a cycle?

19:46 - What is the end game?

23:47 - A short masterclass on skew and convexity

31:45 - How trend following has changed over time

39:18 - Should you optimize your portfolio from a short or long term perspective?

45:19 - How Nigol navigates the strong headwinds for CTAs

53:04 - Turning the risk of pod shops into opportunities

56:06 - When will we revert to a more "normal" environment?

Copyright © 2025 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

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Jaksot(901)

GM93: The Calm Before a Systemic Reckoning ft. William White

GM93: The Calm Before a Systemic Reckoning ft. William White

William White returns to assess a world edging closer to systemic stress. Drawing on decades advising central banks, he describes a macro regime defined not by temporary shocks, but by a deep reversal...

7 Tammi 1h 5min

SI381: Process Over Pain: Trend Following in an Unforgiving Market (Group Conversation Part 2)

SI381: Process Over Pain: Trend Following in an Unforgiving Market (Group Conversation Part 2)

In part two of our year-end roundtable, the Systematic Investor team goes beyond performance to ask harder questions about the path forward. Are today’s drawdowns a signal of structural change? - or j...

3 Tammi 1h 3min

IL44: From AI Hype to Transformative AGI ft. Aubrie Pagano

IL44: From AI Hype to Transformative AGI ft. Aubrie Pagano

In this Ideas Lab episode, Kevin Coldiron speaks with venture capitalist and former founder Aubrie Pagano about what stands between today’s AI hype and a truly transformative AGI economy. Rather than ...

31 Joulu 20251h 2min

SI380: Dispersion Is the Story This Year (Group Conversation Part 1)

SI380: Dispersion Is the Story This Year (Group Conversation Part 1)

Niels is joined by all 9 amazing co-hosts, to discuss a year that refused to behave. In part one of the annual "roundtable", Niels and the group map why 2025 produced such striking dispersion across t...

27 Joulu 20251h 12min

OI20: Why Commodities Refuse to Trend Forever ft. Doug King

OI20: Why Commodities Refuse to Trend Forever ft. Doug King

Moritz Siebert speaks with Doug King about what it really means to trade commodities through cycles, distortions, and stress. Drawing on decades at Cargill and more than twenty years running a commodi...

24 Joulu 202547min

SI379: The Illusion of Safety in a Fully Invested Market ft. Cem Karsan

SI379: The Illusion of Safety in a Fully Invested Market ft. Cem Karsan

Niels and Cem reflect on a year marked by concentration, confidence, and growing structural fragility beneath calm markets. They examine extreme positioning, record low cash levels, and the quiet domi...

20 Joulu 20251h 10min

GM92: Politics in an Age of Hard Borders and Rising Hegemons ft. Gary Gerstle

GM92: Politics in an Age of Hard Borders and Rising Hegemons ft. Gary Gerstle

In this conversation, the veneer of political continuity is stripped back to reveal a world drifting toward harder borders, sharper identities and a reshaping of power once thought unthinkable. Gary G...

17 Joulu 20251h 10min

SI378: When Prices Stop Making Sense ft. Mark Rzepczynski

SI378: When Prices Stop Making Sense ft. Mark Rzepczynski

This episode examines markets through the lens of uncertainty rather than prediction. As the Federal Reserve delivers a rate cut amid dissent and conflicting signals, Alan and Mark explore what it mea...

13 Joulu 20251h 2min

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