Absolute returns and the search for alpha

What strategies are best for investors?

The term 'absolute returns', means different things to different investors, writes Abhi Chatterjee, head of asset and risk modelling at Dynamic Planner.

To some, it has come to reflect an asset class by itself.  To others, it represents a strategy of managing money.   However, mostly it is considered to be one thing above all - a decorrelated source of returns, which delivers irrespective of market direction. This has always been the holy grail of the asset management industry - the production of a sustainable or consistently deliverable 'alpha', as this outperformance is technically called. Market Movers Blog: Trade war to cost global economy $600bn - reports What we would ideally like from an absolute return strategy is a p...