By Shruti Menon Seeboo
The prestigious Intercontinental Hotel Mauritius, Balaclava, once again played host to the highly anticipated FinWise Annual Investment Summit, marking its second edition on 22nd July 2025. This seminal event underscored Mauritius’s burgeoning stature as a pivotal global financial hub, drawing a distinguished assembly of asset allocators, pension fund trustees, family office principals, and regulated investment professionals from across the globe.
The Summit served as a crucial platform for delving into the intricate trends shaping the contemporary investment landscape, and among the most anticipated speakers was Mr Édouard Taieb–Duymedjian, Chief Investment Officer & Director at Necker Finance (Switzerland). His address, delivered with characteristic clarity and profound insight, offered a masterclass in navigating complex market dynamics and identifying enduring value, resonating deeply with an audience keen to dissect current challenges and unearth future opportunities.
The Evolving Macroeconomic Tapestry: A Swiss Perspective on Market Realities
Mr Taieb-Duymedjian commenced his address by painting a vivid, albeit challenging, picture of the current global macroeconomic environment. He meticulously highlighted the multifaceted and interconnected nature of geopolitical and economic forces that are profoundly impacting investment decisions.
He articulated how pervasive inflation, fluctuating interest rates, and escalating geopolitical tensions are not merely transient phenomena but are fundamentally reshaping traditional investment paradigms, thereby compelling investors to cultivate an exceptionally flexible and adaptive mindset. His core message was a strong exhortation to look beyond the immediacy of short-term volatility and to instead focus steadfastly on the long-term, structural shifts that are defining this new era.
“The investment landscape today is undeniably complex,” Mr Taieb-Duymedjian observed, a sentiment that resonated universally. He then dramatically underscored the inherent difficulty in predicting market movements by referencing a series of high-profile, yet ultimately inaccurate, market calls from respected figures.
“It is very, very tough, in fact, to predict the markets,” he stressed, citing examples such as Ray Dalio’s “cash is trash” call just before the COVID-19 crisis, Patrick Artus’s incorrect prediction in December 2021 “No, there will not be a fixed income crash”, and Jamie Dimon’s “economic hurricane” forecast that preceded a market rally. Even famed writer and economist Harry Dent’s prediction of a “biggest single crash year” for 2024 was mentioned..These anecdotes served not to mock, but to powerfully illustrate the futility of precise market timing based on expert opinion. Instead, he proposed that a more pragmatic approach lies in acknowledging that “markets evolve in a trend,” and that discerning and riding these trends, irrespective of expert predictions, is where true value lies.
Beyond the challenges, Mr Taieb-Duymedjian also touched upon the practicalities of operating within this global financial tapestry, offering a valuable insight into the unique growth trajectory of Mauritius’s banking sector. He contrasted the centuries-old establishment of Swiss banks with the more recent, yet rapid, development of Mauritian banks.
“The Mauritius banks,” he noted, based on his discussions with his team, really started to “grow and to improve” around the year 2000. This relatively nascent yet incredibly dynamic growth means that the service provided by these banks “is really catching up on everything that’s been done by the Swiss banks,” making collaboration with them “a real pleasure.” This nuanced view underscored the blend of global perspective with a keen appreciation for regional development that characterises Necker Finance’s approach.
Core Principles for Resilient Portfolio Construction: A Quantitative Edge
Transitioning from the broader macroeconomic vista, Mr Taieb-Duymedjian pivoted to the fundamental principles that, in Necker Finance’s view, must underpin resilient portfolio construction. He made it unequivocally clear that while market conditions are in constant flux, certain timeless investment tenets remain paramount. The philosophy at Necker Finance, as he meticulously detailed, is rooted in a highly quantitative approach to investment, setting it apart from more traditional methodologies.
“Our main expertise at Necker Finance is really about the quantitative aspect of the investment,” he stated, elaborating on a model “based on trend analysis across all asset classes (equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and cryptos), and also on the relative strength that you can have between asset classes and their sub-group.”
