What Makes Brandywine Unique

Originally published in the Brandywine Asset Management Monthly Report.

Enhance Returns and Reduce Risk

0.06 . . .
That is the (non) correlation of monthly returns of the BTOP 50 managed futures index to Brandywine’s Symphony Program.

0.19 . . .
That is the (non) correlation of monthly returns of the S&P 500 total return index to Brandywine’s Symphony Program.

Comparisons to other investment indexes, such as bonds, hedge funds or REITS show a similar characteristic. Put simply, Brandywine’s Symphony Program produces performance that is uncorrelated to virtually all other investments. This low correlation means that adding Brandywine to a portfolio of CTAs, stocks, bonds, hedge funds or most any other investment will both enhance returns and reduce risk.

What Makes Brandywine Unique
From the start, we have stressed how Brandywine’s return driver based investment methodology would produce uncorrelated returns. Investors understood that when they compared our diversified, multi-strategy approach to the “traditional” investments such as stocks and bonds, whose returns are dominated by just one or two return drivers. But because Brandywine is registered as a CTA, and trades pursuant to a systematic, diversified approach, many assumed we would be correlated to trend following CTAs.

It has become unmistakable that Brandywine’s Symphony Program is also unique among CTAs. A clear distinction is that we produce uncorrelated returns while trading systematically across a globally-diversified portfolio. Other uncorrelated CTAs achieve their non-correlation either by using discretion in their approach, focusing on specific markets, sectors or strategies (such as only employing short-term trading), or selling option premium. In contrast, Brandywine’s diversification value to a portfolio comes from our use of dozens of distinct return drivers, not a specialized focus or use of day-to-day discretion. Although we are required to state that past performance is not indicative of future performance, we believe that this diversity of strategies and markets produces more consistent, sustainable and predictable returns than the other methods used to produce uncorrelated results.

What’s perhaps even more interesting is that Brandywine’s various trading strategies are even uncorrelated with each other. The average correlation of monthly returns of each of Brandywine’s strategies to the others in our portfolio is 0.00.

What this means is that by including Brandywine’s Symphony Program in a portfolio of CTAs, we can both increase overall returns and reduce risk. For example, during the period when the BTOP 50 index suffered a sustained 5% drawdown from the start of Brandywine’s trading in 2011 through September 2013, Brandywine’s Symphony Program gained more than 8%.

Brandywine provides the same diversification value to equity investors. Although the S&P 500 has been on a tear since Brandywine’s Symphony Program began trading in 2011, the S&P 500 did suffer one significant losing period during the third quarter of 2011. During that period, while the S&P 500 fell more than 18%, Brandywine gained more than 6%.

We look forward to showing you how including Brandywine in your portfolio can enhance returns and reduce potential risk. The time to add Brandywine is now, while other investments are hitting new highs in performance.

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