In this dynamic episode of the Derivative podcast, Jeff Malec sits down with Kevin Jamali, Senior Vice President at Farther, for an unfiltered dive into the evolving world of wealth management. What begins as a journey through Jamali's career—from Chicago Board of Trade futures trader to alternative investment strategist—quickly becomes a provocative exploration of how technology and personalized advice are reshaping financial planning. Jamali and Malec dissect the limitations of traditional inv...
Jun 26, 2025•1 hr 11 min
In this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with Jon Caplis, CEO of Pivotal Path, to dive deep into the world of hedge funds. They explore current performance trends across strategies like equity quant, global macro, and multi-strategy funds, unpack the challenges of hedge fund data collection, and discuss how sophisticated investors are approaching alternative investments. Caplis shares insights from tracking over 3,000 hedge funds representing $3 trillion in capital, revealing surp...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 2 min
In this revealing episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Grant Jaffarian from Crabel Capital Management to dissect the current state of trend following. They explore the declining performance over the past 6 months, challenges in maintaining positive convexity, and the critical need for innovation. Grant offers candid insights into how trend following has evolved, why its sharpe ratios have decreased, and why he remains optimistic about its future. From discussing market execution nuances to quantum...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 23 min
In this episode of The Derivative, host Jeff Malec sits down with Suzanne Yoon, Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, for an in-depth exploration of private equity. Yoon shares her remarkable journey from the daughter of immigrant entrepreneurs in Chicago to leading a lower middle market buyout firm. Drawing from her rich background, Suzanne discusses the evolution of private equity from financial engineering to value creation, revealing how her firm identifies and transforms ...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 7 min
This week on The Derivative: In this compelling episode, David Dziekanski, founder of Quantify Funds, joins host Jeff Malec to unpack the fascinating world of Bitcoin and gold. Dive deep into the innovative BTGD ETF, which stacks 100% Bitcoin and 100% gold, and explore the cutting-edge concept of portable alpha. Dziekanski shares insights on why these assets matter, how rebalancing can create portfolio alpha, and why institutional investors are increasingly looking at alternative stores of value...
May 08, 2025•58 min
In this episode, we dive deep into the world of commodity trading with Stephane Bernhard, CEO/CIO of CAM Multi-Strat Asset Management. Drawing from his 30+ years of experience starting at Louis Dreyfus through commodity trading house ETG, Stephane shares how commodity trading has evolved from pure fundamental analysis to today's complex intersection of physical, financial, and systematic trading. The conversation explores the world of commodity houses and physical trading of commodities, before ...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 30 min
In this wide-ranging conversation, Jeff Malec sits down with Dave Morehead, CIO of Baylor University's $2.2 billion endowment, to explore the unique challenges and strategies of institutional portfolio management. The discussion covers Baylor's innovative approach to portfolio construction, including their successful deployment of volatility strategies during the 2020 market crash, their current cautious stance on equity exposure, and their philosophy on private investments. Morehead explains wh...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 10 min
In this emergency pod edition, Jeff Malec is joined by Vineer Bhansali, Founder and CIO at LongTail Alpha, LLC , to break down the market's wild rollercoaster ride that demanded immediate attention. When markets hit new lows only to rocket back with a stunning 10% rally, we knew it was time for another "WTF episode" – our signature emergency broadcasts reserved for the financial world's most shocking moments. Together, Jeff and Vineer dissect the tariff chaos sending shockwaves through global ma...
Apr 11, 2025•55 min
Dive into the fascinating world of trend following with Jeff Malec and one of the GOATs: Harold de Boer, a pioneering systematic trader who transformed his life path from a Dutch dairy farm into the sophisticated global investment firm Transtrend. In this episode, Harold shares insights into the evolution of trend following, discussing how understanding market trends is similar to understanding herd behavior, navigating complex market correlations, and maintaining resilience during challenging p...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 11 min
This episode of the podcast piles on the knowledge about "return stacking" - the investment approach that lets you layer alternative assets and strategies on top of your traditional portfolio, like a perfect investment sandwich. Jeff Malec has stacked the deck with FOUR financial heavyweights - Mike Philbrick , Rodrigo Gordillo , Adam Butler , and Corey Hoffstein - each showcasing a "return stacking" ETF. We’ve brought together this team of experts to give you the blueprint for this innovative i...
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 31 min
In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Rick Silva, the co-founder of Metaurus Advisors, a boutique asset manager. Rick walks us through Metaurus Advisors' innovative approach to understanding and trading the equity risk premium using dividend futures markets. Rick Silva provides insights into the firm's background in derivative markets and their goal of bringing fixed income securitization techniques to the equity space. He explains the concept of parallel tranche securitization applied to t...
Mar 13, 2025•59 min
In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Scott Phillips, the CIO of Lavaca Capital, to discuss the firm's journey in the world of options trading. Scott shares his personal background, from his start as an auditor of energy derivatives at KPMG to founding Lavaca Capital and navigating the complexities of options strategies. The conversation covers Lavaca Capital's evolution, from their initial focus on simple option structures to the expansion into more complex portfolios and the eventual retu...
Feb 27, 2025•49 min
Join us for an insightful exploration of the fascinating world of commodity futures with Kurt Nelson, co founder and Managing Partner of SummerHaven Index Management. Kurt shares his unique perspective, honed over decades of experience, on the rich history and evolution of commodity markets - from the Dojima Rice Exchange in 16th century Japan to the modern-day cocoa futures trading. Discover how SummerHaven's research-driven approach, including the firm's dynamic commodity index, aims to uncove...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 14 min
In this episode, we dive deep into the current state of AI… getting to its transformative impact on the alternative investments landscape. Our guest, Mohammad Rasouli, is a renowned researcher at Stanford University and the founder and CEO of AIx2, a leading AI solutions provider for private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Mohammad shares his extensive expertise on how AI is revolutionizing the way alternative investment firms operate, from streamlining due diligence and deal sourcing ...
Jan 30, 2025•58 min
In this first episode of 2025, we’re plunging right into the fascinating world of sovereign wealth funds with Peter Madsen, the CIO of Utah's School and Institutional Trust Funds Office (SITFO). Peter shares his unique perspective on managing a multi-billion dollar portfolio designed to support public education in the state for generations to come. From his personal background in skiing and outdoor adventures in the Wasatch mountains to the challenges of navigating Utah's rapid growth and develo...
Jan 23, 2025•1 hr 12 min
For our first episode of 2025 we wanted to take a different approach... Enjoy our full-blown parody of Nate Bargatze's 'Washington's Dream' – complete with satire of several key issues in private equity and private market valuations. Warning: May contain traces of reality and excessive financial humor.
Jan 17, 2025•10 min
To close out the 2024 season of the Derivative podcast, host Jeff Malec sits down with two friends of the pod, and friends of his - Jason Buck and Zed Francis - for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of the markets, the unpredictability of macro events, and the importance of understanding underlying structures and dynamics. The conversation begins with an exploration of the unexpected market reactions following the first Trump election (in ‘16), highlighting the challenges of the past, and e...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 20 min
In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with David Sun, an entrepreneur, trader, and fund manager with a unique journey into the world of options trading and alternative investments. David shares his unconventional path, starting as a retail trader experimenting with options strategies, particularly selling puts, before transitioning to professional fund management. He discusses the challenges and lessons learned as he navigated various market regimes, including the 2018 and 2020 downturns. The co...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 7 min
In this episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Peter Polanskyj, Head of Structured Credit at Obra Capital, to delve into the firm's unique approach to investing across the insurance and credit markets. Obra Capital is a $4 billion asset manager with a specialized focus on opportunities at the intersection of insurance and credit. Peter shares insights into the diverse opportunities in this space, which spans longevity investing, reinsurance, structured credit, asset based financing, and more. Peter ...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 21 min
In this episode, we explore the world of options trading with Martin Vestergaard and Michael Cameron from Carmika Partners. The conversation begins with an in-depth analysis of the volatility spike that occurred in early August, as Vestergaard and Cameron share their insights on the market dynamics and the impact on their trading strategies. The discussion then delves into the growing influence of daily options and the challenges of navigating a highly electronic and technical market. Vestergaar...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 34 min
In this episode of the Derivative podcast, our host Jeff Malec sits down with Tim McGregor and Tom Hession from Riverbend Capital Advisors to dive deep into the world of municipal bonds. The discussion covers the unique inefficiencies and complexities of the $4 trillion muni bond market, which features over 75,000 different issuers across the country. Tim and Tom explain how this fragmented landscape creates opportunities for active management and value capture, even in a low-risk asset class. T...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min
In todays episode, Jeff Malec sits down with Bill Gebhardt, the founder of 10 Dynamics, to discuss his interesting career journey and the development of his unique systematic trading approach. Bill shares his background, from working on the floor of the CBOE in the early 90s to earning a PhD in finance and transitioning into the energy trading space. He provides insights into the evolution of the commodity markets, including the rise and fall of Enron, and the challenges of maintaining an edge i...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Today’s episode on The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with James Maund, a veteran of the financial industry with experience spanning Goldman Sachs, the NYSE floor, and his current role at KraneShares. Maund provides a unique insider's perspective on the rapid growth and innovation within the ETF space while outlining KraneShares main investment pillars – China Tech, Carbon emissions/cap-and-trade, and options-based overlay strategies designed to generate income and downside protection. Maund s...
Aug 22, 2024•58 min
Today's episode features an in-depth discussion with discretionary global macro trader Asim Ghaffar, founder and CIO of AG Capital. Ghaffar shares his insights on the recent market volatility, including his views on the potential triggers behind the sell-off and the chances we have for a recession. Was it just a blip on the radar, algos deleveraging? He explains his discretionary macro trading approach, highlighting the importance of risk management, position sizing, and the psychological challe...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 14 min
In this episode of The Derivative, host Jeff Malec sits down with DeWayne Louis and Nishant Gurnani from Versor Investments, a quantitative investment firm celebrating its 10th anniversary. The discussion delves into the personal backgrounds and journeys that led to Versor’s founding, from their work providing efficient exposure to traditional hedge fund strategies through risk premia type approaches to new methods such as their unique GETT program which goes long/short more thana dozen global s...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 11 min
In this episode of the Derivative we chat with Gary Selz, co-founder of Zero Delta Funds. Gary shares his background growing up in Chicago and studying electrical engineering at Northwestern University. He discovered options trading through a financial engineering course and was introduced to a Chicago prop trading firm. Gary discusses his experience training as a new trader at the prop firm. He explains how traders are given time and support to learn before getting their own book to trade. Gary...
Jun 27, 2024•57 min
We’re back! Today’s podcast features The Derivative show stoppers Rodrigo Gordillo and Adam Butler of Resolve Asset Management discussing the carry trade and its applications in investment strategies. They begin by explaining what the carry trade is and discussing common misconceptions around it. They then dive into different types of carry that can be found in various asset classes like bonds, commodities, currencies, and equities. The guests discuss how carry strategies can be implemented, eit...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Joe Kelly, partner at Campbell & Co., joins us this week for a new episode of The Derivative. Jeff starts talking skiing, as he’s apt to do, but this time is a bit different, with Joe sharing an update on his recent recovery from a nasty ski accident that nearly left him paralyzed (or worse). We then move right into Joe discussing his career journey from trader to founding a FinTech startup during the tech bubble, to joining the long-time managed futures standout Campbell & Company. Joe ...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 6 min
This episode of The Derivative discusses the current state of Volatility – and how to use those measurements in diversifying investment strategies with Jeremie Holdom and Colin Suvak of LongTail Alpha, an investment firm focused on tail risk hedging. The guests share insights into their work, analyzing volatility across asset classes and constructing customized hedging solutions for institutional investors. Jeff, Jeremie, and Colin do something a little bit different in this pod – walking throug...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 15 min
In this in-depth conversation, Jeff Malec picks the brain of veteran quant Doug Greenig about pursuing trends on a truly global scale. Greenig takes listeners on his fascinating career journey, from cutting-edge fixed income modeling at Goldman Sachs to managing risk at MAN AHL's pioneering CTA firm. He explains how this experience led him to establish Florin Court Capital and develop novel ways of accessing over 500 international markets. Greenig and Malec engage in a lively debate about captur...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 7 min
