I Am Blessed

A Personal Email On My Journey, And Update On What's To Come

I am blessed.

I want to do something different in this post. Instead of writing about markets, I want to express my gratitude to the thousands of people who have followed my journey over the past many years both professionally and personally.

I also want to provide some major updates on things I’ve been working on which I hope will disrupt the industry and be beneficial to both financial advisors and individual investors.

I’ve been very public about two things in the last several years. On the personal front, I’ve documented my health transformation, losing 100 pounds over the span of a year through a combination of intermittent and extended fasting. That journey has led me to actively workout daily for 2-3 hours. Through that journey, I’ve come to the realization that if you don’t take care of yourself physically, you can’t possibly take care of yourself mentally. Becoming far more attuned to my physique has had numerous benefits, and I’m honored that many followers on social media have been inspired by me to take control of their own health as well.

The second thing I’ve been very public about is my incredible frustration and struggle over the last several years in a brutal cycle for Treasuries as the risk-off trade. We haven’t seen any real “flight to safety” trade really since the Covid 2020 crash. The fastest rate hike cycle in history caused a historic duration crash, but what made that even more anomalous is it happened with credit spreads only getting narrower. This despite small-caps struggling severely to keep up with “the market” because of concerns around default risk and higher for longer rates.

I have endured severe anxiety daily because of this cycle. All of my current public strategies, by mandate, must express tactical risk-off trades via long duration Treasuries. In the worst bear market for Treasuries in history. I have had anonymous accounts on social media and emails from random strangers attack me because of this. They made it personal. I’m well aware that having a million followers results in a number of haters naturally, but the kinds of things people have said to me, and about me, all while I’ve been waiting for the light to change, I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies to read through if it were directed at them instead. Many of these people have zero understanding of the industry I’m in, the cycle we’ve just gone through, and the realities of being a fund manager that must stick to a prospectus.

The personal health journey is directly connected to the professional cycle journey. No one can control the value of their portfolios. No one can control the cycle they are in. I needed control of something. I needed to feel that I had control over an outcome because of the environment my strategies have been operating in. There are no gurus, only cycles, and I needed to feel empowered. Health was my way to do that.

I am blessed.

I’ve survived. And not only do I believe the cycle has changed to potentially cause a professional comeback in my already existing strategies, but I believe the future has never been brighter for me and those in my network. I am launching two new funds in the coming months which I believe will get a lot of interest and attention, all while I am hopeful the conditions have turned for my already existing ones.

In addition, I am incredibly humbled by the growth of the Lead-Lag Media business line. I have signed over 20 mutual fund and ETF issuers, with some of the biggest and most innovative companies in the industry directly engaging with me and my team for content services, networking opportunities with financial advisors, event planning, and broader support initiatives. I’ve hired 13 different people to expand and provide services that many fund companies in the industry desperately need, at affordable prices and with quality. My reputation for being one of the hardest working people in this industry has resulted in one of the most exciting hockey-stick moments of my career totally unrelated to my role as a portfolio manager.

I am blessed.

In addition to new funds and the continued growth of Lead-Lag Media, I’m also launching a new newsletter service focused on deregulation, which I believe is going to have enormous implications on markets for years to come. The opportunities coming from that I believe are massive, and I’m excited to share research at freemarketsreport.substack.com explicitly covering that.

With all that said, I want to personally thank anyone and everyone who has followed me over the years. I’ve spoken to so many people who have been incredibly supportive, as people who I believed would have my back ended up selling the low betting on me just as things are about to turn. I am a believer in karma, and I hope that as things continue to turn positively, I can continue to not only be a thoughtful researcher, but an influential positive force to you all.

I am blessed.

Michael A. Gayed, CFA