How to Access Mission Critical Investments in AI, Aerospace & Defense

"Very on point." (XB)

"Good presentation. Could I get some material and possibly have a one on one call?" (LC)

"Great presentation. I will be in touch." (ES)

"Excellent job, Ian" (MJ)

"Very interesting. Will be in touch!" (FV)

Thursday, May 16^th 2024

Whenever topics become 'hot', differentiating substance from opportunism is a key driver of successful long-term investment returns.

In this webinar, we will introduce you to some of the leading specialized investment managers in two areas of technology we believe will shape the next decades and are already of significant geopolitical importance:

Aerospace & Defence and
Artificial Intelligence.

Join this live Investor Workshop and learn and interact with investors who have been in these fields for decades and invested in it long before it became flavor of the day.

In addition to offering significant potential for financial returns, engaging and participating in these themes empower investors to make a positive impact through investments that align with the continued development and expansion of these themes.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 14

"Tight, sharp, clear, passionate." (AG)
[more feedback]

"Great session and excellent moderation" (TO)

"Excellent format" (SE)

"Great job" (TY)

"Wonderful format" (NEF)

Tuesday March 26th 2024

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 14 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

TradeWinds Asset Management is a US-based Registered Investment Advisor run by Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Christian D’Urso, who has been active in the financial markets for twenty years. The firm specializes in constructing portfolios of stocks, mutual funds and ETFs, managing $125m on behalf of investors across the US through their offices in Oregon and Rhode Island.

TradeWinds is the investment advisor to a hedged equity strategy which launched in January 2024, applying a nuanced approach to achieve its objective of significant equity returns with constrained volatility and controlled drawdowns. This long-biased approach is based on an existing stock strategy managed by Tradewinds that has been running live with audited returns for the past four years.

Strategy Highlights:

Portfolio consisting of 15-30 large cap stocks having strong momentum selected from a global universe of approximately 400 through the application of rigorous quantitative methods.
Proprietary risk overlay called Adaptive Beta that utilizes a rules-based methodology to adjust leverage, exposure and hedging based on proprietary signals identifying the prevailing market state.
Dynamic Hedging Program using the combination of put and call spreads designed to constrain volatility and avoid large drawdowns while maintaining the significant opportunity for upside return capture when momentum is dominant.

“The 100s of trillions of dollars in the global financial system contain measurable and actionable trends that produce outsized moves in individual securities over months and years. We have developed a proven and systematic way to identify where the global bull markets are occurring and within those markets which stocks have significantly enhanced potential for outperformance. In addition, we have developed robust and scalable tools for identifying when to add and remove risk from the portfolio.”

Christian D’Urso, Founder & CIO at TradeWinds Asset Management

Ironshield Capital Management LLP is a London based Investment Manager run by Founder and Chief Investment Officer, David Nazar, who has devoted over two decades to credit investments. The firm manages concentrated liquid portfolios of event driven, stressed and distressed credit, focused on actively traded bonds, loans and other corporate securities with events typically crystalising within 3-6 months. The team uses a probability and scenario driven approach to evaluate opportunities and assess risk.

The firm manages range of strategies spanning the liquidity spectrum, offering a platform to investors including UCITs, hedge funds and closed ended structures.

Strategy Highlights:

Opportunity set at its biggest level ever €700bn+
Credit indices are priced for 5 to 6% annual default rates over the next 5y.
Portfolio typically consists of 20-30 bonds, loans and CDS
Issues from EU and Western European stressed and distressed credits (typically B-CCC-D)
Consistent returns throughout the market cycle

The investment team’s objective is to achieve high absolute returns across the strategies by exploiting periods of market mispricing caused by operational and capital structure changes in credits. Our strategy is a unique combination of limited downside capture and high absolute returns which is achieved by high-quality, deep and rigorous credit analysis. Given that there is a scarcity of high yield and event-driven credit experts in Europe, there is a growing gap between expanding opportunity sets and the number of people like us exploiting them. Our methodology has been developed, implemented and refined over the past 16 years. It has now been successfully tested throughout several credit cycles.

David Nazar, Founder & CIO at Ironshield Capital Management

Aura Ventures is a thesis led, high conviction investor focusing on Seed stage technology companies in Australia and South East Asia.

Since launching the strategy in 2013, Aura Ventures has deployed c. $55m into 22 companies and delivered an average TVPI of 2.1x and DPI of 0.74x across all fully deployed fund vintages. The Fund’s success in the asset class to date can be attributed to their thesis driven approach to deal origination and selection, due diligence program and an active approach to portfolio management through to exit.

Aura Ventures is part of Aura Group, a Wealth and Funds management firm founded in Australia in 2009 with head office in Singapore and a growing footprint across Asia Pacific.

Since 2013, Anbruggen Capital has been at the forefront of crypto investing, actively involved in the development of crypto-based funds. This translates into a decade of experience, a team driven by continuous learning, and a deep understanding of the crypto landscape.

Anbruggen Capital employs a blend of top-down and bottom-up research to strategically analyze and invest in a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Their core expertise lies in deep value, research-based discretionary strategies focused on:

Next-generation blockchains
Decentralized finance (DeFi)
Blockchain gaming/metaverse
Adjacent assets

Join the Crypto Revolution with Thomas Bleimuth and Anbruggen Capital.

