Top Traders Unplugged

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 pers...

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 ma...

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. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE In This Episode,...

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. ----- 50...

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 u...

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. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK...

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 intera...

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 th...

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 ...

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 researc...

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...

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 secon...

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 financi...

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 re...

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 h...

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...

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 be...

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 Managemen...

Our next show provides you with the opportunity to learn from a highly educated founder and fund manager. He Studied Economics at the Luzon Universidad de Carlos III de Madrid. He went on to earn a PhD in Quantitative Finance in Evolutionary Finance at University of Zurich. Upon graduating he agreed to a research position with Zurich Capital Bank. Horizon21 made an offer to have Mathias...

What are you going to do to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the industry? That’s the question Marty Bergin would ask the next guest on Top Traders Unplugged. Welcome back for the second part of our interview with, Marty Bergin. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How trade decision...

Our next guest is a partner in a firm that has enjoyed 40+ years of trading success with a 35+ year continues track record of their WMA program. The track record of the organization, DUNN Capital Management, is world-class. The legendary Bill Dunn offered partnership to our next guest and he replied, “I’m happy with where I am.” Bill’s response will make you laugh. Please enjoy my conver...

Today we rejoin the conversation with Martin Estlander the Founder and CEO of Estlander & Partners. If you missed the first part, feel free to listen to it here . In this episode we explore the evolution of the CTA industry, the skills required to run a successful business and finally the fun, less known facts of Martin’s life outside of trading. Welcome to the second part of ou...

Estlander & Partners – The Oldest CTA firm in Scandinavia and one of the Longest Running CTA firms in the World.  Thank you for listening to my conversation with its founder Martin Estlander. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How Martin got involved in the CTA Industry The Evolution of Estlander & Partners and Where They are Today Founding of an options trading business in Frankfurt in 1...

We’re back with the second part of our conversation with the Head of Research at Rho Asset Management. In this episode we discuss the details of Managing Equity Curves, Trade Length in CTA systems and how Rho achieves to get the optimal position size when entering new trades. Thank you for visiting, now let’s continue the interview with Tushar Chande. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How Rho cr...

On today’s show I am talking to Tushar Chande, Co-Founder and Head of Research at Rho Asset Management.  Tushar is also the author of a number of books on the topic of how to design rule based trading systems as well as having been actively trading these systems for more than 20 years. ----- 50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE In...