In these times when inflation is devaluing money’s value, it is more necessary than ever to put our savings to work – that is, to obtain profitability. There are many and sometimes very complex investment products on the market, so the most sensible course of action is to consult professionals in the sector who have demonstrated a winning modus operandi over the years. After more than two decades in the world of trading, Jesús Porro is one of them. In this interview, he tells us about his firm MyHedgeFund.Club, and the similarities between his work and golf – a sport he recently took up and which has pleasantly surprised him in many ways.
Last year was your first playing golf, participating in tournaments and sponsoring the XI Andalucía Golf Challenge Circuit. How was the experience?
Surprising. From outside the world of golf it is impossible to glimpse or understand the difficulty and complexity of this sport. It seems unbelievable that the act of hitting a ball with a club for four or five hours during a tournament can become so complicated and that so many facets come into play.
As for the circuit, it’s wonderful. It brings the enthusiast or amateur closer to a competitive dynamic, where there are events every month and a grand finale. In addition, the prize is very Impressive. For a week during the trip you can play golf in dream locations.
In November, I had the opportunity to accompany the entire expedition to Mexico, and the experience was unforgettable. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Andalucía Golf for the entire experience of last year's circuit.
Professionally you are dedicated to trading and investments. Have you found any resemblance between your work and golf?
They are very much alike. I continue to be amazed by this topic, because during my first year playing golf, both in tournaments and personally, I experienced the same sensations as when I started trading: frustration, impotence... And I also observed the need for emotional control, to be realistic and set reasonable expectations. All of this I have re-discovered 24 years later.
Golf was a whole new world for me, even in terms of vocabulary. I had no idea what loft was, that you could add or subtract degrees, grip, bounce, that the angle of attack had to be negative. As soon as I started, I felt very lost. And in investments exactly the same thing happens. All of them are accompanied by a vocabulary that can scare people, like me in golf. What about volatility, the sharpe ratio and maximum drawdown, among others. But in the end, over time, you become familiar with the concepts.
On a more mental level, my experience as a trader was a great help to me in golf. The sensations you experience are very similar. You don't have realistic expectations at a tournament or at every hole, and the risk of becoming frustrated is easy. For this reason, you must think like in trading: go operation by operation, accept that a percentage of the operations will be bad. and it is important not to try to achieve points that are not within your reach. In fact, it seems to me impossible that someone who plays golf well does not invest or trade well because the mental process is practically the same.
This year we will once again have you on board as a sponsor for the new edition of the Circuit, which starts this February and also highlights the presentation of a new product. What is it called and what does it consist of?
For me, sponsorship of the Circuit is a long-term project, as it is with investments, and I am looking forward to starting this year with all the dynamics associated with the project and this new edition.
Last year, our main objective was to present the company vivedeltrading.com, and for people to start knowing more about us and to realise that they could manage their money in a better and more profitable way than with banks, funds and pension plans.
This year we launch a new service that people have been demanding for years, and it involves our clients copying our portfolios. So easy and simple. They only have to copy what we do once a month and enjoy the same returns that we achieve with our portfolios.
Copying has actually never been so profitable, because in recent years the two portfolios we have proposed – one balanced and the other more focused on profitability – have achieved annual returns of between 10 and 15 per cent.
You can find all details about the new service at www.MyHedgeFund.Club.
A priori, it seems easy to copy what you do and obtain the same yields, but what is behind this process?
In reality there are about 24 years of experience, research and study as an investor and trader, as well as a great desire for people to extract themselves from the investment dynamics that banks propose to them with their funds and pension plans.
Each month we send the composition of each of the two portfolios, one more basic to implement and the other more advanced. For the client it is very simple, as they only have to adjust the portfolio once and we do the complex work.
Behind these two portfolios there are professional capital allocation techniques such as risk parity, minimum variance and volatility target, as well as product selection techniques such as relative momentum. The client has the opportunity to be able to completely ignore all this and limit themselves to copying us.
These are all techniques that we teach our students in courses, but there is a huge group of clients and students who do not want to spend time training and simply want to follow what we do with our money.
What do you think are the main problems that people have with their investments?
Spain is a financially illiterate country and that's why it's easy to sneak people into things like “preferentes”, Nueva Rumasa or even the investment in Forum Philatelic stamps.
There is a brutal ignorance about the reality of how your money is managed in a bank, with its funds and pension plans. People even think that the person in the office is their friend and that their product recommendations are always in good faith. Nothing is further from reality. The person at the bank sells what suits them and what you get matters hardly anything to them.
They have been able to establish in everyone's mind that they (the client) are not the best ones to manage their savings and investments – and that is not true. The one who can best take care of your money is you yourself, and by far.
Returning to golf, managing your money isn't that complicated either. I’m like a block of cement – there is no way for me to turn and swing properly – but I managed to finish third at La Reserva and fourth at Finca Cortesín, and I qualified for the final of the Circuit in my first year. Taking all this into account, with investments you can achieve great things from the first moment.
We cannot overlook asking you about the subject of Bitcoin and the cryptos that are now so popular, and the fact it seems as though everyone is making money with them. What do you think?
Bitcoin and cryptos are in fashion, and some will earn money as in any investment, but many will also lose large amounts.
Every day the number of accounts invested in cryptos that go bankrupt and lose everything is published. We are talking about an average that is close to 100,000 bankrupt accounts per day, and with peaks. As for Bitcoin, it has sharp declines; the bankruptcy of up to 400,000 accounts has been recorded in 24 hours. These figures show the true reality of investing in such a risky and aggressive product. A few will make money and the vast majority will lose everything.
If someone wants to invest three or four per cent, or even five per cent in Bitcoin and the like, that's fine with me, but not any more than that. I agree with someone if they want to invest those percentages in the purchase of first editions of Spiderman comics or in denarii and other Roman coins from the era of Marcus Aurelius. After all, it is healthy to dedicate a small percentage of your capital to things that catch your attention and you like.
How do you see the financial and stock markets proceeding in 2022?
I don't care what the financial markets do in 2022 or in any year for that matter. It's been 11 years since I've observed what the markets are doing, and I’ve made no forecast in that time.
During this latest period, I’ve specialised in investment and trading strategies and techniques that do not require you to be aware of the market and stocks. As I said before, looking at and adjusting your portfolio once a month is more than enough.
To invest well you do not need to follow the markets closely. In fact, it is counterproductive to do so. If someone manages to invest, think long-term and let their investments work, it will be much easier for them to make money than someone who plays the market every day and engages in what is known as intraday trading.
This year www.myhedgefund.club is going to give away a place for the trip to the Dominican Republic. What will the conditions be?
I think this is a good prize and, in addition to the five places offered by Andalucía Golf to the winners of the Circuit’s final, we have decided to add a sixth place through a draw.
The draw will be among all of those who throughout the year are encouraged to copy us and obtain the same returns as us. Each quarterly subscription will be completed with a number for the draw, and annual subscriptions will have five.
The place we offer is identical to the other five official ones for the Circuit. It has the same conditions and the same rights, and it will be drawn on 24 September, the same day as the final.
For all those who follow the magazine and the Circuit, we have prepared a discount taking advantage of the launch of the new project and service. If you note “AndaluciaGolf” as a discount coupon, you can receive any subscription for 20 per cent less.
To conclude, can you explain to us what a hedge fund is?
A hedge fund is an investment vehicle, normally oriented towards large capital amounts, which has fewer legal limitations and can be invested with fewer restrictions. Its objective is to achieve positive returns every year and in any environment or market conditions.
We wanted to include that name on the website and in the project because, with this new service, we seek to make it possible to obtain these returns every year for anyone, regardless of their capital.
