Interview – Simone Haslinger & Chris Gosselin, Fund Monitors
In this interview with FundMonitors.com CEO Chris Gosselin, ECCM’s CEO Simone Haslinger discusses a standout FY26, the mega trends behind it, and why systematic trend following helps investors manage behavioural bias.
Key Discussion Points:
- An Extraordinary FY26: ECCM’s Systematic Trend Fund was the top performing fund of the Alternatives peer review for FY26 and top three or four in its peer group over three and five years.
- Riding the Mega Trends: How the fund captured gains through precious metals in the first half of the financial year, an AI-led equities rally, and energy exposure as the Iran-US conflict escalated.
- Managing Volatility: Not every trend plays out. Simone points to the KOSPI’s sharp pullback in July after a strong prior quarter as a reminder that mega trends still carry real volatility that needs careful risk management.
- Behavioural Finance and the “Experience Effect”: Drawing on research by Ulrike Malmendier, Simone explains how investors’ decisions are shaped more by what they’ve personally lived through than by data. This is why a systematic, unemotional approach to trading bull and bear markets provides a genuine edge.
- True Diversification: Why many alternative assets like venture capital, private equity, and private credit still share the same return drivers as equities and bonds under stress. ECCM’s 90+ market futures universe is deliberately skewed toward commodities, which draw on very different drivers like weather and geopolitics.
Why It Matters for Investors
With equity valuations feeling full and geopolitical and inflationary pressures building, more investors are asking whether their portfolios are truly diversified. This interview explains why genuine diversification means finding different return drivers, not just different asset names.
You can watch or listen to the full interview here: