meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Top Traders Unplugged

TTU29: How the largest investor in Hedge Funds got Started ft. Aref Karim of Quality Capital Management – 1of2

Top Traders Unplugged

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen

Business, Business News, Investing, News

4.8670 Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2014

⏱️ 70 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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 personal setbacks and successes, his innovative investment strategies, and how he founded Quality Capital Management in the UK.

-----

50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

  • About Aref’s childhood in Bangladesh.
  • How his father wanted all 10 of his children to attend university and instilled in them the belief system that made them successful.
  • Why Aref decided to study English and Literature even though his background was in the sciences.
  • The story of Aref’s escape to the United Kingdom because of war and social upheaval in Bangladesh.
  • How he went from being an accountant in England to working for the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, ADIA.
  • Aref’s perspective on the history of the hedge fund industry and the alternative investment industry.
  • About the beginnings of ADIA’s futures department that Aref helped to start.
  • The early days of the futures industry and Aref’s perspective on trend-following.
  • How he overcame personal setbacks when his wife unexpectedly passed away, leaving him with three young children.
  • About Aref’s return to the UK and his decision to start his own CTA and start trading in futures.
  • About the genesis of Quality Capital Management.
  • How Aref’s investment strategy evolved and the specifics of his current trading strategy.
  • How he measures the “Flow” of the market.
  • Why his strategy looks at changes in volatility and doesn’t care whether it is a bond or an equity.
  • How QCM went from using a few indicators to no indicators at all.

-----


Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:


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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're listening to Top Traders Unplogged, episode number 029, with Araf Karim, founder and CEO of Quality Capital Management.

0:11.0

This episode is sponsored by Swiss Financial Services.

0:15.3

Imagine spending an hour with the world's greatest traders.

0:18.9

Imagine learning from their experiences, their successes, and their failures.

0:23.4

Imagine no more.

0:25.2

Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged, the place where you can learn from the best hedge fund

0:29.7

managers in the world so you can take your manager due diligence or investment career

0:34.4

to the next level.

0:36.0

Here's your host, veteran hedge fund manager, Niels Kastrop Larson.

0:47.8

Welcome to another episode of Top Traders Unplocked.

0:51.8

Thanks so much for tuning in today.

0:55.9

I know how valuable your time is,

1:02.1

so I appreciate you spending some of it here with me. And also thank you to those of you who are sharing the podcast with your friends and your colleagues. It really does help me to expand the reach

1:07.6

of the show so that more people can learn from my amazing guests.

1:12.4

On today's show, I'm talking to Araf Karim, founder and CEO of Quality Capital Management.

1:20.2

Araf brings a unique perspective to our conversation as he started off his career on the

1:26.8

by side of the hedge fund industry.

1:29.7

And not only that, he did it within the largest allocated to hedge funds at the time,

1:35.5

and perhaps even today, namely the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, also known as Adia.

1:42.8

I think most people will learn a great deal from the insights to this unique organization that Araf shares.

1:50.6

But I also want to mention that at the very end of our conversation, which you will hear in the next episode number 030,

1:59.6

Ares surprised me when I asked him what I had not covered in the

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Niels Kaastrup-Larsen and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.