Key Takeaways
- • Episode 426 of the Top Traders Unplugged podcast, dated 14 November 2026, features Alan Dunne with guest Yoav Git examining the trade-offs in building a resilient CTA (commodity trading advisor) portfolio.
- • The discussion centers on why trend-following strategies can respond slowly to market shocks, and whether this reflects a flaw in the strategy or a misunderstanding of what portfolio protection means.
- • Topics include the role of bonds and commodities, fast versus slow trend following, return convexity versus exposure convexity, and crisis protection sources.
- • The episode addresses whether a CTA allocation can survive both the next crisis and extended periods of underperformance between crises.
- • Segments also cover inflation, commodity trend, stagflation research, and the risk of chasing trend-following performance.
Summary
Episode 426 of the Top Traders Unplugged podcast, released 14 November 2026, features Alan Dunne in conversation with Yoav Git, with host Niels absent. The episode, titled "The Hard Part Isn't Buying Trend Following," focuses on the practical challenges institutional investors face when allocating to CTA strategies.
The central question is whether the slow response of trend-following strategies during sharp market reversals represents a structural flaw or a misunderstanding of what protection should mean for a portfolio. According to the episode description, the guests explore how different strategies respond to crises in fundamentally different ways, from sudden crashes to prolonged inflationary shocks, and why the timing of those responses can matter as much as the returns themselves.
The discussion covers three distinct reasons to include CTAs in a portfolio, the meaning of convexity for investors, and the distinction between return convexity and exposure convexity. The guests also examine how CTA exposure to bonds and equities behaves differently, where crisis protection actually originates within trend following, and how allocations can be tailored to different portfolio objectives.
Later segments address inflation, commodity trend, and the future role of AI, along with stagflation research and the limits of historical data. The episode closes with considerations for building a CTA portfolio aimed at either alpha generation or crisis protection, and a discussion of why chasing trend-following performance can backfire.
The episode is a discussion-format podcast; no specific fund flows, AUM figures, or performance numbers are cited in the source material.
The central question is whether the slow response of trend-following strategies during sharp market reversals represents a structural flaw or a misunderstanding of what protection should mean for a portfolio. According to the episode description, the guests explore how different strategies respond to crises in fundamentally different ways, from sudden crashes to prolonged inflationary shocks, and why the timing of those responses can matter as much as the returns themselves.
The discussion covers three distinct reasons to include CTAs in a portfolio, the meaning of convexity for investors, and the distinction between return convexity and exposure convexity. The guests also examine how CTA exposure to bonds and equities behaves differently, where crisis protection actually originates within trend following, and how allocations can be tailored to different portfolio objectives.
Later segments address inflation, commodity trend, and the future role of AI, along with stagflation research and the limits of historical data. The episode closes with considerations for building a CTA portfolio aimed at either alpha generation or crisis protection, and a discussion of why chasing trend-following performance can backfire.
The episode is a discussion-format podcast; no specific fund flows, AUM figures, or performance numbers are cited in the source material.
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