The Ultimate Alpha Strategy: Mastering Early-Stage Tech Investments

"Excellent presentation!" (JMA)
[more feedback]

"Very on point." (XB)

"Good presentation. Could I get some material and possibly have a one on one call?" (LC)

"Great presentation. I will be in touch." (ES)

"Excellent job, Ian" (MJ)

"Very interesting. Will be in touch!" (FV)

Tuesday, February 27th, 2024

Investor Workshop with Investment Banker turned "Super Angel" turned VC Ian Sosso

Building direct exposure to early-stage start-ups can not only be a very profitable strategy but is vital for institutional investors, family offices and private investors alike in a world where we are seeing a redistribution of wealth towards tech businesses and tech entrepreneurs.

There is strong evidence that small, emerging managers outperform large established managers in venture capital. But there is also a growing number of investors who are investing directly in early-stage businesses. We have seldom met one that is not either already investing or at least considering it.

Yet, finding the right investment formula has been challenging for many: loss of capital in the first few investments, inadequate deal flow, lack of understanding of the due diligence process and investment process, ticket size too small for institutional investors to warrant the time and effort, etc.

Casual tech investors lose money. However, early stage venture investing is the ultimate alpha generation strategy: There is no index replication strategy. There is no proxy to being an active investor. But there is evidence that the leading angel and venture investors consistently generate substantial returns.

So, we all love tech, we all want to get involved, but how do you intelligently participate in the future of tech? How do you build a strategy that makes sense, how do you get the best of a high performing venture fund and build both exposure and experience in direct investing, and why it is so important that you do?

With a 7 year IRR of 38%, Ian Sosso, the Founder & Managing Partner of Monte Carlo Capital (www.montecarlocap.com), knows what he's talking about. Ian has over 15 years experience as a business angel and 16 years investment banking in Europe and Asia, and has built an award winning strategy that brings together the diversification and performance of a small venture fund, while offering his LPs significant direct co-investment opportunities.

Join this exclusive investor workshop and learn:

How to identify 20x investments
Why early-stage investment is the ultimate alpha generation strategy
What is the full cycle investment process, from deal sourcing, to due diligence, closing a deal and working with the company.
What is the most difficult in early-stage investing?
Why deal sourcing and due diligence are the main drivers of return
The channels to source high value tech deals across verticals
Why building tech investing know-how is not done by being a passive investor in funds. What you can do instead

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 13

"Tremendously valuable content and well-articulated. I don't care if it's 11:22 pm at night, if Chris Addy is on the stage, I'm in!" (JG)

"Chris was great today. Much obliged!" (SW)

"Great job on the webinar today. Very helpful information and thank you for taking questions. We are all wrestling with the new regulatory regime and your webinars are incredibly on point." (CR)

"Thank you for an excellent presentation." (KM)

"Very helpful insights - appreciate the presentation." (AK)

"Very good information." (DG)

Tuesday, January 16th 2024

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 13 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

Savin Investment Partners is an Amsterdam based investment boutique founded in March 2020, specializing in relative value and volatility trading strategies. Savin launched its first fund, the Savin Multi-Strategy Arbitrage Fund, in February of 2021. Aiming for absolute returns and true portfolio diversification by delivering on an uncorrelated and differentiated return profile compared to the broader market. Currently managing €40m from around 60 international investors, ranging from HNWI, family offices, wealth managers, and fund of funds. The fund was awarded a EuroHedge Award (best new Relative Value fund) in 2022.

The Savin Credit Opportunities Fund will launch Q2 2024 to invest in high yield / distressed debt and exploit mispricing’s across the capital structure. Market volatility, higher interest rates and the upcoming debt maturity wall will fuel the pipeline of the fund’s credit opportunities. The existing strategy will be carved out from the Multi-Strategy Fund, to scale and capitalize on the growing opportunity set.

Strategy Highlights:

Non-crowded strategy and mostly overlooked by bigger hedge funds due to sizing constraints given mid-market company’s debt size and option liquidity
Asymmetric and uncorrelated return profile
Targeting IRR 12% net of fees after hurdle

“The investment landscape is evolving with heightened uncertainty and volatility. Market direction is becoming a less reliable return source. Relative value and volatility strategies offer a low correlation to general market direction. We aim to deliver a differentiated return profile with strategies that can capitalize on opportunities that are surfacing in a changing environment.”

Bas Emmerig - Founding Partner / PM

Southview is an Atlanta, USA based investment manager focused on the acquisition, sustainable management, and disposition of investment grade timberland properties in the Southeast United States.

Southview’s real assets investment strategy is in direct contrast to the opaque world of digital assets and complex financial products.

The Southview team has 30 years of experience, leverages proprietary deal flow in the Southeast USA, employs little to no debt/leverage, and has a track record with many profitable exits on investments.

The founders of Southview currently manage personal land holdings of 10,000 acres in the Southeast USA; the value of these holdings is over $100m.

Southview’s opportunistic and value add strategy has natural tailwinds in the current and future growth of the region, and based on highly disciplined and repeatable processes.

The firm’s ability to source proprietary opportunities & focused land management boosts overall returns is supported by a strong network of landowners and forestry industry contacts. Unlike other timberland investment managers that rely solely on timber returns, Southview optimizes gains from both timber and non-timber components including agricultural leases, hunting & recreation leases, harvesting pine straw, and more.

“Southview’s investment strategy is in direct contrast to the opaque world of digital assets and complex financial products. Timberland is a real asset and your investment dollars will purchase assets in the United States that are productive, fixed, and necessary.”

John Brenard, Managing Director & Founder at Southview Timberland Investments

Strix Leviathan has been created by a team of seasoned technologists and experienced finance professionals that recognized the opportunity for algorithmic trading within the cryptocurrency markets.

The company seeks to deliver SUPERIOR RISK-ADJUSTED RETURNS to a buy and hold basket of digital assets by applying a systematic approach to portfolio allocation through the use of proprietary statistical models.

