Manager: Focal Point Management

Models: Quantitative Broad Index, Quantitative Hedging

April saw a continuing rally in the broad financial markets along with a continued decline in volatility.  Our portfolios stayed on the long side; a low volatility environment makes tactical counter-move positioning difficult, and our portfolios will be bullishly positioned until the volatility environment changes.

Our rotational strategies primarily kept us in the Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ: QQQ), though we also found some opportunistic positions in small cap (NYSE: IWM) and large cap (NYSE: SPY) indices.

The key to our outlook going forward will be institutional participation (institutions have been mostly net buyers of stock since the fall), continued low volatility, continued improvement in the economy, and corporate visibility into future earnings.