Alpha Exchange

Over a 30-year career in markets, Vadim Zlotnikov has gained a strong appreciation for the value of time horizon in risk management and alpha generation. Noting that being sufficiently early in expressing a view on markets is not much different from being wrong, Vadim stresses the importance of implementation in achieving a successful outcome. Here we talk of trade construction that is not necessa...

Amidst a fraught backdrop for macro risk, uncertainty around inflation is a new and vexing challenge for investors. And with this in mind, it was my pleasure to host a conversation with Lindsay Politi, the Head of Inflation Strategies at One River Asset Management. Through our discussion, we learn about the framework she has developed over two decades in fixed income with an emphasis on trading in...

Armed with a PhD in economics and policy experience, Dave Bizer hit Wall Street, landing at Lehman Brothers in structured equity derivatives in the early 1990’s. A deep background in options pricing theory notwithstanding, he soon found that concepts like Ito’s Lemma were less important than helping clients solve practical problems like hedging equity risk in a tax efficient manner. Developing a k...

For Robert Tipp, Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Global Bonds at PGIM Fixed Income, an appreciation for financial market history matters. And in today’s fast moving environment, in which market prices are rapidly adjusting to expectations of Fed policy changes, Robert’s perspectives are especially relevant. Our discussion is a review of inflation and monetary policy cycles from many years...

Matt Amberson is among those who have watched the steady and consequential evolution of the listed equity options market over the last 3 decades. Getting his start on the floor of the CBOE in the 90’s, he was in the trenches during the period of incredible single stock volatility that was tied to the original tech bubble. While markets were not nearly as efficient then as they are now, Matt sought...

The still-nascent world of trading derivatives on cryptocurrencies requires more than just expertise in the math of options and trade construction. Pricing relationships can be driven by flows, by changes in sentiment and by regulatory tape bombs. For Ari Pine, Co-Founder of Digital Gamma, adeptness in financial technology is critical as well. Disparate venues, unique margin relationships and econ...

For Kris Sidial, the Co-CIO of the Ambrus Group, trading and risk management is a passion. A self-professed math nerd in college, Kris began dabbling in sports betting using a statistical approach. He soon found his way into option markets, where is now an active participant and also a humble student continuously gathering knowledge from his interaction with the markets. Through our discussion, we...

On this special 3 year anniversary episode of the Alpha Exchange, we turn the tables and your host Dean Curnutt is the guest. In conversation with dear friend Arthur Kaz, Dean shares perspectives developed over 30 years in financial markets. Through the discussion we learn of a risk framework focused on understanding the why of volatility events and how this study led to Dean’s founding of Macro R...

Now the Global Head of Quantitative Research at Soc Gen, Andrew Lapthorne got an early taste in unconventional macro thinking from the likes of Albert Edwards and James Montier. Over a career spanning 25 years, Andrew has engaged in the study of market prices, seeking understanding in their levels and volatilities both on an absolute and relative basis. Out of this work comes a framework for helpi...

In 2008, as the global financial crisis unfolded and his employer, Lehman Brothers, descended into bankruptcy, Jared Dillian decided to go it alone. An ETF market maker with a gift for writing, Jared launched the Daily Dirtnap, a newsletter focused on identifying market themes and actionable trade ideas.  Thirteen years and 3,000 publications later, the Dirtnap is widely enjoyed by a loyal readers...

Our conversation focuses on his current work as an Investment Strategy Advisor at Man Group where he has done work on the idea of crisis alpha: strategies that can effectively offset portfolio losses suffered during risk-off events. Campbell and his colleagues find that both time-series momentum as well as a long/short portfolio focused on the quality factor both have insurance-like characteristic...

Graduating from the London School of Economics in the mid 80’s, Victor Haghani set sail on a career in the fixed income markets. Joining Salomon Brothers and assuming a position in bond portfolio analysis, Victor became steeped in the math of bond markets and derivatives and part of a team that sought to conquer markets with science. He was among those who joined John Meriwether in the founding of...