Runs directional-focused strategies that take both long and short positions which are best placed to extract alpha from the massive volatility in this asset class. Relies on a diversified set of signals across multiple markets:

Cryptocurrencies
DeFi
Smart Contract Platforms
Decentralized Apps

“Blockchain technology has given birth to a new world of investable assets. This dynamic and emerging asset class presents investors with unique opportunities and challenges. Capturing alpha in this inefficient and immature asset class requires sophisticated technology and active management by an experienced team. Founded in early 2018, Strix Leviathan has years of experience under its belt.”

Nico Cordeiro, CIO Strix Leviathan

Eagle’s View Capital Partners invests predominantly in 'niche oriented' hedge fund strategies that seek to exploit an 'edge' or a structural inefficiency in the marketplace and which show little or no correlation to mainstream asset classes such as equities, fixed income, or commodities markets.

The manager seeks to generate a consistent source of uncorrelated alpha by combining a diversified portfolio of uncorrelated hedge fund strategies with robust risk management and due diligence.

Strategy Highlights:

Outperforming: Since inception in Jan 2011, Eagle's View's cumulative return has been approx. 162% (HFR Composite Hedge Funds of Funds Index approx. 52%)
Annualized Sharpe Ratio of 1.33 (HFR Composite Hedge Funds of Funds Index: 0.50)
Non correlated: Beta to S&P 500: -0.01 (HFR Composite Hedge Funds of Funds Index: 0.26)

"We do not rely on market predictions to generate alpha and absolute returns. Instead, we seek to capitalize on market inefficiencies which are overlooked by most traditional hedge fund investment vehicles. We believe that significant opportunities currently exist in such 'under the radar', less widely followed strategies. In addition, our investments are diversified amongst an array of strategies. Underlying liquidity within the portfolio is a paramount consideration."

Neal Berger, Founder/Chief Investment Officer of Eagle’s View Asset Management

Service Provider Due Diligence: The Next ODD Challenge

"Boy, the SEC has been on a real roll with the new and proposed rules!! Thanks for the webinar!" (LG)
[more feedback]

Extremely detailed and insightful session - thank you for putting it together! (HS)

Super job, well organized and very instructive. (TY)

Very comprehensive and informative. (GA)

Very well presented (TZ)

Great session. Thank you very much Chris and Matthias. (BL)

This was a really timely with great content packed into the 1-hour session. Invaluable to have access to such a highly respected operational due diligence leader with lots of practical takeaways from the INTERACTIVE session. Thank you for hosting and organizing. (TM)

Tuesday, December 12th, 2023

The new SEC proposal sits alongside other global rules which impact outsourcing (such as Prudential Standard CPS 230 in Australia) and the inter agency guidance recently issued by the US Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. IOSCO, the International Organization of Securities Commissions has also issued a global guide to outsourcing.

These rules have similar themes and objectives. They seek to clarify that the entity outsourcing – be it an asset manager or an investor – remains responsible for the activities outsourced. Then, rules seek to apply a structured, third-party vendor risk management framework to those third party providers, driven by effective due diligence.

Presenter: Chris Addy FCA CFA, President and CEO of Castle Hall Diligence

Moderator: Matthias Knab, Founder, Opalesque

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 12

"Tremendously valuable content and well-articulated. I don't care if it's 11:22 pm at night, if Chris Addy is on the stage, I'm in!" (JG)

"Chris was great today. Much obliged!" (SW)

"Great job on the webinar today. Very helpful information and thank you for taking questions. We are all wrestling with the new regulatory regime and your webinars are incredibly on point." (CR)

"Thank you for an excellent presentation." (KM)

"Very helpful insights - appreciate the presentation." (AK)

"Very good information." (DG)

Wednesday, November 08th 2023

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 12 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

The Aura High Yield SME Fund provides investors monthly income returns with a strong premium to cash from a diversified portfolio of debt securities including asset-backed SME loans, director guaranteed SME loans, and senior loans to Alternative Finance (AltFi) lenders secured against a loan portfolio.

The Fund has outperformed its benchmarks on a cumulative returns basis, with stability in the return profile. Its September’23 distribution was the 74th since the inception of the Fund, delivering annual compound returns of 9.41% in the last 12 months, and annualised returns since inception of 9.61%, net of fees and expenses on a distribution reinvestment basis.

Aura Group is a Wealth and Funds manager founded in Australia in 2009 with head office in Singapore and a growing footprint across Asia Pacific.

Beyond Impact is a Swiss-based advisory firm specializing in investments that resolve the problem of the use of animals for food, materials, clothing, ingredients, and animal testing, among others, by providing humane, sustainable, and economically viable alternatives. The diverse team, led by Claire Smith, a female investment manager, comprises partners, over half of whom are women or persons of color, with a collective experience of well over 100 years in financial markets.

Beyond Impact already invested over $40 million in alternative proteins and vegan products, with a portfolio of 30 investments, including the early rounds of groundbreaking food and biotech companies such as Geltor, The EVERY Company, Mosa Meat, Supermeat, and BlueNalu.

The second Beyond Impact fund was launched in March 2022 with $25 million of committed capital and is actively raising assets to reach its fundraising target of $160 million.

Environmental Finance has awarded Beyond Impact the Environmental Fund of the Year 2023 global title and honored Claire Smith as Investment Leader of the Year 2022 in the Sustainable Finance category. Beyond Impact also won both the "Best ESG Fund" and "Best ESG Fund: Climate Focused" categories at the prestigious Private Equity Wire European ESG AAA Awards.

