TTU37: How to Build a Multi-Billion$ Trend-Following Firm ft. Martin Lueck of Aspect Capital – 1of2
Top Traders Unplugged
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
4.8 • 670 Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2014
⏱️ 70 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we get an exciting behind-the-scenes story of one of the most famous systematic trading firms of its time, AHL. Our guest is one of the firms founders and takes us from the company’s birth to its acquisition by Man Group. We also discuss how he started his next company, Aspect Capital, how he creates his trading models, and how to build and run a successful multi-billion trend-following firm. This episode is full of insights and stories that you won’t hear elsewhere.
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50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- About Quantitative Investment research.
- About Martin’s background in physics.
- Martin’s time at his first company, AHL and how it had a profound effect on the whole managed futures industry.
- How Martin met his future AHL co-founders at university.
- Why AHL was a happy accident.
- How he met his friend Michael Adam and went to work for his dad after studying in Oxford.
- Martin started working for Michael’s dad as well, investigate many trading models and distilling them into key concepts.
- In 1987 they founded AHL with David Harding after leaving Michael’s father’s business.
- They started with $100k of investor money that bridged their split from the family business.
- About MINT, a pioneering systematic CTA in the early 80s.
- How they tried to articulate their trading patterns in the form of a computer trading model.
- What the initial AHL model looked like back then.
- How they over optimized in the beginning and had to learn things as they went along.
- How AHL got involved with Man Group.
- The skills that each of the 3 Founders brought to the table.
- In 1989 Man Group took a stake in AHL.
- How the Man buy changed their business.
- What happened after Man’s IPO.
- How Michael, David, and Martin went their own ways after they left AHL.
- How Martin started Aspect Capital with Anthony Todd, Eugine Lambert and Michael Adam.
- Why he parted ways with his other AHL founders initially and did not start AHL 2.0.
- What he does when he is not working.
- Aspect was founded on bringing managed futures to the institutional side of things.
- What it looks like running 100-person+ organization.
- What he looks for when adding new researchers and staff to his team.
- The lessons he has learned and the mistakes he’s made in building a culture of an organization.
- About their track record and how it should be viewed.
- Martin’s persistence in using trend following models.
- How his models have changed and how he has dealt with risk management over the years.
- What it means to change his models from a binary implementation to an analog implementation.
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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Learn more about AHL.
- Find out more about the MAN group.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Top Traders on Plot, episode number 037, with Marty Lewick, co-founder and director of research of Aspect Capital. |
| 0:10.3 | This episode is sponsored by Swiss Financial Services. |
| 0:14.6 | Imagine spending an hour with the world's greatest traders. |
| 0:18.4 | Imagine learning from their experiences, their successes, and their failures. |
| 0:22.8 | Imagine no more. Welcome to Top Traders Unplugged, the place where you can learn from the best |
| 0:28.7 | hedge fund managers in the world so you can take your manager due diligence or investment career |
| 0:33.9 | to the next level. Here's your host, veteran hedge fund manager, Niels Kastrop Larson. |
| 0:47.2 | Welcome to another episode of Top Traders on Plot. |
| 0:51.0 | Thanks so much for tuning in today. |
| 0:53.4 | I know how valuable your time is, so I'm grateful |
| 0:56.4 | for you spending some of it here with me today. On today's show, I'm talking to Marty Lueck, |
| 1:03.2 | co-founder and director of research of Aspect Capital. Marty is well known in the alternative |
| 1:10.0 | investment industry as one of the co-founders of AHA back in the mid-80s. |
| 1:16.8 | Marty and his partners at Aspect Capital set out on a quest to democratize the managed futures industry |
| 1:24.6 | by providing access to these successful quantitative strategies but without |
| 1:30.5 | the wrapping of expensive structures and guarantees. And without a doubt, Marty and his partners have |
| 1:36.9 | been incredibly successful in their quest. At the same time, their legacy of AHL has become the root of so many of the successful |
| 1:47.5 | European investment managers of our time. Needless to say, this is a conversation that is |
| 1:54.4 | full of knowledge that you simply can't buy. It's priceless. For those of you who are new to the show, I just want to let you know that you can find |
| 2:04.2 | all of the show notes, including a full transcript of today's episode on the top traders |
| 2:10.1 | on pluck.com website. |
| 2:12.8 | Now let's get started with part one of my conversation. |
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