Top Traders Unplugged With Niels Kaastrup-larsen | Engaging Conversations With The Top Traders & Investors

This guest had a different path that eventually led to owning a hedgefund in New York. Marc Malek got a grant from NASA to study how different armored tank positions would lead to winning results on the battlefield. Traveling to Wisconsin to begin his research, his advisor steered him to do a similar project on stocks, bonds, and equities instead. He went on to work for UBS and finally founded his own firm, Conquest Capital Group. His story will fascinate and inspire you.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:The story of how Marc became interested in the financial markets after a university project, a bit unexpectedly.About Marc’s upbringing in Beirut, Lebanon.How his studies at Caltech in neural networks and decision support systems eventually led him to the stock market.About his grant from NASA to research the position of tanks.His job offer from Oracle that he turned down.About

Welcome back to the second part of our discussion with Aref Karim. In this episode, Aref discusses his firm’s strategies and the broader philosophies that drives what he does. He also talks about market volatility, the need to innovate while keeping models intact, his perspective on drawdowns, and what investors should be asking their managers. You’ll learn something about the art galleries and music that fuels his inspiration, and what he thinks it takes to become a successful hedge fund manager.You will be amazed by the candid truthfulness of Aref at the end of the episode as he speaks about his personal life and the current state of his business. Thanks for listening to Part 2 of the conversation, I hope you enjoy it.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:What strategies his firm uses regarding commodities and currencies.How Aref explains his investment strategy in a concise and

How do you transition from working alongside the capital management industry to starting your own hedge fund? Our next guest grew up in Bangladesh but fled to London during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He worked as an accountant and then went on to join the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) where he pioneered the organization’s futures investment department. Learn about his personal setbacks and successes, his innovative investment strategies, and how he founded Quality Capital Management in the UK.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:About Aref’s childhood in Bangladesh.How his father wanted all 10 of his children to attend university and instilled in them the belief system that made them successful.Why Aref decided to study English and Literature even though his background was in the sciences.The story of Aref’s escape to the United Kingdom because of war and socia

Welcome back to the second part of our interview with Scott Foster, President and Founder of Dominion Capital Management.In this episode, we learn the philosophical rules that drive his firm, and how he bridges the gap between the philosophy behind his decisions and the models he creates. We discuss the increased governmental involvement in the markets and the adjustments that Scott has had to make to adapt to new signals. Finally, we learn the personal habits that help Scott succeed. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of our conversation with Scott Foster.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:Why Scott does not worry about model decay due to the principals with which he runs his firm.How to bridge the gap between philosophy and rules.How he created the Sapphire program, his firm’s signature service, and what it took to create it.How increased government involvement in the mark

Our next guest was a philosophy major and a magician before he ever considered trading in the stock market. In Part 1 of our talk, he describes how philosophy and psychology determine his firm’s decisions and the story of how he started trading in a small town in Pennsylvania.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:On the 20th Anniversary of Scott’s firm, he looks back on how it all started.Scott’s life as a magician and how the principals of magic influences his perspective on trading and the market.How he became a philosophy major and how he applies philosophy to trading and everything his firm does.How he started trading in the market, getting a group of his college friends to take out cash advances on their credit cards and investing it.The Austrian perspective on economics that his college was well known for.How he educated himself in futures trading and invested long before he ever

Welcome back to the second part of our interview with Scot Billington of Covenant Capital Management.In this episode, Scot delves into the practice of trend following and why it is a great model to follow. He also discusses tips for beginning traders and investors, and advice for those who wants to start a firm. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of our conversation with Scot Billington.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:The story of Scot’s childhood obsession with mathematically based, but unknown future outcomes.The discipline required to follow a mathematical model.The advantages of trend-following and why the media reports that “Trend Following is Dead” every few years.Scot’s philosophy on position sizing.How every sector in the market is highly correlated.Getting comfortable with taking risks: they exist and it is impossible to avoid them.The Barbell strategy: have very little mo

Our next guest takes a mechanical, long-term trend approach to trading to a new level, and you’ll find out why he thinks it is the better option in this episode. He started Covenant Capital with his business partner in 1999 and has grown it into a profitable boutique firm. But in early 2002 after they ended the previous year down 20%, they really had to grind it out and stick to their guns which ultimately paid off in a big way.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:How Scot started his firm, doing the testing by hand.The difference between a discretionary model and a mechanical model and why Scot chose a mechanical one.How he met his business partner Brince Wilford and started with 3 accounts in 1999.How narrative bias can affect a trader’s decisions.How the firm got through a year that ended with them down 20%.What made Scot believe in his model and stick to his guns.The offerings that

