Top Traders Unplugged

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 Management and overall Exit Strategies
• How the current drawdown is effecting current testing and research at AllMountainCapital
• How Mathias takes the stress of drawdowns and turns it into creative power
• The research cycles in the program and the company as a whole at AllMountain
• An example of a research idea developed and how it was implemented
• Current research interests in business development and market positioning as a CTA
• Why Dr. Mathias Bucher and Dr. Tilman Keese base their business in Wollerau rather than a major financial hub
• The threats and challenges involved in growing a young CTA firm
• Dr. Mathias Bucher’s perception on why the CTA industry excellence seems to be shifting to Europe
• Learn about the concept of the Industrialization of the Global Financial System
• The human traits needed to strive in the CTA industry

Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Larry Hite and ISAM
• Watch another interview with Dr. Mathias Bucher on Opalesque TV

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE 👀 – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

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 and his business partner Dr. Tilman Keese build a systematic trading program. In 2010 they left Horizon21 to go out as entrepreneurs with AllMountainCapital.

Please give a warm welcome to, Dr. Mathias Bucher.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The story of founding AllMountainCapital and how much AUM they currently manage
• How they outsource all non-core aspects of the business so they can focus on Research, Trading & Client services
• On the changes in the CTA industry from 2007 to the presentWhy central bank actions are correlated with a drop in volatility since 2009
• The nature of the AllMountain trading model and how it has coped during challenging times
• About the Modules that make up the AllMountain trading program
• Sectors and markets that AllMountain trade
• How their different system works and why they use it the way they do
• How they quantify trend strength in a market

Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Larry Hite and ISAM
• Watch another interview with Dr. Mathias Bucher on Opalesque TV

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE 👀 – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

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.

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JOIN THE TREND FOLLOWING MANIFESTO BOOK LAUNCH LIST TO GET SPECIAL LOW PRICE ON OUR UPCOMING BOOK DURING THE FIRST WEEK!

- CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• How trade decisions are generated and executed at DUNN Capital Management
• The way Marty and DUNN manage the emotional challenges of trend following
• Why many CTA firms are giving allocations to long equities and the results of that decision
• How significant drawdowns help to make firms stronger
• DUNN Capital Management’s approach to research
• How DUNN Capital identifies and reacts to issues with external/strategic alliance situations
• Portfolio development and decision-making at DUNN Capital
• On the importance for personal ownership in a CTA firm
• Learn about Michael Covel’s interview with Harry Markowitz
• The importance (or lack of) of being located in a large financial hub
• DUNN Capital’s investor focused fee structure
• Why European CTA’s seem to be out growing the American firms
• What does it take to become a great CTA in today’s environment

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Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Learn more about DUNN Capital

Copyright © 2026 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

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PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:

1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about

In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here

2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score

One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here

3. Other Resources that can help you

And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

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 conversation with, Marty Bergin.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The Story of DUNN Capital and the Evolution of the firm
• How Marty began working with the firm and how he became a partner
• The company culture of DUNN Capital and why it’s so important to their success
• An overview of the DUNN WMA program
• How the Value At Risk (VAR) approach separates DUNN Capital from other CTAs
• Why DUNN Capital manages all tasks in-house
• About the 40 year+ track record of DUNN Capital
• The big research upgrades taking place in 2006
• About the change to using two separate "Trend Following Models"
• About the adaptive risk profile (ARP)
• DUNN’s approach to diversification across sectors (for example; 23% in agriculture and 13% currency allocation)

Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Learn about DUNN Capital’s methodologies and awards.
• Q&A with Bill Dunn

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

Learn more about DUNN Capital

IT’s TRUE 👀 – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

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 our conversations with Martin Estlander.

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JOIN THE TREND FOLLOWING MANIFESTO BOOK LAUNCH LIST TO GET SPECIAL LOW PRICE ON OUR UPCOMING BOOK DURING THE FIRST WEEK!

- CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The best rule of thumb to visualize risk in a traditional CTA portfolio
• What Martin has learned from being in drawdowns and the difference between drawdowns before and after 2009
• The effect of volatility in the markets and how this impact CTA performance
• How Martin Estlander manages the emotional roller coaster
• Research processes and research cycles at Estlander & Partners
• How to identify and address systems that were working but now aren’t
• The biggest challenge for Estlander & Partners going forward
• What are investors not asking that they should be asking when choosing a CTA
• Where the misunderstandings can happen for investors when trying to understand the CTA industry
• How to become better at communicating with investors
• Martin’s key traits to success in the CTA industry
• Personal habits that have contributed to the success of Martin Estlander
• How Martin manages failures and improves from them
• The things Martin would do differently if he started over today

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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Learn about Commodities Corporation, the company behind some of the all-time great traders

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Follow Estlander & Partners Linkedin.

Copyright © 2026 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

----

PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:

1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about

In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here

2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score

One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here

3. Other Resources that can help you

And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

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 1991
• About the inspiring time in which he was part of the Commodities Corp. team until 1998 when Goldman Sachs came in and bought CC
• About Jan Haraldsson’s Alpha Trend Program and how they recently opened the Program for external investors
• The recreational activities that support Martin’s trading philosophy. Skiing, Tennis, Sailing and Meditation
• An overview of the Main Programs Estlander & Partners run today – Alpha Trend, Freedom, Global Markets & Presto
• The business organization of a modern day CTA firm – What is “in-house” and what is outsourced
• How volatility is perceived in the Estlander & Partners portfolio
• The structure of the Alpha Trend Program and why it is designed to trade 74 different instruments and how they mix together
• How Alpha Trend’s pattern recognition differs from the traditional moving average crossover or price breakout
• Whether Alpha Trend is Intra-day, End-of-Day… or both
• What Alpha Trends’ models are designed to capture
• How Alpha Trend manages stop loss and stop profits when entering a new market
• Particularly important key performance drivers of Alpha Trend
• The human intervention required to run the Alpha Trend model
• How Martin Estlander defines risk
• Achilles Risk and how Alpha Trend manages for it

Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Learn about Commodities Corporation, the company behind some of the all-time great traders

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

Follow Estlander & Partners Linkedin.

