Why do I do quantitative trading?

To start with the conclusion: I’m not doing it because I lack skills; quite the opposite, my skills are decent, but I can’t match the discipline of quantitative methods.
1. Why do I do quantitative trading?
Five reasons: trend-following, 24/7 operation, freeing up hands, saying goodbye to emotions, and—my own manual trading profits aren’t bad, but compared to running a strategy quantitatively, I really can’t compete. Watching the market every day, fantasizing daily, funds remain stagnant. Isn’t entering the market just to make money? Earning passively is of course better. No matter how you do it, in the end, it’s about whether your funds grow after one month, three months, or a year. As long as they do, and I haven’t spent any effort, then I’ve won.
2. Why do most traders and streamers not trade with real accounts?
It’s not because of poor skills, but because their curves are not correct. Strong skills ≠ stable profits. What really holds most people back are emotions, mindset, and self-control. Look at those market analysis streamers—they’re deadly accurate when not trading, but once they go live with real trades, they perform poorly—that’s a common problem.
Let me give an analogy:
Skills = Sniper rifle
Mindset = Wind speed
Position size = Distance
All three are indispensable. Don’t always think about changing your sniper rifle; it’s not very meaningful. Without considering wind speed and distance, even the best rifle can miss.
3. Your concerns about margin calls, black swans, and one-sided large trades
Before asking this question, ask yourself: if a black swan event occurs, how will you handle it? You set stop-losses, and so does quantitative trading. But after a quant stop-loss, you might reverse into a short position and get caught on a spike—you can’t do that.
Why do you think “quantitative trading will definitely win”? Is it because the strategy always goes against the market?
What we can do is strictly control risk management. That’s all.
The quantitative strategies I’ve optimized so far: backtested, with stop-losses, minimal core holdings, almost no risk of margin calls. Each trade is executed strictly—can you do that?
That’s the common bias in thinking. Big players focus on monthly returns and risk control, not on how fast they can double their positions. I dare say, with low leverage, quantitative trading can achieve 40%-60% monthly returns. The key point is: my funds are growing, while you’re still stuck in place, dreaming of a big win.
Finally, a word:
I choose to do quantitative trading not because it can double positions every day, but because it’s more disciplined than I am. I know I can’t do it myself, so I let it handle the trades.