Welcome back to the second part of our interview.In this episode we dive into the negative effect of greed on the market. Anders Lindell again shows his depth of knowledge as he elaborates on the nature of irrationality though the ages and how our markets today, really are rather stretched. This is a powerful episode, I really do hope you will enjoy it.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:How the IPM model profited by choosing to position against the carry frenzy in Japanese Yen during late 2008Risk factor analysis when selecting model attributesWhat the more reliable indicator in the global economy isHow their trading model works on overall, daily basis“Stop-Loss” Positioning in the IPM strategyWhere IPM identifies value traps and optimizes their exposure to itThe average length of trades at IPMWhat drives the relationships that Anders explores to build models arou

Our next guest turned a challenging market into an opportunity to transform his strategy and build something substantial.Welcome back to another episode of Top Traders Unplugged. Today we have the former CEO, now Chairman of Informed Portfolio Management on to discuss the road to formation of his firm, their Systematic Global Macro strategy, their unique approach to investor interaction and much much more.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:The relevance of controlling production at paper and pulp mills while Anders was a developing manHis history during his early days at JP bank as an analystThe impact of the shifts in the fixed income markets of the early 1990’s which inspired a new strategyThe strategic focus that was the starting point for the formation of IPMWho Anders learned from early on and who helped him cultivate a career in the hedge fund industryH

Did you know that a meditation practice can help you be a better investor?In this episode we discuss our common lessons that we ask all Top Traders, but we dive deep into why Nigol thinks differently about CTA issues. Growing up in war-torn Lebanon shifts the filters he uses to see the markets. We all have filters but in this episode you will learn what perspective he takes on the markets that may, or may not, support his market philosophy.Welcome back to the second half of our interview with Nigol Koulajian.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:How growing up in war torn Lebanon influences the way Nigol filters market decisionsThe challenging nature of a market injected with federal liquidityNigol’s strategies for selecting position sizingDrawdown expectations of Quest PartnersHow Quest works to maintain a balance in the working environment and how busy the team staysHow Nigol man

Want to build a computer that makes money?Quest Partners LLC has a long, robust track record with their systematic trading approach.They utilize a different strategies from many of their peers and have diversified their product range to include equity programs both hedge and long only.At the core of it all is their philosophy on focusing on what investors need. They provide solutions for investors rather than a purist strategy.Leading the way is our next guest on Top Traders Unplugged, Nigol Koulajian.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:How growing up Armenian provides a filter for the way Nigol perceives the marketsHis experience at Anderson Consulting and how he ended up working with Solomon Brothers by chanceWhy Nigol spend time at Colombia Business School programming and building modelsWhat Nigol thinks of Value at RiskHow Nigol found himself as a risk arbitrage manager despite his passion for CTA strategiesHow Nigol navigated beneficial detours before finally partnering

How would it feel to identify trades no one else you know is looking for?Our guest is back and this interview is all about carry trades, mean reverting environments, merger arbitrage, volatility arbitrage, tail hedges and how to become the best trader possible. It’s quite likely there is something in this interview which will help propel you forward as a hedge fund manager or in your research of managers.Welcome back to the second part of our interview with Chief Excutive Officer of Future Value Capital, Roman Lutz.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:Simple Models used by Future Value Capital to implement trend followingHow they utilize carry tradesThe third area of models: Tail HedgesLearn about how to carry potentially large value variance swaps while keeping the premium for holding them downWhere the variance exchange swaps derive from whether from OTC with counterparts o

Can you implement well established hedge fund strategies in a systematic way?Future Value Capital has been researching this for years, before they started trading. They are unique because of  how they simplify and automate complex Risk Premia.But we aren’t the best at explaining their systems. Roman Lutz, the Chief Financial Officer of Future Value Capital will explain it all in this interview.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:About Merger Arbitrage and How investors can ProfitWhat criteria they look for in mergers, such as Market Cap, Deal Size, Liquidity etc.What currency markets Future Value Capital entersThe app. 15 strategies they use and how many sub strategies they may haveThe origin stories of where the Future Value Capital strategy derived from.Understanding the typical way to build a derivative businessWhy the average correlation of a hedge fund with eq

Imagine if your assets under management went from $721 million to $50 million….Would you have the courage to stick with your system?Our next guest was able to weather that storm and come out even stronger. In fact, he gives credit to the fall in assets because it was an important component to improving their processes and efficiency today.We’re excite to share with you, the second part of my interview with CEO of Systematic Alpha Management, Peter Kambolin.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:How many markets Peter trades and the number of different spreadsThe three points during a day in which volatility is elevatedWhat triggers an exit from a trade when profit levels haven’t been reachedHow Systematic Alpha Management makes decisions relating to sizing market positionsThe number of daily trades Systematic Alpha implementsHow much of the P/L comes from the hed