For the landscape of elevated asset prices that defines today, nothing may be more consequential than changes in the inflation outlook. And for Barry Knapp, the founder of Ironsides Macro, the Fed is off-track with respect to its understanding of inflation in a post-pandemic world. While the Covid shock brought market volatility comparable to the breathtaking levels experienced during the GFC, the...

With a position in rate strategy at Salomon Brothers in the late 1990’s, Subadra Rajappa developed an early appreciation for how market risk can be transmitted from one part of the world to the other through the 1997 Asian FX crisis and the LTCM debacle a year later.  Over the course of a career spanning more than 25 years, she’s developed a macro framework that is underpinned by an assessment of...

If you asked yourself, “what are the odds?”, Denise Chisholm can probably tell you insofar as market outcomes are concerned. A Sector Strategist at Fidelity Investments, Denise leverages historical data as part of a probability framework that helps her evaluate risk and opportunity in the equity market. Our conversation explores episodes when her process uncovered overlooked relationships that wer...

For Jeff deGraaf, financial markets have always been about figuring out who moved the pieces in a chess match and why. Early exposure to the discipline of technical analysis and its focus on prices and probabilities helped Jeff begin to develop a framework that concentrates on finding bets with favorable odds. Our discussion considers the market events that have played a formative role in how Jeff...

Initially trained as a lawyer and consultant, Peter Cecchini's career spans a few decades across the buy side and sell side, focused on both bottoms up and top down analysis of risk and opportunity. Now the head of research and strategy at Axonic Capital, Peter shared his insights on the Merton model and the linkages between credit spreads, stocks prices and asset volatility. In the context of thi...

Few professionals have the depth of perspective on the many market risk events that were missed by the models as Rick Bookstaber. Trained at MIT where he received a PhD in economics, Rick would become Morgan Stanley’s first risk manager in 1984.  There, and also at Salomon brothers, Rick was among the quants on Wall Street that developed early pricing models for interest rate derivatives. In this...

With many years experience trading and risk managing derivative exposures, Simon Ho is now the founder and CEO of T3 Index, a financial research and technology firm doing some interesting work in the arena of complex index and product construction.  An avid user of VIX products during his time on the buy-side, Simon loved everything about the CBOE suite of vol products but the cost to use them. He...

Now the Global Head of Macro at Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, Colin Lancaster has always found top-down investing a fascinating discipline.  Trained as a lawyer but finding his way to the buy-side in the 1990’s, Colin has spent the last 25 years in markets, allocating capital and building teams focused on macro.  Over his long career, he’s traded through his share of vol events, each a challenging...

From a young age and learning from his humble and hardworking parents who immigrated from South Korea, Paul Kim developed an appreciation for the value of capitalism and the pursuit of the American dream.  Finding his way into the investment industry first in an investment banking seat at Lazard where he learned by fire, Paul would ultimately spend time at PIMCO and then at Principal Global Invest...

In the investment world, few if any products have experienced as much growth as the exchange traded fund. And within the ETF business, no firm is as large and as important as BlackRock. In this context, it was great to welcome Samara Cohen, Managing Director and Co-Head of EII Markets and Investments at BlackRock to the Alpha Exchange. Through our discussion, we learn of Samara’s start in the indu...

If “theta is the rent on gamma,” for Robert Bogucki, trading options from the long side has always been worth the inevitable pain from carrying positions during benign periods in markets. Trained in mechanical and aerospace engineering, Rob made his way to Goldman Sachs at a time when the Street was just starting to take on individuals with math and physics background. Starting on the currency opt...

After a 6 week hiatus during which I was recovering from a serious jet ski accident, I am excited to bring you a fresh episode of the Alpha Exchange.  And it was wonderful to spend time with Andrew Scott, a Partner and Head of Client Solutions at Bach Option.  Our conversation is an exploration into the complex factors that drive the clearing price for volatility in equity markets.  In this contex...

On this episode of the Alpha Exchange, Dean had the pleasure of catching up with Erin Browne, a Portfolio Manager at PIMCO. Through their discussion, we learn of Erin’s introduction to the study of macro, a discipline she instantly found fascinating and has underpinned her more than 2 decades career in markets. At Moore Capital through the build-up and ultimate unwind of the US housing bubble, Eri...