Michael Gayed

Michael Gayed is everywhere , and he'll be the first to tell you that's entirely deliberate. As the portfolio manager behind the RORO and JOJO ETFs at ATAC Funds, he's built one of the most recognizable personal brands in the ETF world through a combination of institutional analysis, Twitter showmanship, and what he openly describes as a "very purposeful strategy" to keep attention on himself and, by extension, his funds through a brutal drawdown period.

The Persona Is the Strategy

Michael doesn't hide the calculation behind his public persona. His funds went through a significant drawdown, and he faced a cold reality: "If I'm going to be a dry analyst, people want to see my research and say, why the hell should I pay attention to you? Your funds didn't do so well." So he made a choice: be entertaining enough to keep the audience engaged until the cycle turned in his favor.

"People think that this is me going off the rails. No, it's actually a very purposeful strategy because I don't know what else to do to keep the attention on me, and then by extension my funds, when the funds have gone through such a big drawdown." He's buying time , "nobody's going to look at the funds now until after the fact, but by the time they realize it, the facts before it have already happened."

The specific flourishes , "few understand," "exquisite," "atrocious," the glowing gold eyes , all started as deliberate provocations. "The whole Bitcoin maxi crowd went after me in 2021, so because I'm a very stubborn guy, I started basically stealing 'few' from Bitcoin maxis because I thought it was ridiculous." The entertainment value keeps the audience while the analysis does the actual work underneath.

The Signal Amid the Noise

Underneath the persona is a genuine systematic framework. Michael's approach to risk rotation , the "RORO" concept of risk-on/risk-off , is based on intermarket signals and credit market behavior. The framework correctly identified the risk-off environment in 2022, but the execution ran into the same problem that caught many risk-managed strategies: the traditional safe haven (bonds) wasn't safe in a rising-rate environment.

He's transparent about this: the signal was right, but the escape valve was wrong. In a rising-rate environment where both stocks and bonds fell, the traditional risk-off playbook failed. It's a lesson that applies to every strategy built on historical correlations , correlations can break down precisely when you need them most.

Credit Events and Asymmetric Payoffs

Where Michael sees the greatest opportunity is in credit events , the rare, violent dislocations that can define years of performance in a single period. "All you need is one of these credit events, and hopefully getting most of it right defines years of performance." It's an inherently patient, asymmetric approach: endure the noise, maintain positioning, and be ready when the dislocation comes.

This requires the audience , both investors and followers , to tolerate extended periods of underperformance or sideways action. The persona strategy is specifically designed to maintain that audience through the waiting period. It's a meta-strategy: use entertainment to keep attention, use attention to keep assets, use assets to maintain the fund through a full cycle until the thesis pays off.

The Multi-Platform Content Machine

Michael's distribution strategy maps every available channel: Twitter (now X), YouTube, Substack, Facebook, Instagram, the podcast circuit, and financial media appearances. "I am everywhere, but I'm also nowhere at the same time," he jokes. For a smaller fund manager without a dedicated distribution team, personal brand IS the distribution channel. Every follower is a potential investor; every viral tweet is a free advertisement.

The honesty about this strategy is itself part of the strategy. By being transparent about why he's doing what he's doing , keeping attention during a drawdown, buying time for the cycle to turn , he turns potential criticism into authenticity. Investors who understand the game respect the transparency, and those who don't were unlikely to invest anyway.

Whether the RORO thesis ultimately pays off in the next credit event remains to be seen. But Michael Gayed has built something most fund managers never achieve: a personal brand strong enough to survive a drawdown. In an industry where assets follow performance and performance follows the cycle, that's no small thing.

The meta-lesson of the Michael Gayed conversation extends beyond his specific fund. In an era where attention is the scarcest resource in asset management, the ability to command and maintain attention through a drawdown is itself a competitive advantage. Traditional distribution , wholesalers, platform approvals, wirehouse relationships , remains important. But for a smaller fund manager competing against firms with dedicated sales forces, personal brand provides an alternative distribution channel that can be built with sweat equity rather than capital. Michael's approach won't work for everyone , it requires a specific personality type and tolerance for public scrutiny , but the strategic logic is sound.

Key Takeaways

• His funds went through a significant drawdown, and he faced a cold reality: "If I'm going to be a dry analyst, people want to see my research and say, why the hell should I pay attention to you?
• Your funds didn't do so well." So he made a choice: be entertaining enough to keep the audience engaged until the cycle turned in his favor.
• "The whole Bitcoin maxi crowd went after me in 2021, so because I'm a very stubborn guy, I started basically stealing 'few' from Bitcoin maxis because I thought it was ridiculous." The entertainment value keeps the audience while the analysis does the actual work underneath.
• The framework correctly identified the risk-off environment in 2022, but the execution ran into the same problem that caught many risk-managed strategies: the traditional safe haven (bonds) wasn't safe in a rising-rate environment.

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.