Peter Kambolin is the common sense CEO behind Systematic Alpha Management, an Award Winning CTA Firm which has come through the tremendous market forces of the past 10 years. Their staying power is a testament to their success as conscious, ruled based traders.This episode is about his hero’s journey from immigrant origins in Moscow to founding a lasting, top financial service company headquartered in New York City.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:About the effect of the 2004 internet bubble and how Systematic Alpha created a “market neutral” CTA strategy in responseWhat it’s like to win global CTA awards yet still have to hunt new business due to capital flows towards large investment firmsPeter’s story of moving from Moscow to New York and how he entered the finance industryThe surprising story of how Pete

Welcome back to Top Traders Unplugged. On this episode Karsten and I discuss the systems and implementation that has led Amplitude to such remarkable success. As the interview comes to a close, we learn about Karsten’s philosophy of success and entrepreneurship. Despite being based outside the global financial hubs (i.e. New York, Chicago, London) Amplitude has experienced world class results. He provides a deep philosophy on achieving success in the CTA industry.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:Allocation of capital from a stop-loss point of view when doing short term tradingAmplitude Capital’s systems for trade implementationWhy high frequency trading is a very different strategy from that of Amplitude Capital’sRisk management strategies and the framework for embedding these principles into the Amplitude Capital operationsExploring the meaning of market correlation

Through courage and vision, Karsten Schroeder co-founded Amplitude Capital as a pioneer in the CTA industry.Why pioneers? Because they focused on short term trading.In this episode of Top Traders Unplugged, Karsten and I discuss Amplitude Capital’s scientific approach to Amplitude Dynamic and Amplitude Klassik. These are the two short-term rule based trading programs that Karsten and his team run to invest billions of dollars on behalf on a small group of institutional investors.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:The founding story of Amplitude CapitalAbout the motivation source for choosing short term tradingThe scientific processes guiding Amplitude’s perception of the marketsHow Amplitude manages their in-house and outsourced business processesWhere the point of optimal capital under management is for Amplitude CapitalA bird’s eye view of their historical track

Today we will continue our conversation with Jerry Parker the founder of Chesapeake Capital and widely known as the most successful Turtle ever.After wrapping up his position with Richard J. Dennis as a famous “Turtle,” he went on to start his own asset management firm, Chesapeake Capital Corporation.In this episode we discuss the evolving CTA industry and the story of Chesapeake. It’s a powerful story from one of the most successful people in the industry. We really hope you enjoy it. -----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:How the research and complexity of systems has a backwards effect to making moneyChallenges with entering stock markets with CTA strategiesWhy counting the trades and analyzing sample size is what most investors forget to ask when seeking fund managersWhere the CTA managers have failed investorsHow Jerry Parker handles emotions during drawdownsWhy markets ha

Imagine you found an advertisement in the newspaper offering a position with a one sentence application process.Would you take it?What if it was for a position where you would learn a proprietary trading system in which you would trade solely for owner of the firm?What if that man was Richard Dennis?Our next guest took that position in 1983 and it changed his life forever, for the better. He found himself with what was to become a famous title, a Turtle. He was given the opportunity to manage a million dollar account with specific rules to follow. Rules that he would learn to love and perfect.-----EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE: Find Out How to Build a Safer & Better Performing Portfolio using this FREE NEW Portfolio Builder ToolIn This Episode, You’ll Learn:About the Turtles and how the unique experiment grew into the Managed Futures/CTA IndustryHow Wall Street Leaks inspired Jerry into understanding the industryHow Jerry encountered trend following for the first timeThe One Sentence culture in

Welcome back to Top Traders Unplugged. In this episode we continue our conversation with Dr. Mathias Bucher the Co-Founder of AllMountainCapital.In this episode we go deep in the philosophy, habits and personal traits required to excel in the hedge fund industry.It’s a pleasure to have you here and we hope you enjoy the episode.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:About Stop Loss, Risk Management and overall Exit StrategiesHow the current drawdown is effecting current testing and research at AllMountainCapitalHow Mathias takes the stress of drawdowns and turns it into creative powerThe research cycles in the program and the company as a whole at AllMountainAn example of a research idea developed and how it was implementedCurrent research interests in business development and market positioning as a CTAWhy Dr. Mathias Bucher and Dr. Tilman Keese base their business in Wollerau rather than a major financial hubThe threats and challenges involved in growing a young CTA firmDr. Mathias Bucher’s perception on why th