Since 1988, Willowbridge Associates has provided investors with a selection of carefully developed systematic trading programs and global-macro discretionary trading. The company’s goal is above average investment growth over the years. Substantial effort is placed on the analysis of markets and of market opportunities.
Willowbridge is not purely a trend following trader. While they do have the bulk of their assets in trend following models, they do employ other strategies. Principals have included Philip Yang, Michael Gan, and Richard Faux. The firm is based in Plainsboro, New Jersey, and is registered as a commodity trading advisor with the CFTC.
That description, systematic programs combined with global-macro discretion, is a hybrid model that a number of the most durable CTA operations have adopted. The core trend following signal provides the systematic foundation. The discretionary macro overlay provides the flexibility to navigate environments where mechanical signals alone may generate false positives or miss structural context that changes how patterns should be interpreted. Tom Shanks at Hawksbill Capital described a similar approach: computers generate the orders, but a manager who understands the system deeply enough can sometimes improve on it at the margin.
The Hybrid Model: Where Systematic Meets Discretionary
The coexistence of systematic trend following with global macro discretion at Willowbridge reflects a broader debate in the CTA world about where the edge actually lives. Pure systematic managers argue that any discretionary intervention introduces the behavioral biases that systematic rules are specifically designed to eliminate. Hybrid managers argue that no mechanical system fully captures structural context, particularly around major economic cycle transitions, and that experienced discretion can improve on the system at those inflection points.
The Turtle experiment was built on the pure systematic side of that argument. Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt designed the Turtle rules to be followed without exception, on the basis that consistent rule-following would produce better long-run results than discretionary overrides. Howard Seidler articulated the logic precisely: conformance to a trading plan is more significant than short-term equity fluctuations. The data generally supports the pure systematic approach across large samples and long time horizons.
But Willowbridge’s track record across more than three decades suggests the hybrid model, applied with discipline, can also sustain genuine edge. The key is that the discretion has to be genuinely informed by deep market understanding rather than by emotional reaction to recent results. Discretion applied to override a system during a losing period is almost always destructive. Discretion applied to recognize that current market structure falls outside the system’s designed parameters is potentially additive. Willowbridge’s multi-disciplinary research approach, analyzing global economies and market trends to identify overlooked opportunities, is designed to support the latter kind of judgment.
Philip Yang and the Research Foundation
Philip Yang founded Willowbridge and serves as its Chairman and Chief Investment Officer. The firm’s approach under his leadership has emphasized what the Managed Funds Association described as substantial effort placed on the analysis of markets and of market opportunities. That emphasis on analysis as a foundation for both systematic and discretionary decision-making reflects a commitment to building genuine edge through research rather than relying on either pure rule-following or pure intuition.
The multi-disciplinary framing matters. The best systematic trend following operations, from Transtrend in Rotterdam to Superfund in Vienna, have consistently maintained that successful trading requires continuous research and adaptation rather than the static application of historical rules. Willowbridge’s structure, with research feeding both its systematic programs and its discretionary macro decisions, embeds that principle directly into how the firm operates.
Three Decades in Context
Operating from 1988 to the present, Willowbridge has traded through every significant market environment of the modern era: the bond bull market of the 1990s, the equity bear markets of 2000 and 2008, the post-crisis central bank interventions that compressed volatility and challenged trend following broadly, and the return of large directional moves in 2022. Surviving and generating returns across that full range of regimes requires exactly the adaptability that the hybrid systematic-discretionary model is designed to provide.
The firms that have endured across multiple decades in the managed futures industry share certain characteristics regardless of whether they are purely systematic or hybrid. They prioritize risk management over return maximization. They maintain diversification across uncorrelated markets. They adapt their systems continuously rather than treating historical rules as permanent. And they resist the temptation to abandon their approach during difficult periods in favor of whatever is currently working for others. Willowbridge’s longevity reflects all of those qualities.
Alongside operations like Chesapeake Capital, Dunn Capital, and Transtrend, Willowbridge represents the institutional layer of the trend following world: firms that operate outside the public spotlight, serve sophisticated investors, and let the track record speak rather than the marketing. That model, quiet, disciplined, and research-driven, is the one that has produced the most durable results across the history of systematic trading.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Willowbridge Associates?
Willowbridge Associates is a New Jersey-based commodity trading advisor founded in 1988. The firm provides both systematic trading programs and global-macro discretionary trading, with the bulk of assets in trend following models. Principals have included Philip Yang, Michael Gan, and Richard Faux. Philip Yang serves as founder, Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer.
Is Willowbridge a pure trend following firm?
No. While the majority of Willowbridge’s assets are managed through trend following models, the firm also employs global-macro discretionary strategies. It is best described as a hybrid systematic-discretionary manager whose core approach is trend following with a discretionary macro overlay.
How long has Willowbridge been operating?
Willowbridge has been operating since 1988, giving it more than three decades of live trading experience across multiple market regimes including major bull and bear markets, periods of central bank intervention, and the return of large directional trends in commodities and fixed income markets.
How does Willowbridge relate to the Turtle trading tradition?
Willowbridge shares the foundational principles of the Turtle approach: systematic rules, diversified global futures exposure, continuous research and adaptation, and risk management as the structural priority. Its hybrid model reflects a debate that runs through the entire CTA industry about whether discretion can improve on pure systematic execution, a question the Turtle experiment itself raised through traders like Tom Shanks who modified the original rules while preserving the underlying principles.
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