This rigorous, model-driven methodology allows them to identify compelling opportunities. For instance, he revealed, “what we are seeing in our model at the moment is Buy Signals on the Nasdaq 100 and on the emerging markets. We believe, at the moment, that these are trades that show good absolute and relative strength.” Similarly, specific sectors, such as the banking industry in both Europe and the US, have been “pointed out by our model” as ripe for investment. This quantitative edge, he affirmed, “has been delivering very good performance.”
Mr Taieb-Duymedjian also shed light on the increasing prominence of structured solutions, particularly within the European market where they are now “pretty much everywhere.” He noted that in Mauritius too, these solutions are “getting more and more requested by the investors.” He provided a tangible example of a product recently crafted by Necker Finance: “Based on our model, we believe that Chinese indices have the potential to perform well after years of underperformance. But conviction doesn’t exclude protection. That’s why we have structured a 100% capital guarantee on the CSI 300 Index with a performance capped at +40% over a period of 24 months. “This illustrates their innovative approach to risk-managed growth.
The philosophy underpinning the Avedis US Equity Strategy Fund, for which Necker Finance acts as an advisor, further encapsulates these core principles. The fund aims to “capture the bull markets on the S&P 500 Index but avoid all those bear markets and crashes.” He underscored the sobering implication that “if you take the ETFs on the S&P 500, you are already doing better than 90% of the US mutual funds.” This reality, he argued, highlights the immense challenge of active management and the compelling case for a strategic approach that minimises exposure to destructive downturns.
He further illustrated the crucial, yet often overlooked, mathematical impact of losses: “When you do minus 20, you need plus 25 to recover the losses. When you do minus 50, you need to do 100%.” This simple arithmetic powerfully demonstrates how much harder it is to recover from drawdowns, both in terms of percentage gain required and, more importantly, the time it takes. He presented a compelling chart of S&P 500 bear markets, showing that while drops typically occur in “less than a year,” recovery often takes ” much more than a year.” The internet bubble, for instance, took “five years to recover all the losses.” This extended recovery period is precisely what the Avedis fund is designed to avoid.
Unearthing Opportunities: Active Management Through Algorithmic Precision
Mr Taieb-Duymedjian dedicated a significant segment of his presentation to detailing how the Avedis US Equity Strategy fund employs a distinctive form of active management, particularly through its sophisticated algorithmic approach. He distinguished this strategy from traditional passive investing, describing it as “a more passive investment, with an active tool that delivers signals on the markets.” The core idea is to leverage a proprietary algorithm to guide investment decisions, ensuring exposure during upward trends and protection during downturns.
He meticulously explained the mechanics of this algorithm: “It’s a combination of technical parameters. It takes into consideration moving averages and their behaviour, the volatility of the market as well as the strength of the momentum” This complex interplay of factors ultimately generates “precise buying or sell signals in the markets.”
To validate the efficacy of this algorithm, Necker Finance subjected it to rigorous back-testing across various asset classes since 1998. Mr Taieb-Duymedjian presented the compelling results, noting that for “US equities [it is] very profitable,” showing significant outperformance against the S&P 500 Index. While the algorithm performed “very well for the European markets,” “very good for the currencies, for the rates,” and even “for commodities,” he candidly admitted that “it’s a bit less interesting when you are on gold.” He clarified that gold’s historical performance in earlier periods (2011-2018) didn’t exhibit strong, consistent trends that a momentum strategy relies upon, though he noted its recent strong trend has made it more amenable. His overarching principle remains clear: “if you want to make money, you have to follow the trend. The trend is your friend, and don’t fight it.”
The investment process of the Avedis fund is elegantly straightforward based on these signals: “First step, the signal is detected. A buy signal is detected by our entire model. We are going to get the fund to be exposed to 100% in the S&P 500. If our model detects a sell signal, we are going to exit and put the money into money market instruments.” This clear-cut approach has been rigorously back-tested since the inception of the S&P 500 Index in 1928, demonstrating “massive outperformance of the strategies.”
