Prior to joining HSBC in 1998, Charles was in the Army, which instilled many of the essential disciplines for successful and consistent fund management. Although Technical Analysis is normally associated with market timing and trading, in order to make it more relevant within fund management, the objectives need to be altered. Stock selection and asset allocation are more important than market timing, and Charles will argue that, contrary to popular belief, technical analysis serves the former better than the latter.

Obviously, the generation of returns above the index is needed to justify an active fund manager’s existence, and a technical fund cannot live in isolation from this fact, and hide behind absolute return or trading. Charles will discuss the investment process behind the HSBC Global Trend Fund, with insights into currency-adjusted price relative (CAPR), trend following, contrarian investing, asset allocation and risk management.