Flirting with Models

Corey Hoffstein, a specialist in managed futures from Newfound Research, joins the discussion on innovative investment strategies. He dives into return stacking, revealing how it enhances capital efficiency in portfolios. The conversation touches on the complexities of diversifying beyond traditional methods, the impact of high-interest rates, and leveraging alternative assets. Hoffstein also navigates the evolution of investment strategies post-2008 and shares insights on the role of personality in successful asset management.

Kris Abdelmessih, co-founder of moontower.ai and a seasoned market maker, shares his journey from the bustling trading pits to the digital world of volatility. He emphasizes the importance of real-time learning in trading. Kris discusses the shift from market making to relative value trading and the critical role of firm lineage in shaping traders. Delving into his new venture, he introduces tools for leveraging a volatility lens in options trading. The conversation also touches on how board games can enhance strategic thinking in trading.

Former discretionary energies trader Bill Gebhardt, now founder of 10Dynamics, discusses the transition to systematic trading, emphasizing signal incorporation, risk management, and operational strategies. Topics include trend-following models, balancing long-term trends with risk control, risk management in trading programs, operational challenges in shortening time frames, and systematically replicating discretionary commodity trading using Python.

Nicolas Mirjolet, CEO of Quantica Capital, discusses the challenges of scaling a statistical arbitrage fund and the advantages of larger players in asset management. He explains Quantica's multivariate trend-following approach, emphasizing the trade-off between diversification and convexity in trend strategies.

Financial experts Corey Hoffstein, Rodrigo Gordillo, Mike Philbrick, and Adam Butler discuss Return Stacking, market efficiency, and innovative investment strategies. They explore structured diversification, creating excess returns, and portfolio sustainability beyond traditional stock picking. The podcast provides valuable insights for navigating modern markets with confidence.

Markku Kurrti, a electrical engineer turned finance enthusiast, discusses analytical models on stock underperformance, active manager strategies, and the equity risk premium puzzle. He challenges traditional beliefs on diversification numbers, emphasizing the benefits for long-term success and optimizing returns. Exploring concepts like compound growth, leverage, and Kelly criterion, he provides unique insights into the financial landscape.

Otto van Hemert, Director of Core Strategies at Man AHL, discusses trend strategies, inflation resilience, seasonality in markets, and combining trend and seasonality in portfolios. He shares insights on measuring seasonality, the emergence of seasonality in commodities and financial markets, and the impact of long-term trend signals capturing seasonality effects.

Clayton Gillespie, VP at Deutsche Bank, talks about reconciling quant and fundamental perspectives in investing, incorporating survey insights into strategies, understanding regime changes, trade-offs between fundamental and statistical factors, managing risk and improving alpha signals, sticking with the factor premium, and the intersection of philanthropy and quantitative analysis.

Hari Krishnan, Head of Volatility Strategies at SCT Capital, explores developing a low carry hedge for a commodity bull market by understanding market positioning, price impacts, perishability, and seasonality. The podcast discusses depressed commodities, producers' incentives, return skewness, fundamental analysis, liquidity constraints, and low-cost, high-convexity strategies in futures and options markets.

Nick Baltas, managing director at Goldman Sachs, discusses using systematic strategies to solve asset owner problems, his research on cross-asset skewness and implementing a skewness strategy. He also shares insights on building multi-strategy portfolios and meeting client needs.