Crucially, Mr Taieb-Duymedjian highlighted the strategy’s exceptional performance during major bear markets. “This is when you make the difference,” he stressed. In the 2000-2002 dot-com bust, where the market dropped by 40%, “the strategy was actually positive.” Similarly, in 2008, when the market plunged by 37%, “the strategy exited the market at the end of 2007, so very in advance and delivered a positive performance over the year.” It also navigated the 2018 and 2022 downturns effectively, showing significantly smaller drawdowns than the S&P 500. He did acknowledge one exception: “the COVID crisis in 2020… was actually taken. It’s too quick.” The rapidity of that market crash, losing “nearly 30% in couple of days,” was too fast for the model to detect an exit signal, resulting in similar losses to passive ETFs. Even though our sell signal was extremely close.” Despite this, the consistent protection during prolonged bear markets is the fund’s defining strength: “We really want to avoid bear markets. This is key to the funds.” he declared.
A Strategic Compass for Long-Term Wealth Building and Africa’s Promise
In the concluding segment of his address, Mr Taieb-Duymedjian articulated how the Avedis US Equity Strategy fund, by design, serves as a strategic compass for long-term wealth building, particularly suited for investors who prioritise capital preservation and steady growth over high-risk, high-beta strategies. He reiterated the profound importance of avoiding significant drawdowns, not just for mathematical recovery, but for investor behaviour. “Because for your clients, when you are invested [in a long bear market], you can take some bad decisions,” he explained, such as cutting investments and missing the subsequent recovery, or enduring prolonged, disheartening losses. The fund’s systematic avoidance of these prolonged downturns is thus paramount to maintaining investor discipline and ensuring long-term participation in market upswings.
Presenting the fund’s official performance since its inception in September 2023, Mr Taieb-Duymedjian noted its benchmarking against a blend of 75% S&P 500 Index and 25% one-month T-Bill, with a target to outperform the S&P 500 Index over five years. He proudly highlighted its April 2025 performance: “Middle of March 2025, we actually got a signal that made us exit the markets. So it was actually quite nice, because that signal allowed us to avoid fully the ‘Trump crash’. Our trade saved us from a respective -10% and -15% drop of our benchmark and the S&P 500 Index.” This timely exit during a significant market correction perfectly exemplified the fund’s protective mechanism. Despite a subsequent “massive recovery for the markets,” which was one of the quickest recovery in the S&P 500’s history after a plunge of -20% or plus, the fund remained strategically positioned. As of the 18th of July 2025 and since the inception of the fund, the fund has delivered a performance of +30.03% and has already demonstrated “a contained volatility (10.9%)a “very moderated” downside risk (6.8%), and a significantly lower “drawdown backdrop than equity indices.”
Mr Taieb-Duymedjian summarised the ideal investor profile for the Avedis fund. “It is not going to maybe suit the most sophisticated investors who are willing to take more risk and who are searching high beta funds,” he conceded. Instead, it is “more appropriate for investors that seek a long term investments, which surfs bull markets while trying to avoid bear markets and crashes.” He presented it as a strategy designed for peace of mind: “This is clearly a strategy that you can put in your portfolio and come back in couple of years and see that it has grown smoothly and substantially.” It is, in essence, a strategic tool for those looking to build wealth consistently and avoid the emotional pitfalls of market volatility.
This pragmatic, risk-aware approach espoused by Édouard Taieb-Duymedjian and embodied by the Avedis US Equity Strategy fund aligns seamlessly with the broader mission of the FinWise Annual Investment Summit itself. While he focused on a specific fund, the principles he outlined—disciplined, systematic investing focused on long-term trends and robust risk management—are foundational to fostering financial inclusion and prosperity across Africa. By championing such resilient investment strategies, platforms like FinWise can empower individuals and communities across the continent to participate more confidently in economic growth, build wealth, and ultimately shape a more inclusive and vibrant financial future for Africa. The collaboration between established players like Necker Finance and dynamic regional financial centres like Mauritius, as highlighted by Mr Taieb-Duymedjian, truly embodies the “coopetition” spirit that FinWise seeks to cultivate, connecting expertise and bridging market gaps for the benefit of all.
For more information about FinWise events and magazine, please visit www.finwise.mu
