The World 'Twixt Ought To and Is
August 18, 2019·9 comments
I think the original version of this gag is from a Far Side comic in reference to Irish setters, although I’ve omitted it out of respect for Gary Larson’s wishes. Truth be told, I always felt that Old English Sheepdogs would have had a better case for “creature who looks more or less the same regardless of circumstance” than setters. I guess this is one of those things that is infinitely transferable to whatever kind of dog you had growing up.
Unless your childhood dog was a global macro portfolio manager, however, I suspect the rather monotonic flavor of their returns has puzzled you from time to time. For all its inputs, for all its data packaged together from far-flung corners of the globe, all synthesized into sensible and well-researched models, the typical macro fund’s positioning and success is heavily reliant on a small number of influential drivers and environments.
On the surface that’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless you’re paying a ton for it, which you probably are, even in 2018. After all, repeatability and persistent premia are not bugs, but features that we seek out from systematic investing. But for investors in systematic tactical strategies and global macro hedge funds, the expectation of persistent novel sources of return should be scrutinized. In a Three-Body Market, they should be doubted.
A horse having a wolf as a powerful and dangerous enemy lived in constant fear of his life. Being driven to desperation, it occurred to him to seek a strong ally. Whereupon he approached a man, and offered an alliance, pointing out that the wolf was likewise an enemy of the man. The man accepted the partnership at once and offered to kill the wolf immediately, if his new partner would only co-operate by placing his greater speed at the man’s disposal. The horse was willing, and allowed the man to place bridle and saddle upon him. The man mounted, hunted down the wolf, and killed him. The horse, joyful and relieved, thanked the man, and said: ‘Now that our enemy is dead, remove your bridle and saddle and restore my freedom.’ Whereupon the man laughed loudly and replied, ‘Never!’ and applied the spurs with a will.
— Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1951)
At their core, most macro models are central banking models and macro managers are carry investors. They willingly tied themselves to success in predicting bank actions, and in so doing had a wonderful stretch of good returns and low correlations with stocks. Now that predicting bank action will increasingly require short carry positioning, and now that betting on uncoordinated action has gotten tougher, they’re feeling the spurs. This is your choice, too: buck the rider or feel the spurs.
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