IT’s TRUE 👀 – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

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 creates for algorithms to decide the size of a new position
• The difference between the models in terms of trade length
• The trade frequency Rho Asset Management
• About the design philosophy in creating the profile of its Altius Program
• Discussing the research cycle and the research reviews
• Major findings that led to the creation of the Altius Program
• Why trend following systems make money over time
• How the CTA strategies will overcome challenges in the future
• The main thing investors should take away as a benefit of investing with CTAs

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE 👀 – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest rating & review on iTunes so more people can discover the podcast.

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.

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JOIN THE TREND FOLLOWING MANIFESTO BOOK LAUNCH LIST TO GET SPECIAL LOW PRICE ON OUR UPCOMING BOOK DURING THE FIRST WEEK!

- CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why the random nature of the markets attracted Tushar to develop systems for trading these markets
• Background information on Rho Asset Management and it’s philosophy
• How Tushar utilizes behaviors of discretionary traders to make estimates of conviction about their individual trades
• How Rho has designed it’s Altius Program to offer meaningful protection when equity markets go down
• What to be aware of when exploring an Asset Manager’s performance over a 20 year period
• Offense/Defense Ratio, What it means and How to use it to Measure the quality of systems design
• How Rho’s models have been designed in order to achieve the overall objective of the Program
• What Trend Following Indicators are used for and why
• Exploring the volatility of the equity curve
• The input data needed to run the Altius Program, the time it takes and when they run the model

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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Beyond Technical Analysis by Dr. Tushar Chande

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Copyright © 2026 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

----

PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:

1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about

In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here

2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score

One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here

3. Other Resources that can help you

And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

In this episode we continue our conversation with the founder and CEO of Brandywine Asset Management and discuss the aspects of what makes his rule based asset management style so successful.

Enjoy the second part of my conversation with, Mike Dever.

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JOIN THE TREND FOLLOWING MANIFESTO BOOK LAUNCH LIST TO GET SPECIAL LOW PRICE ON OUR UPCOMING BOOK DURING THE FIRST WEEK!

- CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Continuing the Conversation around why Trend Following can be more difficult
• Describing Disparate Return Drivers
• How Brandywine Assets Management actually implements the decisions of their trading model
• Why Position Sizing and Risk Management Principles are Everything
• How position sizes are managed across various Return Drivers
• Why Sharpe Ratio is a meaningless measure on it’s own. It doesn’t give you any idea on predictability of returns.
• The professional traders approach to the emotional challenges of drawdown.
• Managing regulation challenges
• The environment of marketing trend following strategies to investors
• What it takes to become a great trader today
• Who Mike started out aspiring to be like
• If Mike has any personal habits that contribute to his success

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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Jackass Investing by Mike Dever
• Learn about Dick Donchian the Grandfather of Trend Following
• Learn about Poul Tudor Jones of Robin Hood Foundation
• Learn about John W. Henry

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Follow Mike Dever on Linkedin.

Copyright © 2026 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

----

PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:

1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about

In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here

2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score

One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here

3. Other Resources that can help you

And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

On today’s show I am talking to Mike Dever, the Founder and CEO of Brandywine Asset Management.  Mike is a Divergent Thinking Systematic Investment Manager and Author of the best selling book “Jackass Investing”. Mike has been trading for almost 4 decades and shares a wealth of insight to how he has stayed successful and how his trading approach and research has stayed current in an ever changing financial landscape.

-----

JOIN THE TREND FOLLOWING MANIFESTO BOOK LAUNCH LIST TO GET SPECIAL LOW PRICE ON OUR UPCOMING BOOK DURING THE FIRST WEEK!

- CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The Evolution of Mike’s Trading
• How Mike almost got in to business with Richard Donchian
• How they developed a systematic trading model in the 1980s
• How Mike met and invested with Paul Tudor Jones, John W. Henry and was the first outside investor in Transtrend
• How Mike went from being a discretionary trader to become fully systematic when launching the Benchmark Program, and Why
• About the experience of running the Brandywine Benchmark Program in in the ‘90s
• How Mike discovered the importance of Portfolio Allocation in the 1980s
• The Story of Developing the Predictive Diversification Portfolio Allocation Model
• The Entrepreneurial Storm that Kept Mike away from Trading and Brandywine for Years
• The story of developing the Brandywine Symphony Program
• How many people it takes to run a system with more than 1,000 strategy/market combinations
• Exploring the track record of Brandywine Symphony Program
• Why one should avoid making decisions based on single return drivers
• 5 Themes in Brandywine’s Asset Allocation Strategy: Fundamental, Sentiment, Event, Arbitrage and Alpha Hedge
• How Marginal Cost of Production Works as a Return Driver
• Are the strategies from the 1980’s just as effective today?
• What is directional arbitrage?

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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Jackass Investing by Mike Dever
• Learn about Richard Donchian the Grandfather of Trend Following
• Learn about Poul Tudor Jones of Robin Hood Foundation
• Learn about John W. Henry

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.

And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.

Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.

Send your questions to [email protected]

And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.

Follow Mike Dever on Linkedin.

Copyright © 2026 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved

----

PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:

1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about

In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here

2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score

One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here

3. Other Resources that can help you

And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer