The Derivative

In this episode, Jeff talks with Stephen Davis of Davis Commodities about Memphis’s long-standing role as a center for commodity trading and Stephen’s path into the business, from his first days on the Chicago Board of Trade grain floor to building his own trading firm. Stephen dives into how agricultural markets are shaped by global supply and demand, crop conditions, weather, trade flows, and government policy, including the many uses of corn and soybeans in food, animal feed, and fuel. He also explains how he turns research into trades, why he favors longer-term themes over short-term market moves, and how experience, including costly mistakes, helped him develop firm risk-management rules. The conversation covers his Plutus agricultural strategy, Global Macro and Atlas programs, and how commodities can diversify portfolios concentrated in stocks and bonds.  - SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:17= Intro

01:18-12:56= From Memphis Commodity Roots to the Trading Floor 

12:57-18:20= Brokerage to CTA Trading: Learning Risk Management 

18:21-28:02=Agricultural Research, Trading Lessons, and Risk Management

28:03-38:54 = Plutus: Agricultural Trading Strategy, Corn Outlook, and Risk Management 

38:55-51:38 = Soybean Markets, Biofuels, and Weather’s Role in Agricultural Trading

51:39-59:26 = Weather Forecasting, Crop Yields, and Global Crop Tours

59:27-1:05:49 = Macro and Atlas Strategies, Portfolio Diversification, and Family

1:05:50-1:07:56 = Memphis Movies

Follow along with Stephen ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out daviscomllc.com to learn more about what they are up to.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Jeff Malec talks with Adrian Keevil of Plustick Partners about his path from corporate finance and academic research to investing, and how his work on stakeholder relationships informs the firm’s approach. Keevil explains Plustick’s old-fashioned partnership philosophy and its focus on distressed, event-driven, and special-situations investing, from overlooked assets and misunderstood businesses to shorting unsecured bonds. He also shares the personal and professional experiences behind his perspective, including his family’s history in market trading and lessons from studying how real businesses operate. The conversation explores portfolio construction, credit markets and private credit, the potential economic effects of AI, and the ethical questions AI raises in business and education. It wraps up with Keevil’s Charlottesville restaurant recommendations.  - SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:23= Intro

01:24-11:54= Plustick Partners and the Old-School Hedge Fund Model 

11:55-30:29=Distressed Investing, Hidden Assets, and Building a Resilient Portfolio 

30:30-48:00=Unsecured Bond Shorts, Credit Markets, and Finding the Story Behind a Business 

48:01–58:37 = Private Equity, FanDuel, and Plustick’s Idea-Driven Research Process 

58:38–1:10:55 = AI, the Future of Work, and Business Ethics + Top restaurants in Charlottesville 

From the Episode:

• NEW WHITEPAPER: Beat the Market with Less Volatility

• PODCAST: Zigs, Zags, and Finding Micro Cap Winners with Ian Cassel

Follow along with Adrian and Plustick ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out plustickpartners.com to learn more about what they are up to.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this solo six-pack episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec makes the case for showing up to your kids’ games, especially when the final round of high school golf ends one stroke short of state. Then it’s off to the CTA Expo, where systematic strategies may be yesterday’s novelty and discretionary macro is having a moment. Jeff also digs into the Lakers sale, insurance float, and the tax perks that can come with owning a sports franchise, before wondering whether ultra-luxury resort communities are becoming self-contained mini-cities, and whether their plumbers and caddies could be among the workers least threatened by AI. Jeff checks the early evidence on AI and jobs: entry-level knowledge workers are showing some warning signs, even as the broader employment picture remains unsettled. He wraps up with listener mail on getting more RCM voices on the podcast, making managed-futures strategies easier to compare, and bringing tail hedging back into the conversation. Expect sports, markets, tax quirks, big questions about the future of work, and a few strong opinions along the way. - SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-00:52= Intro

00:53-04:03=Why Showing Up for Your Kids’ Games Matters

04:04-07:23=CTA Expo Takeaways: Discretionary Macro’s Return

07:24–10:51 = The Lakers Sale, Tax Benefits, and a Utah Real Estate Deal

10:52–14:30 = Luxury Enclaves and the AI-Proof Jobs That Serve Them

14:31–21:11 = Tracking AI’s Impact on Jobs: Early Signals and Open Questions

21:12-25:59 = Listener Mailbag: Managed Futures, Tail Hedging, and Podcast Guests

From the Episode:

• BLOG POST: When Skynet Writes a Substack: The AI Doom Piece That Moved Markets

• PODCAST: AI, Markets, and the Profits of Doom with Adam Butler

• PODCAST: Painting Corners to Protecting Portfolios: Former MLB pitcher Scott Karl on How Athletes Blow the Money, Alts, the Mental Side of Performance, and the NIL Era

• PODCAST: This City Trades Different: Yogi, the Floor, and Building RCM

Questions and comments about this episode or The Derivative podcast? Contact us! [email protected]

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Jeff Malec sits down with Adam Butler of Return Stacked ETFs, back for the first time since their May 2023 AI episode, when GPT-4 had just come out. Since then Return Stacked has grown past $1.6 billion. Adam explains why AI is spreading faster than any technology before it and describes his own workday, with Claude Code and Codex agents running in parallel and working overnight until the human's attention is the real limit. He then pushes back on the doomsday headlines. He argues that p-doom stories help frontier labs chasing trillion-dollar IPOs and favorable regulation, and points to the risks he thinks are real, like "obliterated" models with their safeguards stripped out and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

Along the way, they dig into the paperclip maximizer and the recent case where sandboxed AI agents secretly coordinated to gain admin access to Hugging Face. They also cover AGI, ASI, and recursive self-improvement, and why Adam sees markets as the original paperclip maximizer. From there they turn to the AI funding loop with Nvidia at its center and no real moat for the labs, why Adam expects negative stock returns and prefers trend following, and his argument that mass job loss is a failure of imagination, not an inevitability. - SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:51= Intro

01:52-10:23=Compute Deflation and the Multi-Agent Workday

10:24-19:46=Managing the Agent Swarm, and Doubting the Doomsayers

19:47–35:51 = Fear, Incentives, and Obliterated Models: Which AI Risks Are Real?

35:52–53:57 = Paperclip Maximizers and Escaping Agents: How AIs Learned to Coordinate

53:58–01:05:39 = RSI, Regulatory Capture, and Winner-Take-All

01:05:40–01:20:13 = No Moat, No Mission: The AI Funding Loop, Trend Following, and America's Failure of Imagination

01:20:14–01:23:34 = Rooting for Whatever Went Up

From the Episode:

• PODCAST: AI isn’t coming…it’s already here, with Adam Butler and Taylor Pearson

• BOOK: Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash

Follow along with Adam and Return Stacked ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out returnstacked.com to learn more about what they are up to.
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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Some episodes are worth bringing back. This is one of them. Salem Abraham is a bit of a legend in the trend following and managed futures world. With 30+ years in the business, he’s got the experience, the war stories, and, thankfully, the willingness to tell them. We originally sat down with Salem a few years ago, and the conversation was too good to leave in the archives.  In this re-release, we cover tiny Canadian, Texas; why you need noodles and red sauce if you’re competing to make the best spaghetti; the Turtle Traders; a tourist boat capsizing in front of the nude beach; just how low oil can go; hanging out with Boone Pickens; honeybees; sending the first computer-generated orders electronically to the CME; trend following, naturally; why an apple salad is not a fruit salad; bonds at zero; and pecan and apple orchards. You know, the usual. 

Salem is the founder of Abraham Trading Company, a research-driven investment management firm that has managed alternative asset portfolios since 1988 for families, individuals, foundations, endowments, and institutions. Today, the firm runs the Fortress Fund for endowments and institutional investors.

