QCM NexusOne Insight # 3
March 2025
Aref Karim - Ershadul Haq - Raami Karim
STAYING IN THE GAME
LONGEVITY IS THE PATH TO COMPOUNDING
Ability to Endure
Most investors focus on returns. But the real test of any investment approach is not just how well it performs in the good times. It is whether it survives the difficult ones. Return only matters if you are still in the game to earn it. Markets test conviction and volatility is rarely smooth. Drawdowns feel deeper when they are real. When discomfort turns into doubt, investors are often pushed out of positions or entire strategies and at precisely the wrong time. This is why the true edge of any systematic approach is not just its model or alpha engine. It is its ability to endure.
What does it Mean?
Staying in the game does not mean avoiding losses altogether. It means staying invested and operationally intact through cycles without being derailed by volatility, regime shifts, or emotional exits.
In practical terms, it means:
- Avoiding catastrophic drawdowns
- Preserving capital in the face of adverse conditions
- Designing the system to be robust under pressure
Importantly, it is not about being right all the time. It is about being positioned consistently and thoughtfully, so that when the environment shifts in your favour, you are still standing.
Designing for Durability
At the heart of any resilient macro strategy is one central principle: do not overpromise precision but design for persistence. That requires more than just clever signals. It means constructing a portfolio that can operate across a wide range of market conditions, including those where traditional diversification fails.
A durable system is built with:
- Structural diversification –assets, geographies, timeframes, and return drivers
- Adaptive exposure – adjusting position size to match volatility or risk conditions
- Behavioural protection – so investors do not abandon at first sign of discomfort
The goal is not to impress during a single quarter. It is to survive the full cycle.
Why Robustness Beats Brilliance
In discretionary investing, conviction often comes from confidence in an idea. In systematic macro, it comes from confidence in the process. We accept that no signal works all the time. We expect to be wrong frequently, but we also expect those errors to be small, contained, and statistically offset by stronger, more persistent patterns that eventually emerge.
That is why the emphasis is on repeatability over brilliance. A system that performs well across multiple regimes, even if unremarkably, often beats one that shines only in narrow conditions.
NexusOne Insight: Staying in The Game
At QCM, we have designed everything around the principle to keep us and our investors in the game.
By combining diversified signals across timeframes with adaptive risk overlays, the NexusOne philosophy does not rely on any single market view or directional bet. Instead, it continuously reallocates capital based on evolving conditions, while ensuring the system remains grounded in risk discipline.
We are not chasing the top performer. We are building a resilient, risk-aware engine that is always engaged, always watching and not being caught off guard by the next shift in the weather
In our business, longevity is the real measure of our strength.