The Derivative

This week, we're adding another stamp to our Derivative passport and traveling to Zurich, Switzerland, as we talk to the Head of Systematic Solutions and Portfolio Construction at Sygnum Bank's Asset Management, Artur Sepp @ArturSepp — who specializes in crypto-assets and decentralized finance. Artur has led quantitative research at systematic trend-following hedge fund Quantica Capital, focusing...

A little over four years since 2018’s Volmageddon, and 2 years after TVIX got terminated – two new VIX ETF’s were recently launched – the 1x short VIX exposure SVIX and 2x long VIX exposure UVIX by VelocityShares. What’s different about them, how do they protect against another Feb of 2018 event. We’re going straight to the source(s) to answer those questions and more; chatting up three musketeers...

Forget about not being emotional in your investment process. Tap into those emotions! According to today's guest Denise Shull, that is the recipe for success. Denise is the Founder of the ReThink Group and leverages her neuroscience and modern psychoanalysis background to solve the mental mysteries of successful investing, trading, competing, and leading teams. In this episode, we talk through Den...

What exactly does a chief strategist do? Besides picking fights with Bitcoin HODLers on Twitter… And how exactly does one of the most prominent voices on the dangers of too much passive money trying to fit into a single asset classes on/off ramps, end up at….wait for it….an ETF shop? We aim to find out in this episode with Simplify's Chief Strategist and Por...

Who in the right mind would choose to make a living day trading stock index futures? It must be one of the most competitive, most challenging arenas out there with HFT and 10s of billions of dollars in quant strategies chasing alpha. In this week's episode, we're chatting up the founder and CEO of short-term systematic shop Deepfield Capital from Switzerland, who ply their wares on stock index mar...

Interesting times in the world bring interesting guests to the show. And, there's no better time than now to sit down with a global finance correspondent, especially with the U.S. unleashing their USD financial war against Russia. Robin Wigglesworth, a Financial Times journalist, joins us all the way from Oslo, Norway, for a captivating chat about his home country, the current turmoil between Ukra...

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The luck of the Irish is on our side as we celebrate today's episode with Dubliner Alan Dunne, CEO and Founder of Archive Capital, a boutique multi-asset and investment research firm focused on global macro and managed futures strategies. Alan has worked in the financial markets and investment management industry for over 25 years at hedge funds and large investment banks...

Picture this...Downtown Chicago...December 2019 B.C. (Before COVID)...The RCM crew is venturing out to a small studio ready to record the first episode of The Derivative, with no video or clue what we were doing! Who would have thought we would be crossing the 100th episode mark just two short years later!? And, we couldn't celebrate this special milestone without a one-of-kind guest. Chris Cole,...

Oil prices spiking. Wheat at new highs. A bid in Bitcoin. Russia’s invasion on its neighbor, Ukraine, got the world's attention and moved all sorts of markets. While our human side rallies around the Ukrainian people, our financial minds turn to wondering what is going on and what impact this chaos will bring on? To get a clearer global picture, Luke Gormen, a research pro focused on the macro pic...

With news of Russia invading Ukraine, it was as scary, market-wise, as it’s been since March of 2020 with global stock indices selling off rapidly overnight to send the Nasdaq into bear market territory, SP into correction, and the Nikkei to 15-month low. As the craziness ensued, VIX spiked up to 34 – so we got VIX expert Brian Stutland to come out of his foxhole to provide a unique overview of wh...

From his days as a clerk in the S&P pits to becoming Chairman and CEO of EMC Capital, John Krautsack is here to tell us about his journey in the futures industry — and nothing is off limits! From his wild west pit days to working for one of the original turtle traders, the late Liz Cheval, to what it's like implementing a new vision and everything in between. With their Classic program having...

There are not a lot of Florida Gator fans in Utah, just like there are few firms that move from high-frequency trading (HFT) into the mutual fund space. That's why Matthew Hanna from Teza Capital Management is here to talk us through what it is like running a systematic macro mutual fund. He reviews Teza's HFT and prop trading roots, how Teza’s algorithms approach the market, all while mixing his...

Timmberrrrr...welcome to the world of lumber! We’re laying the lumber in this episode talking through an exciting world some know as timber; others as fiber or wood, and the futures world as Lumber. Whatever you call it, it is impacting today's market with its wild swings, and in this episode, we're getting down to the nitty-gritty with two wood wizards, Stinson Dean of Deacon Lumber and Kyle Litt...

