The Macro Book

Idea Generation - Unconventional Sources

As announced last week, I will publish a series of articles about PAMB (Paper Alfa Macro Book). This will encompass all relevant elements of a full investment process. We will cover the following important stages.

1. Idea Generation

2. Idea Structuring

3. Risk / Sizing

4. Portfolio Construction

5. Risk Management
   

This will be fun and educational, aiming at anyone interested in all the necessary aspects to make this actionable. I will also make it interactive and provide useful tools for those interested.

Finally, we will run a portfolio of trades encompassing any available tradeable, liquid asset class. All subscribers will be able to participate in the idea generation. We can even set up a mini-investment committee to steer the portfolio. It will be, therefore, more strategic than a day-trading vehicle.

This will be available for paying subscribers only as I am steering more of my time to Paper Alfa in order to make this an excellent offering.

So, without further ado, let’s kick-start it straight from the beginning: Idea generation. This series of posts will go through the most important elements of generating investment ideas. It will include some practical tools and sources I use for my “idea engine room”. It might be a generally overlooked element of the process. I have encountered many questions over my career about how you generate ideas. If you work for a large firm, that’s relatively easy to answer. You point to all the meetings and the vast range of people in frequent contact with each other. That usually suffices. However, a more accurate answer is needed when running your own fund or portfolio. We all have access to the same data. What is important to your process and unique to give you an edge in coming up with profitable ideas? Where do you source your information from?

Let’s explore.