This recognition followed a rigorous evaluation process overseen by EthicsGrade, an esteemed authority in the realm of ESG.

Quantumrock has identified a compelling niche within hard assets. And there aren't any institutional grade or professional investment grade offers for such an attractive asset class yet.

Quantumrock has recently issued an investment certificate called "Rough Gemstone I”. It is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and provides an opportunity to invest in the process of polishing gemstones. It is the firm's first hard-asset product, and aims to achieve returns of 49% to 106% net for investors in less than 24 months. The return target results from the multiples typically observed in the gemstone industry when converting rough stones to polished gemstones and selling the product at wholesale prices.

The gemstone market has experienced steady growth in recent years thanks to increasing demand for luxury goods around the world. It is estimated at $32bn in 2023, according to Future Market Insights, a research firm, and it is likely to reach almost $56bn by 2033. The market is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 5.6% within these 10 years. The gemstone market holds 50% of the share in the overall gems and jewellery market.

Life Settlements can offer an attractive mix of risk, return and non-correlation. Following a conservative approach, the Laureola Investment Feeder Fund delivered a compounded annual return of over 12% with a standard deviation of monthly ROR of just 1.55%.

The best feature of the asset class is the genuine non-correlation with stocks, bonds, real estate, or hedge funds. Life Settlement investors will make money when others can't. The strategy also displays strong ESG characteristics along with the potential for asset/liability matching. and established regulatory structures, offering three open-ended Funds: one for US investors, one for Australian investors and one for other non-US investors. Laureola is also the Investment Manager of a closed-end fund which is suitable for institutional investors globally. The strategy across all Funds is designed to provide investors with non-correlated returns which have historically improved risk-adjusted returns across traditional portfolios.

Laureola founder Tony Bremness, CFA, has over 35 years' experience in investment management, with over 11 years in Life Settlements.With a team of 13 professionals and over 200 years of relevant experience, the firm is vertically integrated - ensuring control and quality at all stages of the investment process.

Tech Innovation in Fine Wine is Captivating Consumers, Investors, and the World's Leading Winemakers

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Thursday, October 19th 2023

The Internet. iPhone. Web3. And now, Wine. Yes, tech is disrupting the millennia-old global wine trade, cutting out scores of middlemen. And this is to your advantage as a consumer or investor, because you can now securely access, buy and sell, store or ship the best wines in the world to your home.

"We are at the beginning of a revolution in the trade of fine wines," writes the REVUE DU VIN DE FRANCE, a monthly magazine which critics describe as "France's only serious wine magazine".

Behind this revolution is WineChain, founded by tech and wine geeks such as the former head of Amazon Europe, and financed by the deep pockets of the Motier family of Galeries Lafayette, the Rouzaud family known for leading wine brands including Champagne Louis Roederer, and Web3 venture capital FABRIC Ventures. Many of the world's leading champagne houses and winemakers are already on the WineChain platform.

WineChain's mission is to build a direct, secure and sustainable path between the creations of the top winemakers and their end consumers through a secure digital token marketplace. For the first time, the world's top winegrowers can connect directly with a global community of wine lovers and give access to their best wines and vintages.

By pairing each digital token to a physical bottle or case of wine direct from the winery, which are stored in WineChain's secure warehouse, WineChain clients not only get access to the finest wineries in the world and a wide range of choices, but also benefit from simplified logistics, frictionless liquidity, all with the ease of the digital era.

Wine as Investment

On top of preserving wealth through its intrinsic value, wines have performed well as an asset due to the constantly rising global demand and limited supply. Wine value is fairly uncorrelated to global macroeconomic trends and appreciates with age when stored properly, making it a strong option for long-term investment.

The digital token provides authentic proof of ownership, allowing you to either sell the wine within the WineChain marketplace, ship it to your home - or keep it stored with WineChain and watch its value go up.

The fine wine market has outperformed the stock market in recent years (+135% or 11.25 % p.a. between 2010-2022, based on Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000). This is due to a number of factors, including:

The increasing popularity of fine wine as an investment asset.
The limited supply of fine wine, which is driving up prices.
The high demand for fine wine from China and other emerging markets.
The positive long term outlook for wine as an investment.

A smart way to avoid fraud and provenance scandals

However, wine investment is also sensitive to fraud or suspect quality, with a number of provenance scandals happening just recently. Blockchain and digital token technology helps bridge this exciting asset class to a future where traceability and frictionless liquidity offer greater value and protection to the investor.

Join this interactive Opalesque INVESTOR WORKSHOP with WineChain co-founder Nicolas Mendiharat on Thursday, October 19th at 11 am ET and learn:

How blockchain technology revolutionizes the wine investment landscape
Understanding the concept of non-fungible tokens and their role in wine investments
Exploring global wine markets and investment opportunities through blockchain
Best practices for securing and managing your digital wine investment portfolio
Which champagne houses and winemakers are already on the WineChain platform
Your options to use WineChain and participate in WineChain's global success.

Who Should Attend:

Wine Enthusiasts: Whether you're a seasoned wine investor or just starting, this webinar is designed to cater to all levels of expertise.
Tech Enthusiasts: Discover the innovative blockchain technology disrupting traditional investment landscapes.
Financial Professionals: Learn how to incorporate wine investments using blockchain into your clients' diversified portfolios.

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: How to Crack the Magic Triangle of Diversification, Crisis Alpha and Return

"Tremendously valuable content and well-articulated. I don't care if it's 11:22 pm at night, if Chris Addy is on the stage, I'm in!" (JG)

"Chris was great today. Much obliged!" (SW)

"Great job on the webinar today. Very helpful information and thank you for taking questions. We are all wrestling with the new regulatory regime and your webinars are incredibly on point." (CR)

"Thank you for an excellent presentation." (KM)

"Very helpful insights - appreciate the presentation." (AK)

"Very good information." (DG)

Tuesday, September 26th 2023

Obtaining the three coveted outcomes of diversification, crisis alpha together with an attractive long-term return has been the ultimate yearning of investors and aspiration of investment managers, particularly in the managed futures space.

Most investment strategies are susceptible to suffering devastating losses during equity market crisis. Diversification with managed futures might be the remedy to obtain real crisis alpha, but not many programs have been able to deliver the third, the longer term return outcome.

In this context, Vienna based SMN Investment Services stands out as for more than 26 years the firm has been generating annual returns in high single digits, with zero equity market correlation and remarkably strong "crisis alpha" when it averaged over 20% of the full calendar years of 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2020 and 2021.

SMN was also featured as a "Corona Fighter" during the COVID-19 pandemic by Opalesque (download the full eBook with 210 funds that were up or protected assets in Q1 2020 here: https://www.opalesque.com/ebook/), returning +14.55% in 2020, +40.81% in 2021 (S&P 500: +26.89%) and +13.18% in 2022 (S&P 500: -19.64%). As of Aug. 31st 2023, SMN is up +14.26% YTD.

Join us for this Investor Workshop and learn how Vienna based SMN has been achieving the three coveted outcomes of diversification, crisis alpha, and attractive long-term returns:

Discover how Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) can play a pivotal role in achieving attractive investment outcomes and explore their unique characteristics
Diversification Done Right: Learn proven strategies and techniques employed by successful CTAs to effectively navigate diverse market conditions and deliver consistent results. Explore the art of diversification and how to construct a well-balanced portfolio with CTAs to mitigate risk and enhance returns
Crisis Alpha Generation: Uncover the methods employed by CTAs to capture crisis alpha during periods of market volatility and economic uncertainty
Long-Term Return Potential: Discover how CTAs have historically delivered attractive long-term returns and explore the factors that contribute to their success
Portfolio construction: the reason behind building robust portfolios without style drift and SMN's risk management philosophy for crucial position sizing
Continuous Innovation: SMN's research process and academic ties.
Performance Attribution: A look-through how SMN's investment process has added value in a diverse market environment with asynchronous trends.

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: How to Unlock Lucrative Opportunities through Secured Lending in Mispriced Niche Markets

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Thursday, September 07th 2023

"Within two or three years, whenever we can get liquidity from our hedge funds, we will be primarily all out," Jagdeep Bachher, Chief Investment Officer of the University of California said. "Once we're out, we'll replace that obviously with private credit, which has been a better place to be."

"We find that private credit gives us not just the cash flow generation, but there is also a risk premium in there. That works for us," - Wyn Francis, Chief Investment Officer at Brightwell, the investment manager for the BT Pension Scheme.

In light of this growing institutional interest, we present this INVESTOR WORKSHOP with Chicago Atlantic, an investment firm achieving above market returns through their strategic approach to niches with fundamentally mispriced risk. Their opportunistic credit strategy targets time-sensitive, complex investments in underserved and dislocated markets, such as the cannabis industry.

What sets Chicago Atlantic apart is their founding team's unique blend of deep credit experience and substantial business operating expertise, with a strong commitment to prudent product structuring. With a team of over 50+, the company has deployed over $2 billion across 50+ closed investments.

The cannabis industry stands out because a very limited supply of capital chases a seemingly unlimited supply of deals. Most markets behave in the opposite manner, and so the firm's founders quickly realized that the supply and demand for capital was totally distorted and that there was a significant opportunity for both alpha as well as scale.

By participating in this workshop, you will gain firsthand insights into Chicago Atlantic's proven process and strategies, and learn how to leverage secured lending to unlock the full potential of mispriced niche markets.

Key Workshop Highlights:

The Rise and Limits of Private Credit
Explore the Principles of Secured Lending and Its Relevance in Niche Markets
Discover Chicago Atlantic's Distinctive Investment Approach and Success Stories. The Necessity to Specialize
How to Build a High-Quality Origination Pipeline
Master Five Key Rules for Sound Underwriting
Apply Risk Assessment and Product Structuring Methodologies
Learn How to Identify and Capitalize on Mispriced Opportunities in Emerging Industries
Engage in Interactive Sessions and Q&A with Industry Experts

Opalesque INTERACTIVE with Chris Addy on Valuation, Cyber and the upcoming SEC "private fund" rule

"Your webinars are incredibly on point." (CR)
[more feedback]

"Tremendously valuable content and well-articulated. I don't care if it's 11:22 pm at night, if Chris Addy is on the stage, I'm in!" (JG)

"Chris was great today. Much obliged!" (SW)

"Great job on the webinar today. Very helpful information and thank you for taking questions. We are all wrestling with the new regulatory regime and your webinars are incredibly on point." (CR)

"Thank you for an excellent presentation." (KM)

"Very helpful insights - appreciate the presentation." (AK)

"Very good information." (DG)

Wednesday, August 16th 2023

The new Opalesque INTERACTIVE session takes the popular webinar format to a new level, enabling each participant to interact with panelists and other registrants in real time, and contribute or ask questions through either chat, audio or on camera.

