1.
Capital preservation
The first obligation is to return capital. Every position is sized against a defined maximum loss, not an expected gain. Drawdown discipline, predetermined exit criteria, and the willingness to be wrong early precede any thesis on upside. In a market structured by reflexive volatility and forced liquidations, the manager who survives the unfavourable months compounds disproportionately in the favourable ones. Preservation is not a defensive posture — it is the precondition for asymmetric returns.