So whether you caught this one the first time around or somehow missed it, we're digging it back out of the archives. - SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:20= Intro

02:20-13:14=Canadian, Texas: Orchards, Eight Kids, and Community Capital

13:15-34:45=From 1987 Crash Kid to Panhandle Prop Trader: Lessons, Oil Busts, and Early HFT

34:46–38:45 = When Everyone’s on One Side of the Boat: Crowded Trades, Crashes, and Naked Risk

38:46–58:38 = Building a Hurricane‑Proof Portfolio: Bonds Are Broken, Alternatives Step In

58:39–1:09:59 = From Crashes to Coronavirus: Rethinking 60/40 and Birth of the Fortress Fund

1:10:00–1:19:49 = Salem’s Lightning Round: Favorite Things, Real Assets, and Star Wars

From the Episode:

• T. Boone Book: The First Billion Is The Hardest

• Check out our Trend Following Guide!

Follow along with Salem and Abraham Trading Co. ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out abrahamtrading.com to learn more about what they are up to.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ian Cassel, founder of MicroCapClub and author of Stock Picker, joins Jeff Malec to walk through the underfollowed world of micro cap stocks, tiny, illiquid public companies where most 10x winners are born. He shares his journey from blowing up a dot‑com era portfolio to rebuilding it with XM Satellite Radio, explains why structural inefficiencies and lack of institutional capital create opportunity, and breaks down how he evaluates management, survives volatility, and finds small, profitable businesses that can self-fund growth. 

Along the way, they compare micro caps to private equity and venture, discuss global markets from Canada to Australia, and explore why serious stock pickers and small business owners are increasingly drawn to this overlooked corner of public markets.  SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:06= Intro01:07-04:22= Hometown Roots and Micro Cap 10104:23-19:14= From Penny Stock Stigma to Informational Edge: Ian’s Micro Cap Origin Story

19:15-38:15= Illiquidity Edge: Why Owning Every Micro Cap Fails (and Stock Picking Wins)

38:16–50:49 = Betting on People: Management Upgrades, Tailwinds, and 10x Setups

50:50–1:01:33 = Living Off Your Portfolio: The Psychology, Pain, and Payoff of Being a Stock Picker

01:01:34-01:05:02 = Philly Sports, Risk, and Wrapping Up with ‘Stock Picker’

From the Episode:

Stock Picker (Book): Amazon | MicroCapClub

Roadrunner Podcast episode

Follow along with Ian and MicroCapClub ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out microcapclub.com to learn more about what they are up to.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with John McArthur of Krilogy to trace his path from backup quarterback at Mizzou and Northwestern to CIO of a nearly $6 billion independent wealth management firm. John talks about how college football shaped his views on timing, opportunity, and accountability, then connects those lessons to building a planning-first advisory culture outside the wirehouse world of AG Edwards and Morgan Stanley. The conversation dives into how Krilogy builds portfolios using a mix of active and passive tools, daily-liquid alts, private markets, and fixed income, with a particular focus on left-tail risk, crisis alpha, and why diversification still matters in a market dominated by mega-cap tech and AI narratives. John explains how the firm thinks about private equity, private credit, secondaries, and interval funds, emphasizing liquidity trade-offs, client education, and realistic expectations around distributions in a higher-rate world. Jeff and John also tackle the economic and market implications of AI, both as a powerful productivity engine and a potential source of labor disruption and how that overlays with client fears about geopolitics, inflation, interest rates, and elections. They wrap by getting practical on college savings strategy when markets are at all-time highs, the behavioral side of advising (part therapist, part portfolio architect), and close on a lighter note with John’s football roots and his personal Mount Rushmore of gridiron stories, including a nod to Bo Jackson’s legendary 30 for 30.   SEND IT!

