Conventional wisdom has taught us for years that an ideal portfolio should consist of of equities, bonds, property and cash. Alternative investments then reminded us that long-only is not the only (or necessarily the best) strategy for protecting and growing wealth.

Just as inconsistent stock and bond market performance is a cause for investor concern, so too are investors becoming disenchanted with alternative investments that fail to hedge against market downturns.

Rather than follow a benchmark, the Otium Trading Program systematically follows positive price movements, while at all times focussing on avoiding risk.

Our funds are designed to remove the prevailing anxieties associated with investing and provide a true investment alternative with a higher degree of certainty.

The word Otium means “Peace of Mind”, and that is precisely what Otium offers to its investors.

The cornerstones of the Otium system are:

• DISCIPLINE
• DIVERSIFICATION
• RISK CONTROL
• FUNDAMENTALS
• EFFICIENCY

DISCIPLINE
The core Otium strategy was developed by testing over 80,000 methods for measuring momentum across a diverse spread of markets and trading conditions. The systematic, disciplined approach to trading taken by Otium's managers seeks to profit from price movements in a broad range of international markets, whether they are trending upward or downward.

By following specific patterns of market behavior, Otium's regimented selection process only takes positions in securities that display certain favorable characteristics.

This approach has been shown to reduce risk and improve performance.

DIVERSIFICATION
It is common misconception that “traditional” portfolios represent diversification. Today’s ever-closer correlation between global equity and bond markets illustrates the need for a true alternative investment.

Otium tracks 200+ equity and commodity markets, and the trading program identifies the markets with the strongest trends across a broad spread of market sectors, individual stocks, geographical areas, currencies and commodities (e.g. precious metals, industrial metals, agriculturals, and other “softs”).

The Otium system operates on the premise that non-correlation of assets is positive diversification, and real diversification is the key to lower volatility and higher returns.

RISK CONTROL
Otium funds seek to capitalize on a combination of fundamental and technical analysis to achieve risk-controlled absolute returns.

Stress testing has shown that the Otium system can perform in all market conditions. By concentrating on stringent risk analysis and understanding the consequences of changing market conditions, the Otium is able to produce positive returns whilst reducing any unexpected future volatility.

FUNDAMENTALS
The Otium program uses a proprietary three-tiered selection process to invest in only those markets with the correct fundamentals.

The Otium strategy focusses initially on markets that have the strongest positive fundamentals in relation to their peers. Technical analysis then confirms the markets with the necessary fundamentals, and Otium subsequently follows those trends. This screening and selection process also eliminates markets displaying deteriorating fundamentals, and may even seek to capitalize on markets displaying continuing negative fundamentals via the Global Macro strategy.

EFFICIENCY
An efficient trading system must perform well in both desirable and undesirable conditions. With most financial instruments it is necessary to take on higher risk in pursuit of higher returns. To maximize the upside potential and limit the downside risk, it is important to weigh the level of volatility against the targeted returns.

Desired return vs. desired risk is not easily measurable, and changing circumstances may cause this objective change over time. The relationship between risk and reward depends on a number of factors; however, there exists between the two an “efficiency equilibrium”.

Otium has attempted to measure this risk/reward desirability, and present investors “value of return” over risk taken. Through vigorous analysis we have focused on achieving the highest possible returns with the lowest possible risk. This is the cornerstone of Otium’s investment strategy – to find the perfect equilibrium between risk and return.