Multi-strategy Portfolio Design Approach

How should investors think about combining strategies into a broader portfolio that reliably exploits their interactions over time? In the March 2020 version of his paper entitled “Preferred Portfolios: An Improved Blueprint to Construct Multi Strategy Portfolios”, Lars Kestner discusses how to combine individual strategies into a portfolio that performs robustly out-of-sample base on five principles. His objective is to sift data with a systematic process, find small edges and fit them together into a reliable combination of return streams that in aggregate perform well under almost all market conditions. His process employs two sets of building blocks: (1) diverse quantitative strategies clustered into four categories; and, (2) nine asset markets/classes. Based on theoretical considerations and his experience as an investment manager, he concludes that:

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