Chapters:

00:00-01:20= Intro

01:21-05:25= NIL Millions, Teenagers, and the Trouble With “New Money”

05:26-14:26= From Backup Quarterback to CIO: Building Krilogy and Planning for the Next Left-Tail Shock

14:27–24:47 = Beyond “Alts”: Private Markets, Secondaries, and Whether AI Fuels Boom or Bust

24:48–33:08 = Buffered Notes, Interval Funds, and De-Risking College at Market Highs

33:09–43:17 = Fear, Euphoria, and the CIO as Therapist: Coaching Clients Through the Next Shock

43:18–51:45 = Bo, Ball, and Balancing Risk: From Two-Sport Legends to Two-Sided Portfolios

51:46–54:32 = Bo, Bars, and Bill Simmons: McArthur’s Mount Rushmore of Football Flicks

From the Episode:

PODCAST: Scott Karl episode: Painting Corners to Protecting Portfolios

RCM Golf Clinic Sept 25th Sign-up

Follow along with John and Krilogy ⁠on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out krilogy.com to learn more about what they are up to.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Jeff Malec sits down with Josh Blanchfield of Avos to trace his path from physics at Harvard, poker pro, and 11 years at Bridgewater (including co-heading the trading desk during Lehman) to running a concentrated, risk-aware commodities and macro shop. Josh explains why China is “ground zero” for global commodities, detailing how its import cuts, stockpiling, and scrap policies have shaped oil, copper, gold, and uranium, and why understanding flows and participant behavior matters more than neat top-down supply-demand models. He breaks down how Avos blends macro with very granular micro, like Chinese spec flows around Lunar New Year, refinery outages, crack spreads, and uranium’s inelastic buyers, to build convex, options-heavy trades that aim to capture upside tails while avoiding the classic commodity-fund blowup. 

Along the way, they dig into the realities of radical transparency at Bridgewater, the limits and promise of AI as a “research team we never hired,” the risks of an AI-driven labor shock, the true drivers of the dollar’s dominance and petrodollar fears, why he’s skeptical on small modular reactors but bullish nuclear, and how his Substack and broader investment philosophy challenge received wisdom on everything from munis to equity valuations. - SEND IT!

Chapters:00:00-01:19= Intro01:20-09:01= From Boulder Trails to China’s Oil Trap: Josh’s Origin Story and DB Cooper Commodities

09:02-19:27=China’s Dollar Dilemma, Gold Grab, and the Real Story Behind Commodity Power

19:28–30:36 = From Poker Tables to Lehman’s Collapse: Josh’s Bridgewater Baptism by Fire

30:37–37:57 = AI, Jobs, and Impossible Growth: Rethinking the Macro Behind the Magnificent Seven

38:38–49:04 = Gold Flows, Burning Refineries, and the Uranium Edge

49:05–56:26 = Capacity, Convexity, and Why Small Nuclear Isn’t So Small

56:27–01:09:15 = Munis, Myths, and Moneyball: Josh’s Skeptical Playbook and Pop-Culture Lens

From the Episode:

• PODCAST:“Dr. Copper”: From Chilean Mines to Chinese Smelters to AI Data Centers in the US – with Kurt Nelson & Natalie Scott-Gray

• PODCAST:Going Nuclear: How Uranium is Powering Portfolios with Trevor Hall & Justin Huhn

• PODCAST:OpenSnow’s Joel Gratz built a Pod Shop for Powder Days: the PMs are Meteorologists and the Returns are Faceshots

• BLOG:The Definitive List of the Best Investing Movies

Follow along with Josh and Avos ⁠on LinkedIn and Substack, and be sure to check out avos.co to learn more about what they are up to.

