Two thousand and twenty proved to be a difficult year for systematic investing.

Quantitative models that relied on historical data did not fare well over the past year generally, as the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic wreaked havoc on both the global economy and financial markets, forcing government authorities and major central banks around the world to come to the rescue of their respective economies. In contrast to most quantitative strategies that seek to find companies with stable earnings and attractive valuations, Low Volatility investing does not rely on traditional valuation metrics directly but rather tries to exploit anomalies in how investors perceive risk. Nonetheless the investment strategy was adversely impacted in both absolute and relative terms during the year.