Traditional long-only investors, who don't tinker with their cash levels much, typically participate in all of the market's upside when it is flying and all of its downside when it's not. Markets typically increase over time, so this is a perfectly acceptable way to invest. 

Long/short investors, however, can also profit when markets fall—but that's too simplistic an explanation. It suggests that long/short managers make money equally when markets go up and down, which is rarely the case. 

Because long/short managers are also active beta managers (i.e. they pick stocks to outperform a benchmark or achieve a specific objective), they typically capture most of a market's upside while significantly limiting losses on the downside. 

That means that much of their alpha (overall outperformance) is often generated by providing much better protection when things are bad versus smashing the market when it is flying. 

With all that in mind, what better time to ask two long/short managers for their top defensive picks than right now - when equity markets are at all-time highs and valuations are on the ritzy side? 

On this episode, Livewire's James Marlay is joined by Jun Bei Liu from Tribeca and David Moberley from ClearLIfe Capital for their analysis of five stocks that could weather a coming downturn - whenever that may be.

Note: This episode was recorded on Wednesday 6 November 2024.