Covestor manager John French has worked in the IT industry for more than 20 years. Prior to that, he worked in Corporate Finance. His career has taught him the value of data consistency, regression testing, establishing rules and procedures, and change management, which he now believes are pivotal to managing financial models.
French describes his investment style as such:
My investment style has evolved into one of trading exclusively via timing models. I have subscribed to a number of “Black Boxes” but ultimately am most happy when “eating my own cooking.” Using sound, well-established strategies and techniques within a formalized structure, I aim to achieve strong CAGR while keeping drawdowns low. Minimizing drawdowns is my top priority, as I am only too aware that the emotional pain of large drawdowns can derail even the most disciplined of investors.
He began investing like many others: on the basis of hunches. Unfortunately, this is not the best strategy and he had a rough time in the dot com bust.
Thereafter I became more and more interested in learning about alternatives to supposed value investing and “Buy and Hold.” I educated myself in technical analysis and market timing and concluded that it was possible to beat the market using patience, discipline and rigorously designed timing models.
French manages Covestor’s Mutual Fund Killer model which is a timing model that uses a small number of standard technical analysis indicators. It aims to outperform the typical broad equity mutual fund by producing higher returns for less risk.
