Category Archives: Playing with Words

Absolute Return vs. Relative Return

April 14, 2015 By in Absolute Return, Absolute Return Fund, Absolute Return Investing, Absolute Return Investment, Absolute Return Objective, Absolute Return Strategy, Absolute Returns, Absolute vs. Relatative Return, Absolute vs. Relative Return, Playing with Words, Relative Returns Leave a comment

Absolute Return investment manager fund

Absolute: viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative.

Relative: considered in relation or in proportion to something else.

Return: to go or come back, as to a former place, position, or state.

Oops… we don’t want to “return” do we?

Rate of Return: The gain or loss on an investment over a specified period.

So, an Absolute Rate of Return: is the the gain or loss viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative.

Many people seem to have a problem with what I call “relativity“. For example, they love their home, until someone builds a larger and nicer one across the street. Or, they love their car, until their friend drives up in one that seems even better.

You can probably see how these simple words and their meaning leads to many issues people deal with.

To see an absolute return program applied in real life, visit: http://www.asymmetrymanagedaccounts.com/global-tactical/

The Holiday Party: Mindset of the Active Risk Manager

December 25, 2014 By in Actively Manage Risk, Adapting to Change, Asymmetric Observation, Asymmetric Payoff, Asymmetric Risk, Asymmetric Risk Reward, Asymmetric Thinking, Critical Thinking, Playing with Words, Risk Asymmetry Leave a comment

holiday parties

I keep hearing of symptoms of this awful virus going around. I’ll spare you of the details, but it involves both ends around the porcelain bowl. We’ve all been there, done that, and probably consider it a “bad outcome”.

Then, we have all these holiday party plans to spend time with friends and family, knowing this ‘bug’ is contagious and spreading. Hearing about it, the natural mindset of the active risk manager is to ask:

“Has anyone at the party had the flu recently?”

You wonder if you’re entering into a high risk of a bad outcome. Most people may not even consider it, and it’s those people who will probably be there spreading it around! I know people who never consider the possibility of a bad outcome; they tend to be the ones who have the worst outcomes, more often. Others may be overly afraid of things that may never happen, so they miss out on life. Some even worry about things they fear so much they experience those things, even when they don’t happen.

The active risk manager internally thinks of risk.

Let’s first use the dictionary to better understand the meaning of “active”:

1. engaged in action; characterized by energetic work, participation, etc.; busy: an active life.

2. being in a state of existence, progress, or motion:

3. involving physical effort and action :active sports.

4. having the power of quick motion; nimble: active as a gazelle.

5. characterized by action, motion, volume, use, participation, etc.

So, let’s say that to be active is to be engaged in action, participate, an active life, progress, nimble, motion, and even a state of existence.

Risk is exposure to the possibility of a bad outcome. When we are speaking of money, risk is the exposure to the possibility of loss. If we incur a loss, that isn’t a risk, that’s an actual loss. Some people believe that uncertainty is risk, but we always have uncertainty. So, risk is the exposure to a chance or possibility of loss. It’s the exposure that is the risk, the chance or possibility is always there. So, your risk of loss is your choice. We decide it in advance.

To manage is to take charge of, handle, direct, govern, or control through action.

A bad outcome in money management may be losing money, or in life it may be anything we perceive as unwanted. We can’t be certain about an outcome. Uncertainty is something we live with every day and in all things, so we may as well embrace it and enjoy not knowing the outcome of things in advance. So, risk is the exposure to a chance or possibility of loss. It’s the exposure that is the risk, the chance or possibility is always there. So, your risk of loss is your choice. We decide it in advance.

So, an active risk manager, like me, is someone who engages in the action of actively and intentionally directing and controlling the exposure to a bad outcome. Because I actively management my risks, I am able to trade and invest in things other people perceive as risky, but they aren’t to me because I define my risk exposure and control it. Because active risk management is not only a learned skill I have advanced for myself but also something that is a natural part of me and who I am, I am also able to live my life enjoying and even embracing change and uncertainty. Yet, I do that initially and naturally thinking of what my risk is. Once I understand my risk, I manage it, and then accept it for what I’ve decided it will be, and then I let it all unfold as it will. I control what I can and let the rest do what it’s going to do.

You see, it’s also a big risk to not experience life. Studies show that happiness is more driven by new experiences than any other thing. Hedonic Adaptation means that we tend to get used to things and adapt, good or bad. Broadening our horizons makes and keeps us happy, doing the same old things leads to a dull and less happy life. Much of our happiness comes from new experiences and change, because we get used to even the finest and fastest new car and eventually it becomes our new normal.

Although I feel a strong obligation to keep myself well, I’m not going to miss spending time with people I enjoy. Instead, I’ll take my chances and deal with, and actively manage, any bad outcome that arises from it. So, consider your risks, then get out there and enjoy yourself with new experiences. Even if you get sick for a few days, that too shall eventually pass.

Merry Christmas!

Asymmetrical Risk Definition and Symmetry: Do you Really Want Balance?

November 15, 2014 By in Actively Manage Risk, Asymmetric Hedging, Asymmetric Investment Returns, Asymmetric Observation, Asymmetric Payoff, Asymmetric Risk, Asymmetric Thinking, Playing with Words, Risk Asymmetry, Symmetry Leave a comment

Asymmetric is imbalance, uneven, or not the same on both sides.

Risk is the possibility of losing something of value, or a bad outcome. The risk is the chance or potential for a loss, not the loss itself. Once we have a loss, the risk has shifted beyond a possibility to a real loss. The investment or position itself isn’t the risk either, risk is the possibility we may lose money in how we manage and deal with it.

Asymmetrical Risk, then, is the potential for gains and losses on an investment or trade are uneven.

When I speak of asymmetric risk, I may also refer to the probability for gains and losses that are imbalanced, for those of us who can determine probability. If the probability of losing something or a bad outcome is asymmetric, it means the risk isn’t the same as the reward.

Asymmetric risk can also refer to the outcome for profits and losses that are imbalanced, after we have sold a position, asset, or investment.

Some examples:

If we risk $10, but earn $10, the risk was symmetrical.

  • We risked $10
  • We earned $10 – we just broke even (symmetry).

Symmetry is the outcome when you balance risk and reward.

If we risk $10, but earn $20, the risk was positively asymmetric.

  • We risked $10
  • We earned $20

If we risk $10, but lose $10, the risk was symmetrical.

  • We risked $10
  • We lost $10 – we lost the same as we risked.

If we risk $10, but lose $20, the risk was an asymmetric risk.

  • We risked $10
  • We lost $20 – we lost even more than we though we risked.

Strangely, I often hear investment advisers say they want to balance risk and reward through their asset allocation.

Do you?

It was when I noticed my objective of imbalancing profit and loss, risk and reward, was so different from others that I knew I have a unique understanding and perception of the math and I could apply it to portfolio management.

You can probably see how some investors earn gains for years, then lose those gains in the following years, then earn gains again, then lose them again.

That’s a result of symmetry and its uncontrolled asymmetrical risk.

You can probably see why my focus is ASYMMETRY® so deeply that the word is my trademark.

Academic: not of practical relevance; of only theoretical interest.

February 21, 2014 By in Critical Thinking, Independent Thinking, Playing with Words Leave a comment

Professors at colleges and universities are often called “Academics”. Much of their job is to write and publish “academic research papers”. It is no wonder you can find such a paper on most any topic. Investment management is a popular topic and it seems we see observe more and more such papers being cited and talked about.

Someone was telling me a story recently about the unethical use of the power of persuasion and influence. It reminded me how academic research is sometimes used to mislead people. For example, I read a book a few years ago that was supposedly in pursuit of finding alpha, but the entire book cited hundreds of academic studies promoting a passive asset allocation strategy. Yet, there wasn’t a single mention of the word “momentum” in the book, even thought there are over 300 academic papers that discovered alpha applying simple momentum/relative strength strategies. Momentum has even dis-proven the “Efficient Market Hypothesis”, but promoters of EMH call it an “anomaly” they can’t explain. I found the book misleading because of its title and content was conflicted – and it left out the one thing that even academics have found alpha.

I am often asked for my opinion about some of their research. I spend every day working on my edge. In addition to constant exploring and proprietary studies, I monitor and read many of the academic papers being published on topics I have interest and expertise, such as trend following, behavior finance (investor/trading psychology), volatility trading, global macro trading. I especially read studies about constructing trades with options and applying momentum. While some of these papers are worth reading and some even excellent, most of them seem to lack real world experience for application.

We have to consider that many of the people writing an academic paper don’t have any meaningful actual experience doing what they are writing about, so the studies are theoretical, conceptual, notional, philosophical, hypothetical, speculative, conjectural, and suppositional.

You may find it interesting that I found all those synonyms by looking up “academic” on Wikipedia. I thought it was interesting that their second definition of “academic” is “not of practical relevance; of only theoretical interest.”

academic stock market research dfa

As we think independently and critically about the world and our quests, we may keep this in mind as we read and cite academic research. That is in fact a function of being a good scholar and researcher, whether you do it for profit, or not. You may consider that it’s what you may be wrong about, or what you are missing, that should be your primary concern.