Why Trading a Portfolio of EAs Is So Powerful

Why Trading a Portfolio of EAs Is So Powerful

Many traders focus all their capital on one single EA.
If it performs well in backtests and has worked for years, it feels “safe”.

But in professional trading, this is one of the biggest hidden risks you can take.

The most robust way to trade algorithmically is not to find one perfect strategy —
it is to combine multiple uncorrelated strategies into a portfolio.

This article explains why, using real-world logic and simple examples.

1️⃣ The Problem With Trading Only One Strategy

Even the best EA goes through bad periods.

A strategy can:

• Work for 10–20 years

• Be robust and not over-optimized

• Follow solid market logic

…and still stop working in the future.

Markets evolve:

• Volatility regimes change

• Market structure shifts

• Liquidity behavior adapts

• Participants change

You cannot predict when this happens.

If you trade only one EA and it fails:

• Your account stops growing

• You may sit in drawdown for months

• You may not even realize it has stopped working until it’s too late

With one strategy, you have no backup.

2️⃣ What a Single Strategy Equity Curve Looks Like

A single EA typically shows:

• Higher volatility

• Deeper drawdowns

• Long stagnation periods

  

  
  

Even profitable strategies can feel psychologically hard to trade because everything depends on one logic.

3️⃣ The Power of Combining Multiple EAs

When you combine multiple strategies, something powerful happens:

• Losing periods overlap less

• Drawdowns shrink

• Equity becomes smoother

• Risk becomes more controllable

This only works if the strategies are not highly correlated.

That means:

• Different market behaviors

• Different entry logic

• Different time characteristics

• Preferably different instruments or sessions

  
  

  Combined portfolio example:
  This portfolio combines Prop Firm Gold EA, Market Anomalies EA, RangeBreakout EA (traded on BTCUSD, US30, DE40), and Gold Atlas EA together in one diversified trading portfolio.

Instead of one equity curve doing all the work, multiple curves support each other.

4️⃣ Correlation Matters (A LOT)

This is critical.

If you run:

• 5 breakout strategies

• On the same symbol

• On similar time logic

Then your portfolio is not diversified.

If the market enters a bad environment:

• All strategies can fail together

• Drawdown becomes large again

• You gain no protection

True portfolio strength comes from low correlation, not just “more EAs”.

Examples of diversification:

• Breakout + mean-reverting strategies

• Trend-following + short-term strategies

• Time-based exits + trailing stop-loss exits

• Different symbols