Speakers

Charlie will discuss his thoughts on the strategic and tactical allocation to gold. There are six strategies, of which five could be described as technical. He will give an applied example (in this case gold) how a flexible model can be constructed using a range of different parameters. The aim is to identify a bull market with longer term models and then position size using tactical models. The final result is an efficient portfolio with a strong attention to risk and reward without over trading. Not one model analyses the gold price in dollars.

Charlie last spoke to the STA 2007 about relative strength. At that time, his equity fund had returned 30% in 2007, which was 20% ahead of the market with lower volatility. In 2008, however, the reverse occurred and momentum strategies had their worst year in a generation. Charlie will discuss his experiences; his past successes and failures, with the intent to help the audience better understand the strengths and weaknesses of technical analysis. He will also explain his “five styles” investment process whereby each style requires an entirely different investment approach. Whilst two styles embrace technicals, one is agnostic and the other two shun it.

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.