When in Rome do as the Romans do?...Did they have convexity? They had the word, convexitas, and in this episode, we are joined by not one, but TWO brainiacs in the option and vol space, Devin Anderson and Zed Francis from Convexitas. Devin and Zed making noise in the derivative world by launching the first true discretionary, all separate account implemented, derivati...

Now we’re cooking! We’re turning up the heat and bringing an abundance of flavor in this episode with a special guest who discusses venture capital, working capital, adds in a dash of e-sports and computer games, and sprinkles in being a rocket scientist. Dr. Chris Dark does it all, retiring at the age of 39, he continues to invest his family office across all asset classes, focusing on crypto, lo...

We're taking a trip across the pond to London in this episode and diving into the carbon markets and emissions trading with Michael Azlen, CEO and founder of Carbon Cap Fund and Management. Whether you care about making money off trending carbon emission prices, or saving the planet,  or both… Mike has become a leading voice for educating and explaining the role carbon emission credits and th...

We're kickstarting the 2022 season of The Derivative with fan-favorite - Cem Karsan. In this episode, the FinTwit star better known as @jamcroissant and his calls on Gary and Gamma and Vol and Vanna, digs into the interesting 2021 Vol moves, what 2022 may look like in the vol space (not good…or good, depending on your positioning), how he actually trades flow and options in his KAI hedge fund, as...

Hey everyone, it's hard to find a more interesting cast of characters in the financial world than in alternative investments, where every strategy has a story, every trade has a lesson, and every manager has a unique way of looking at the markets. That's why we started the derivative I'm your host, Jeff Malec. In each episode, I sit down with the people living and breathing futures and options, da...

Join us in this, our last episode of the year, where we’re talking Crypto and Bitcoin ETFs with Jason Urban, Global Co-Head of Trading at Galaxy Digital – which is perhaps better known as the folks behind the world’s largest Bitcoin Fund, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and its ownership of 650k+ bitcoin!  Today we step into a bit of Jason’s past when he founded and ran the equity index derivativ...

In this episode, we shed some light on one of the largest groups you’ve maybe never heard of, whose new “mission” is to seek out incredible trading talent and blend them together in a multi-PM Global Macro approach. We get into just how this all works, and more, in our chat with Markian Zyga, Portfolio Manager of Mission Crest, which is a subsidiary of Lighthouse Investment Partners who oversee ab...

This week is a cage match of a pod, going point/counterpoint on every Alt from private equity to fine art to digital assets with Phil Huber and the knowledge he’s about to drop in his upcoming new book ‘The Allocators Edge: A modern guide to alternative investments and the future of diversification’. Phil is the Chief Investment Officer at Savant Wealth Management. As a Chicago native, we talk wit...

In this episode, we sit down again with one of the OGs of VIX futures trading & options, Brett Nelson, CEO of Certeza Asset Management, and discuss their new mutual fund — Convex Core and how it relates to their Macro Vega hedge fund strategy. Join us to hear how the mutual fund aims to participate when the market is up, exploit opportunities when things get bumpy, and then protect heavily whe...

In this week's pod, we're doing something new and digging into the derivative market's Ag roots in our first "Way more than you need to Know" series, starting with the Global Meat Markets. Joining us today discussing all things Meat in the world is Simon Quilty, from Melbourne, Australia, and also RCM's very own Jeff Eizenberg, who handles all things Ag, including hosting the Hedged Edge podcast w...

We’re looking into the far reaches of the search for yield in this episode, diving into investors’ interest in so-called Cat Bonds, or catastrophe bonds, and the world of reinsurance and ILS (insurance-linked securities). Yes, even the biggest risk-takers need backing – and we’re talking Reinsurance with Chris McKeown, Chief Executive of Reinsurance, ILS, and Innovation at Vantage Group Holdings....

How do large delta hedging flows of market makers tie in with Central Bank quantitative easing? How do ETF rebalancing’s and structured note issuer movements shift markets? We sit down with options guru Hari Krishnan talk through his new book: Market Tremors - Quantifying Structural Risks in Modern Financial Markets .  Hari's first book, The Second Leg Down , talked about what investors can d...