Surveying the investor and investment management landscape, Opalesque and Castle Hall have found the following three areas to be of heightened interest at the moment, and so we'll kickstart the inaugural Opalesque INTERACTIVE session on Wednesday, August 16th 11 am ET with the following themes:

Keeping up with cyber security risks across third party asset managers
Valuation issues for private equity
Upcoming SEC "private fund" rule - changes around expenses, side letters and more

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 11

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Tuesday, June 13 2023

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 11 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

AlphaBee Asset Management: Being hedge fund investors since 1988, this family office backed investment manager's commodity arbitrage strategy trounces indexes: Luxembourg based AlphaBee Asset Management is backed by a Geneva family office and actively manages a portfolio of arbitrage and relative value strategies on energy, metals, and agricultural commodities, returning +15% during the last 12 months whereas the S&P Global GSCI Index and Bloomberg Commodity Index are negative with -26% and -20%.

Coming from this family office background, hear from Frederic Guibaud, CFA, CAIA, why and how AlphaBee strives to provide stability over and for generations, aiming for net returns of between +10% to +20% p.a. in USD, with a target volatility of between 6% and 10% (which is still lower than the realized volatility of the equity market).

AlphaBee Multi Arbitrage has won the recent The Hedge Fund Journal Awards 2023 for Best Performing Fund in 2022 and over 2 and 5 Years in its category "Arbitrage Strategies".
Tall Trees Capital: Energy Transition needs experienced hands.

Lisa Audet has over 25 years of experience across a diverse range of assets and industries and launched Tall Trees Capital Management LP in April 2022 with a strategic investment from Tiger Management.

At Tall Trees, Lisa and her team execute a global, thematic, long/short equity strategy that invests in companies that accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy and enhance long-term energy security.

Prior to founding Tall Trees, Lisa spent over 10 years managing investments in global energy and commodity businesses for Discovery Capital Management LLC, a global macro investment manager, generating superior, risk-adjusted returns over a multi-year period. Before that she was a Senior Investment Analyst at Hartford Investment Management Co. (HIMCO) covering the Oil & Gas, Mining and Chemical sectors and a Vice President and Regional Director with HSBC Equator Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she managed structured lending to commercial banks and private sector clients in sub-Saharan Africa.
Carbon Cap Management: A win-win for the climate and your portfolio: Absolute returns from global carbon markets

Carbon and other environmental markets provide multiple opportunities to generate positive returns that are uncorrelated to other asset classes and traded more than $800 billion in 2022.

Currently there are 13 Emissions Trading Systems in force with 6 scheduled and 12 being considered. Cap and Trade are a "market based" policy that caps and reduces emissions at the lowest cost.

Michael Azlen, CEO of London based Carbon Cap Management LLP, has been a pioneer in trading carbon, making this uncorrelated and growing asset class available to professional investors. Launched in February 2020, the World Carbon Fund is up 87.83% ITD and now exceeds $205m AUM.
NewSpace Capital: Down-to-Earth Investments in Space

The Space Ecosystem represents one of the largest investment opportunities and holds the keys to a more productive, equitable and sustainable world. Space Tech is growing exponentially, transforming economies, businesses and everyday lives, and cannot be ignored. With enormous opportunities for both upstream and downstream businesses, Space should be on every investors radar:

With a current market of €450+, it is 7x bigger than AI and Robotics combined. Space data traffic will grow 14x by 2030, and by 2050, the Space market will exceed commercial banking industry today (EUR 2+ trillion).

Hear from Bogdan Gogulan, CEO/Managing Partner of NewSpace Capital, why growth-stage Space companies offer attractive risk/return (>25% target gross IRR) with lower tech & market risk. Led by a world class team with significant experience of investment in Space technologies and the Space domain, NewSpace invests in companies where the technology is proven and where they have growing customer bases.

Opalesque Risk Briefing: Debt Ceiling Déjà Vu?

"This is probably the best thing I've heard in a long time, I'll have to listen to the recording again. Very tight. Super explained. Super. Thank you." (PL)
[more feedback]

"This has been a true value-add presentation and thoughtful dialogue." (PA)

"VERY USEFUL WEBINAR" (AB)

"Thanks a lot... very interesting!" (JB)

"Thank you for doing this. Very informative. (AC)

Wednesday, June 07 2023

We have scheduled this URGENT RISK BRIEFING on short notice for June 7 because the Debt Deal could be the start of a critically dangerous period for the economy... and portfolios. Here's why:

The stimulus of US Government spending is usually balanced by the tightening impact of the US Treasury issuing the same amount of Bills, Notes and Bonds.
But for the last six months, because of the Debt Ceiling, that stimulus happened all alone. Just like Quantitative Easing (QE), it compressed credit spreads, boosted equities, crushed volatility, and muted the impact of Fed tightening.
It also helped mask underlying economic weakness caused by higher interest rates.
Meanwhile, many companies have been waiting to issue more than a trillion dollars in new debt, hoping to issue it at lower rates than today.

With the Debt Ceiling lifted, starting June 8 the Treasury will issue more than $1 Trillion in new Debt.

This will act like a sudden burst of Quantitative Tightening (QT) -- at the same time Fed Chairman Powell is still committed to maintaining high rates to fight inflationary pressures.
The impact will be the opposite of QE (2022 redux): Pressure on stocks, higher volatility, with widening credit spreads.
Companies waiting to issue debt may give up, and proactively default rather than refinance at unfavorably high rates.

Any evidence from what happened last time?

After the big Debt Ceiling deal in 2011, the Treasury issued about the same amount of Debt.
VIX went from 25 to 45, High Yield yields went up by 4 percent, stocks dropped 10-15%.

