Courtesy of https://gemini.google.com:
When looking at the biggest proponents, pioneers, and popularizers of trend following trading, the title doesn’t belong to just one person. Instead, it is shared by a legendary group of traders and authors who built, proved, and evangelized the methodology:
1. The Pioneer: Ed Seykota
Who he is: Widely regarded as the father of modern commercial trend following.
Why he is a major proponent: In the early 1970s, Seykota pioneered computerized, systematic trading by writing software to test and execute trend-following algorithms on futures markets. He famously took a client’s account from $5,000 to $15 million over roughly 12 years (a staggering ~250,000% return). He also mentored many of the next generation’s top trend followers and championed the psychological discipline required to stick to rules.
2. The Institutionalizers: Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt
Who they are: Legendary commodity traders who created the famous “Turtle Trader” experiment in the 1980s.
Why they are major proponents: Dennis famously argued that great traders could be “taught” rather than just born. He recruited a group of everyday novices (the Turtles) and taught them a strict, mechanical trend-following system based on channel breakouts. The experiment proved that trend following could be systematized and scaled into a massive institutional strategy, generating hundreds of millions of dollars.
3. The Modern Evangelist: Michael Covel
Who he is: Author, researcher, and filmmaker.
Why he is a major proponent: While Ed Seykota and Richard Dennis practiced trend following, Michael Covel became its loudest global spokesperson and author. Through his international bestselling book Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets, as well as The Complete TurtleTrader, Covel rigorously analyzed historical performance data and interviewed billionaire trend followers to demystify the strategy for the public, branding it as the ultimate anti-fragile investment philosophy.
4. The Historical Ancestor: Jesse Livermore
Who he is: The legendary early-20th-century stock speculator (popularized in the classic book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator).
Why he is a major proponent: Long before computers or quantitative funds existed, Livermore pioneered the core philosophy of trend following: “The big money is not in the individual fluctuations but in the main movements”—meaning you should pyramid your positions and let winning trades run while cutting losses quickly.
Other Notable Titans of Trend Following:
Bill Dunn (Dunn Capital Management): One of the longest-running systematic trend-following fund managers in history.
Larry Hite (RPC Investment / Vintage): A pioneer of risk-managed systematic trading who famously stated, “Risk no more than you can afford to lose, and also know all possible costs of your trades.”
David Harding (Winton Group): Co-founder of AHL and Winton, managing billions and cementing trend following as a cornerstone of the managed futures (CTA) industry.
Cool group.
Learn the rules behind trend following, and the systems to apply them.
See the coursesMore from Michael Covel: Books · Podcast · Trend Following course