When markets get turbulent as headlines scream about everything from a looming recession to geopolitical flare-ups, election turmoil, and an increasingly precarious looking AI bubble, many investors find it exhausting lying awake at night wondering what’s over the horizon. But not Robert Koloshuk. “I actually sleep pretty well,” says the CIO and managing principal at WaveFront Global Asset Management Corp.
“That’s not because I don’t care, it’s because I have confidence in the disciplined process we’ve refined over more than twenty years, including the experience I gained managing a U.S. investment program that delivered +72 per cent in the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis¹, +40 per cent in the 2020 COVID selloff period², and +26 per cent in the inflationary environment of 2022.³”*
Koloshuk’s performance in bear markets doesn’t come from luck or market timing. It’s grounded in a data-driven, empirical approach that he and his team have refined for almost 25 years. After co-founding WaveFront in 2003, Montreal-born Koloshuk shifted his focus to bringing liquid-alternative investment strategies, once reserved for U.S. institutions and ultra-high-net-worth investors, to a broader Canadian audience. His goal was to help Canadians build more resilient portfolios using tools that are ten times more common in the U.S. than in Canada.
“Back then, there were no liquid-alternative investment options for Canadian advisors,” he says. “We saw an opportunity to create something different, something that could offer real diversification when it mattered most, so we launched Canada’s first Managed Futures mutual fund with daily liquidity in 2009.”
That diversification is what sets WaveFront apart. Unlike traditional stocks and bonds, WaveFront’s liquid-alternative strategies sometimes move independently of major market swings. The result is greater protection in down markets and smoother performance over time. But after years of success in Managed Futures, Koloshuk says the firm recognized the need to evolve beyond a single-style approach. “Pure Managed Futures strategies have their moments of brilliance, particularly in major downturns,” he explains, “but investors often find it difficult to stay the course when Managed Futures goes through long periods of relative underperformance to the stock market, like from 2016 to 2019 when the program experienced a -44% drawdown.4”
That realization drove WaveFront toward a more foundational framework. “We’ve worked hard to build strategies that perform across all environments and not just when markets are breaking down,” says Koloshuk. “Our goal is consistency: to generate stable returns that don’t depend on a big crisis, but instead which attempt to keep pace with equity funds while still being capable of delivering material relative outperformance in a major crisis.”
Today, as stock valuations are stretched, investors can access WaveFront’s flagship strategy as an active ETF, the WaveFront All-Weather Alternative Fund (ETF: WAAV, FUND: AHP 3215 Series FD)** blends the firm’s quantitative capabilities across every public market asset class, from equities and fixed income to real estate, managed futures, and precious metals.
Across the industry, as institutional investors and family offices are rethinking the classic 60/40 portfolio and tilting instead toward mixes like 60/20/20 or even 40/30/30, WaveFront has already moved well beyond static allocations and into a paradigm of dynamic risk contribution from multiple alternative and traditional sources of return.
“We don’t try to predict the next macro move” Koloshuk explains. “Our models adapt dynamically, allocating based on volatility forecasts across our systematic sub-strategies. It’s about being prepared for any environment, not guessing what’s next.”
WaveFront has worked hard to build the longest public Managed Futures track record in Canada, but beyond trading and performance, Koloshuk sees education as a core mission. “Advisors and investors are starting to see how alternatives like Managed Futures can enhance portfolio outcomes,” he says. “We’re helping them understand that these tools aren’t exotic; they’re an essential part of portfolio construction.”
For Koloshuk, WAAV brings peace of mind. Even with the responsibility of managing client wealth and his own money, he rests easy knowing that his firm’s disciplined, research-driven process is working to protect and grow capital in all conditions.
“In chaotic or calm markets, our goal is simple,” he says. “To deliver attractive returns as consistently as possible, by using every tool available, and to sleep well doing it.”
Footnotes –
- Performance from Feb 2 2007 to Dec 31 2008*
- Performance from Jan 1 to Dec 31 2020*
- Performance from Jan 1 to Dec 31 2022*
- Performance from Mar 1 2016 to Oct 31 2019*
*Performance refers to the WaveFront Global Diversified Investment Program. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Futures trading is speculative and involves substantial risk. Potential investors should note that the value of an investment may go down as well as up. There is a risk that an investment will be lost entirely or in part. An investment in the Program is speculative and involves a high degree of risk and is not intended as a complete investment program. There is no guarantee of trading performance. An investment should only be made after consultation with independent qualified sources of investment and tax advice. This communication is not and under no circumstances is to be construed as an invitation to make an investment in any WaveFront program nor does it constitute a public offering to sell a fund or program. Investors should review the Offering Documents of any WaveFront Program or Fund in their entirety for a complete description of WaveFront’s programs or Funds. Applications to invest will only be considered on the terms set out in the Offering Documents. The information in this material is subject to change without notice and WaveFront will not be held liable for any inaccuracies or misprints. The Monthly Rates of Return above are the composite weighted net returns of all client accounts of WaveFront managed pursuant to the WaveFront Global Investment Program, computed pursuant to methodologies approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
**Effective January 2, 2025, WaveFront All-Weather Fund, LP (“the “LP”) was merged into WaveFront All-Weather Alternative Fund. Prior to the merger, the LP was distributed to investors on a prospectus-exempt basis in accordance with National Instrument 45-106 and was not a reporting issuer from its inception on November 1, 2019, until the merger. Financial statements of the LP are posted on Arrow Capital’s website and are available to investors upon request.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management and performance fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compound total returns net of fees and expenses payable by the fund (except for figures of one year or less, which are simple total returns) including changes in security value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.