Mike Green, Roy Niederhoffer and Michelle Makori will discuss the potential impact of these factors on stocks, bonds, and alternative assets, and how investors can prepare just in case 2011 repeats - or worse.

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: Regulated UK platform democratising art with fractionalised Warhol starting at $3K says sweet spot are $1.5m - $20m paintings

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Wednesday, April 26th 2023

Led by a stellar key team of global art leaders such as the former Worldwide Chairman of Christie's, as well as investment and tech experts, Mintus is the first UK regulated investment platform democratising access to art as an alternative asset through fractionalisation. The firm is also registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Art has strong historical performance, outperforming major indexes like the S&P 500 over long periods. The ArtPrice 100 index, an index of the top 100 artists at auction, outperformed the S&P 500 by 363% from 2000 to 2022.

But, until now, opportunities to invest in high value art have been closed off from many investors. Buying 'investment-grade' artwork requires enormous capital, established relationships with art market participants, and market expertise.

With Mintus, investors can now buy shares and invest in multi-million-dollar artworks from artists such as Andy Warhol and George Condo, starting at $3000 only.

How Mintus overcomes the four main structural barriers to entry for successful art investments
Why 85% of wealth managers believe art should be included in an investment portfolio
How does Mintus select art to be offered onto its platform? Which other pieces of art are in the Mintus pipeline?
Why buying art for investment purposes is very different to buying art to hang on your wall
Why Mintus focuses $1.5m - $20m paintings. What returns can investors expect?
Mintus' privileged procurement and professional selection process. How Mintus' AI driven screening and analytical tool supports their origination and sourcing activity
How Mintus adds a margin of safety to manage downside risk
How will art perform in a higher interest rate environment? Has inflation affected art negatively in the past?
Benefits for art sellers to work with Mintus
Why Mintus focuses on fine art and not other collectible alternative investments like whiskey, classic cars or watches
The artwork currently available on the Mintus platform for investment

With Bevan Duncan, COO, Mintus: Bevan was previously the Managing Director of the Strategic Equity division at Gresham House. Prior to that he was part of the Value Strategy Group at mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge. Bevan qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Vedat Mizrahi PhD, CFO Mintus: Vedat Mizrahi was with Deutsche Bank as an investment banker for over 12 years. He then joined Bank J. Safra Sarasin's Wealth Management team. Vedat has a PhD in Finance and has been lecturing in Corporate Finance and Valuations at King's College in London.

How to Run a Due Diligence Fire Drill - What Should Investors Do?

Straight forward answers, thank you. (JF)

Great panelists & insights - very informative. Thank you all. (RG)

Excellent information, thank you! (SS)

Appreciate the insights and continued focus, thanks everyone! (MS)

Very instructive insights - thank you all. (RB)

Excellent session. Thank you. (ED)

Excellent panel, thank you all so much!! (CH)

Thursday, March 2nd 2023

We are pleased to continue our series of Opalesque Risk Briefings, offering 45 minute, focused webinars to discuss time sensitive issues impacting our industry.

Our next Opalesque Risk Briefing will be an ODD (Operational Due Diligence) Alert, discussing best practices for investors faced with an ODD "fire drill". The discussion will draw on the challenges faced by investors and investment managers responding to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, pressure on other US mid-tier banks, and the merger of Credit Suisse and UBS.

Time: Monday April 17th, 11am EST (4pm GMT, 5pm CET)
Presenter: Chris Addy FCA CFA, President and CEO of Castle Hall Diligence
Moderator: Matthias Knab, Founder, Opalesque

Chris will cover a range of due diligence best practices to help investors create a best practice due diligence monitoring program including:

How to be proactive....not reactive!
Best practices to gather core reference data across a portfolio in advance of a crisis
How to engage with managers / GPs on an informed and targeted basis
Assessing results and identifying risk in a portfolio
Lessons learned - and what could be the next crisis?

Longevity Biotech: Investing in a healthier future

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Wednesday, April 5th 2023

With many headlines quoting Silicon Valley titans' investments in longevity companies, longevity biotech has received a lot of traction.

However, there are still numerous misconceptions and mysteries floating around for investors that are starting to learn more about this up-and-coming space. In this webinar, we provide a primer on what longevity biotech investing is and a toolkit to navigate the rapidly evolving longevity biotech investment ecosystem:

What is longevity biotech
Timing, opportunities and risks
Main company and investment models

With Robin Lauber, CEO infinitas capital, Davide Ottolini, Founding Partner at Korify Capital, James Peyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Cambrian Bio.

Hacking VC: How private investors can strategically access early-stage VC

Straight forward answers, thank you. (JF)

Great panelists & insights - very informative. Thank you all. (RG)

Excellent information, thank you! (SS)

Appreciate the insights and continued focus, thanks everyone! (MS)

Very instructive insights - thank you all. (RB)

Excellent session. Thank you. (ED)

Excellent panel, thank you all so much!! (CH)

Thursday, March 2023

The year 2022 saw a long-awaited, yet still strong correction of both public markets (in particular "meme" stocks and overhyped tech companies) as well as private markets (in particular growth-stage VC companies). Consequently, private investors withdrew large amounts from their public equities, reconsidered fixed income assets as interest rate were increasing and yet are still struggling how to treat private market allocations (e.g., private equity, private debt and VC) as part of their investment portfolio.

This webinar will cover:

The New Normal of early-stage VC: What trends will prevail, how will strategies change and what are new ways of investing?
NextGen Family Offices: How to become more autonomous and strategic as a family office/ private investor
Integration of ESG: How to utilize simple frameworks to ensure impactful investing?