Don't forget to subscribe to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Derivative⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, follow us on Twitter at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rcmAlts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign-up for our blog digest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*This podcast is provided for informational and educational purposed only and should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation of any specific security, strategy or investment product. The views expressed in this recording are the personal views of the participants as of the date of this podcast, are subject to change, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Asset Management One USA Inc. itself. Any discussion of investment strategies, market conditions, or portfolio construction is intended to illustrate general investment concepts and may not be appropriate or eligible for every investor. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. All investments involve risks including the possibility losses as well as profits. Nothing discussed in the podcast constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or investment advisory service. Listeners should consult their own financial, legal and tax advisers before making any investment decisions.Jeff Malec sits down with Jiro Fujisawa of Asset Management One USA to unpack one of the more unique quant approaches in the space: a cross-asset factor alpha (CAFA) strategy built on 80 synthetic markets. Jiro walks through his path from mechanical engineering to quant finance, the differences between engineering-style experimentation and market reality, and how AMO USA thinks about risk premia, implementation details, and factor design. 

The conversation dives into decomposing futures markets into orthogonal risk factors, running trend, carry, and skew models on top of synthetic price series, and why the real edge often lies in construction and risk management rather than “new” factors. They wrap with where quant fits in today’s equity-dominated world, how investors are using risk premia alongside multi-strats, and why systematic absolute return strategies still matter when the macro regime turns.

Chapters:00:00-01:33=Intro01:34-13:37=Jiro’s Global Journey: From Mechanical Engineer to Quant Investor13:48–21:50=Building Risk Premia: Factors, Liquidity Imbalance, and Precision in Implementation21:51–32:12=Unbundling Risk Premia: Custom Menus, Multi-Strats, and DIY Limits32:13–48:20=Inside CAFA: 80 Synthetic Markets, Trend/Carry/Skew, & Orthogonal Bets48:21–51:24=Quant’s Comeback and Absolute Return in an Equity-Driven WorldFollow along with ⁠Jiro and Asset Mangement One USA ⁠on LinkedIn and be sure to check out ⁠am-one-usa.com for more information! Don't forget to subscribe to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Derivative⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, follow us on Twitter at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rcmAlts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign-up for our blog digest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode of The Derivative, host Jeff Malec welcomes back Standpoint Asset Management founder and CIO Eric Crittenden for his third appearance, diving into what’s happened since Standpoint launched in 2019 and why their approach has remained unchanged. Eric explains why he resists the industry’s obsession with “constant innovation,” favoring disciplined stability in his trend-following and multi-asset process, and how the past six years, from COVID to fast crashes and energy shocks, have stress-tested both his risk management and investor behavior.

Jeff and Eric dig into the “abandonment problem” in advisor portfolios: why investors love managed futures when they’re hot but struggle to stick with them, and how combining global equity beta with trend-following in one vehicle can make diversification more holdable. Eric outlines three simple metrics advisors say they want, beat a 60/40, lower volatility, and low equity beta, and reveals how few of the 11,000+ funds available at launch delivered on that promise.

The conversation also covers replication, capacity and market selection, correlation myths, and why Eric prefers trend plus cap-weighted equities over bonds for long-term compounding. They close with thoughts on AI, product structures, and how categorization and reporting frameworks can work against good investor outcomes.

Chapters:

00:00-01:12=Intro

01:13-11:41=Stable Strategy in a Chaotic Market: Standpoint’s Six-Year Stress Test

11:42–17:33 = Replicators vs Originals: The Trade‑Offs of Cloning Managed Futures

17:34–31:13 = When Trend and Stocks Both Hurt: Correlation, Drawdowns, and Knowing When It’s Broken

31:13–49:46 = Beating 60/40 and the Bucket Problem: Why True Diversifiers Are So Rare

49:47–57:34 = Buckets, Burritos, and the Sausage Problem: Making Diversification Holdable

57:35–01:06:41 = Where Standpoint Fits: Liquid Alts, Multi-Asset Overlay, and Rethinking Bonds

From the episode:

Liquid Alternatives - RCM Alternatives

Previous episodes with Standpoint

BLNDX[ing] Trend Following and Global Equity with Standpoint’s Eric Crittenden on The Derivative

Trends, Inflation Protection, & Getting Investors to the Finish Line with Eric Crittenden of Standpoint

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