Can you be good at trading/investing in multiple asset classes?
Interested to hear if people have worked on multiple asset classes i.e. working on both l/s + macro ideas or equity + credit etc. and if that is something that can be done at a PM level.
also interested
sure, some people can...the question is..."can you?"
The way this is worded is a bit confusing; trading multiple asset classes and strategies is pretty different. You mention macro ideas, but this isn’t really an asset, generally macro funds will trade across many assets, but based on macro ideas. So yes, macro funds trade across multiple assets (and try to do it well).
Additionally quant funds will also do this, especially those more “data science” focused and less fundamental (they are looking for patterns and relationships, those can definitely be across assets).
So yes, it is definitely possible. Now as you get to more discretionary funds, single managers, or those that specialize in a strategy (I.e. L/S equity) then you don’t really get that. Someone who trades equities through deep research on earnings and understanding management and takes a few bets (as opposed to hundreds) doesn’t really have the bandwidth or expertise to invest in many assets. The skills are partially transferable but understanding a company and trying to figure out the direction gold or an FX cross will go is pretty different.
Each asset class typically has its own unique characteristics - and is analyzed and managed differently.
From what I've seen, it takes quite a bit of time to learn all the intricacies. As a result, investment professionals
usually specialize in either equities, fixed income, etc.
I think the closest I have seen is when people run what I would call macro adjacent strategies (Rates RV, Volatility RV). In those cases, people often have broader macro views / processes that inform decisions within their niche and it sometimes makes sense to express views. For Rates RV, FX is a very related market and people will sometimes express views. For Volatility-oriented strategies, Equity exposure is also very related and people sometimes allow views to flow through as well. I would imagine that within sector-level Equity L/S, the views formulation process is so niche and specific to the industry that there is not a ton of idea generation that can be applied to other assets (aside from potentially the sector credits).
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