Benzinga Highlights Turtle Trading & Blueprint ETF PM Jerry Parker
December 18, 2023
Jerry Parker, legendary Turtle Trader and Portfolio Manager of the Blueprint Chesapeake Multi-Asset Trend ETF (ticker: TFPN), was featured in a Benzinga article about the 1983 Turtle Trader experiment. The article provides background information about Richard Dennis’ trading experiment and highlights Turtles, like Parker, who went on to have successful careers in the investment industry.
Below are some excerpts from the full article.
Democratizing Trading with a Systematic Investing Process
“But what about skills that don’t involve physical gifts? Are poker players better if they’re descendants of past card sharks? Do successful stock traders raise future stock gurus? That’s the question C&D Commodities Inc. Co-Founder Richard Dennis sought to answer with his Turtle Trader experiment.
Known as the Prince of the Pit, Dennis made a wager with a fellow investment professional that trading wasn’t an inherent trait but a skill a professional could teach. His partner William Eckhardt believed that trading was something only certain people could master. The bet? Dennis would train a collection of inexperienced traders about trend following and provide them with a rules-based system to foment success. And, of course, Dennis chose a nickname for his group of prop trading students: the Turtle Traders.”
Key Tenets of Trend Following
“Some of Dennis’s critical insights included:
- The trend is your friend: Turtles were taught to follow momentum to the upside and downside. If a breakout occurs, traders should ride the wave up. When momentum fades, traders can bet on a downside reversal.
- Position sizing: Timing on trades always matters but so does the amount of capital at risk. Dennis emphasized larger trades when markets are steady and smaller trades when volatility reigns. Maximum position size should never exceed 2% of the total account value.
- Have an exit plan: Turtles were instructed only to enter a position if they knew the parameters of their eventual exit. Before initiating a position, traders should have profit goals and understand the maximum loss they’re willing to endure.”
About Blueprint Fund Management
Blueprint Fund Management designs, distributes, and manages systematic, process-driven, and transparent investment strategies for financial advisors and institutions. The firm aims to make trend following strategies highly accessible to advisors by offering and sub-advising investing strategies that are available as a mutual fund or ETF. Across the product offering, the firm applies a rules-based approach to both asset class and time diversification, instilling discipline and removing human bias during emotionally charged market environments.
About Chesapeake Capital Corporation
Chesapeake Capital Corporation is an innovative provider of systematic alternative investment solutions, including a limited partnership, separately managed accounts, and mutual funds. The firm was founded in 1988 by legendary Turtle Trader Jerry Parker, who continues to serve as the Chairman and CEO. The firm’s consistent, single-minded approach to managing client capital is trend following, and its client base includes private and institutional investors worldwide.