Three Quant Lessons from COVID-19
Risk Magazine, April 2020.
6 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2020 Last revised: 1 May 2020
Date Written: April 30, 2020
Abstract
Many quantitative firms have suffered substantial losses as a result of the COVID-19 selloff. In this note, we highlight three lessons that quantitative researchers could learn from this crisis. First, researchers should develop more nowcasting methods, and pay less attention to forecasts. Second, researchers should use backtesting for deconstructing theories, not for optimizing trading rules. Third, all-weather strategies are more likely to be false, and it is a safer bet to develop strategies for well-defined market regimes.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, SEIR, case fatality rate, reproductive numbers, lockdowns
JEL Classification: G0, G1, G2, G15, G24, E44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation