In this episode of Excess Returns, Matt Zeigler and Jason Buck sit down with Eric Crittenden, CIO of Standpoint Funds, for a wide-ranging and candid discussion about trend following, risk transfer markets, and what it takes to build a resilient investment strategy for uncertain futures. Eric shares decades of hard-won insights on investor behavior, portfolio construction, performance pain points, and why blending passive equities with systematic macro might just be the future of asset allocation.

🔍 Topics Covered:

• The uncomfortable realities of trend following performance
• Why many investors misunderstand managed futures
• Eric’s view on the current drawdown and client behavior
• Setting expectations with empirical data and simulations
• The case for blending passive equities with trend following
• Capital formation vs. risk transfer markets explained
• What market participants get wrong about futures
• The surprising resilience of cap-weighted equity indexes
• The flaws in relying on bonds as diversifiers
• How regime shifts and correlation changes affect trend models
• Philosophical take on risk, regulation, and structural market design