With Robin Lauber, CEO and Co-Founder infinitas Capital (Single-Family Office) and VC investor and Strategy Consultant Kilian Graulich, Founding Partner Prediction Capital.

Is there still ALPHA in HEDGE FUNDS?

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

Thursday, February 9th 2023

Since 2009, hedge funds have been widely criticized for their underperformance versus both liquid equity markets and other alternative asset classes.

However, 2022 is the come back year for hedge funds with the HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite Index outperforming the decline of technology equities by nearly 3000 basis points, the largest annual outperformance by the Index since inception in 2005. Meanwhile, the classic 60/40 model - a portfolio with 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds - had its worst year since 2008.

Register for a fascinating session with Marc Malek, Founder and CIO of Conquest Capital Partners, and Per Ivarsson, CIO of RPM Risk & Portfolio Management.

How to define and quantify "alpha" and how it is different from "alternative beta"
Specific examples of hedge fund strategies and managers that do (and do not) generate alpha
Today's opportunities, including techniques funds can employ to generate alpha in any market environment

About Marc Malek:

Marc Malek, Founder and CIO of Conquest Capital Partners, is an industry thought-leader with over 30 years of quantitative and discretionary trading experience. Marc's research has been published extensively in academic journals and books including Risk Books and The Journal of Alternative Investments. He is a pioneer of the Alt-Beta strategy, authoring the first paper on the concept in 2002, as well developer of the Bloomberg-published Conquest Risk Aversion Index (2005-19) which statistically proves the significant effect of risk environment on strategy performance. Prior to founding Conquest in 1999, Marc was the Global Head of FX and Derivatives Proprietary trading at UBS. He received a B.S. with Honors in Engineering and Applied Science from Caltech as well as a B.A. in Mathematics from Reed College.

About Conquest:

Conquest Capital Partners is an alternative asset manager focused on global systematic macro trading strategies. Its flagship fund, Conquest Quantitative Macro, is an "all-weather" offering designed to capture independent alpha from short-term trading opportunities regardless of the risk environment. It is differentiated from other CTA and quantitative strategies by its approach of combining both bottom-up trading models with a quantitative top-down allocation process.

About Per Ivarsson:

Per Ivarsson, CIO of RPM Risk & Portfolio Management, has been an active investor in the systematic CTA space over 20 years. Special areas of interest are the factors that drive CTA returns and the life-cycle of managers/strategies. Prior to that Per was advising institutions on risk and valuation in the areas of interest rate/credit derivatives and structured products. Per holds a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Physics and a degree Financial Economics.

About RPM Risk & Portfolio Management:

RPM has been a specialized investor in the systematic CTA space for over 25 years. The focus is to invest in CTA managers during their most promising development stage and actively allocate between different CTA sub-strategies. In addition to the flagship fund, RPM offers custom-made solutions as well as risk and advisory services in related areas.

You will be able to tune in to this webinar from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. The webinar will be recorded - in case you are not able to join, all registered participants will be provided a link to replay the webinar.

ILS Life Settlements: The Institutional Approach (Asian Time Zones)

Straight forward answers, thank you. (JF)

Great panelists & insights - very informative. Thank you all. (RG)

Excellent information, thank you! (SS)

Appreciate the insights and continued focus, thanks everyone! (MS)

Very instructive insights - thank you all. (RB)

Excellent session. Thank you. (ED)

Excellent panel, thank you all so much!! (CH)

How ILS and Life Settlements found their way into SWFs and institutional portfolios

ASIAN Time Zones: Thursday, January 19th 2023

Life Settlements is an asset class with great promise for producing genuinely non-correlated returns which many investors are not taking advantage of. This may be due to a number of issues including lack of experience, lack of familiarity, or lack of research and analysis they feel they can trust.

To help address these questions, we have assembled an expert panel of experienced professionals who will offer unique insights from their various areas of expertise: as a multi-billion dollar institutional investor, as a Life Settlement asset manager, and in the fields of immunology, drug development, and mortality trends.

Karim Dellal is a former Senior Portfolio Manager at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world's largest and most respected Sovereign Wealth Funds. Karim spent 20 years of his career at ADIA. In that time Karim specialised in Alternative and Quantitative strategies; his focus on the last 4.5 years has been in Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) and Life Settlements.

How and why institutions should consider Life Settlements,

The role the asset class can play in institutional portfolios,

How to diversify an ILS portfolio, and

Unique issues that must be addressed when implementing an allocation to this asset class.

Karim has a Master of science Degree from E.N.S.A.E (Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) in Toulouse, France and worked as Aerospace Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, before moving on to finance in 1993.

Tony Bremness is the Founding Partner and CIO of Laureola Advisors, a boutique Investment Advisory Firm dedicated to managing Life Settlement assets exclusively. Tony has over 35 years' experience in investment management, with over 10 years in Life Settlements. Tony founded Laureola in 2012; the firm has been managing Life Settlement assets since 2013. The Laureola team has grown to 13 professionals with over 200 years of relevant experience..

Tony will discuss:

The asset class and current market conditions

The right structure for Institutions to access Life Settlements

The risks of the asset class and how to manage them

The unique due diligence questions for LS Managers

Tony has a Master of Business Administration degree from McGill University in Canada and has been awarded the CFA designation

Khadija Benlhassan, PhD is a biotechnology executive and entrepreneur with 20 years' experience in preclinical and clinical research and development. Currently Expert for European Community, founding director of Voynich Biosciences Inc, Chief scientific officer of Wellness Group Intl SA and part of scientific advisory board of Laureola Advisors Inc.

Dr Benlhassan worked in the past for ImmunoClin Corporation (IMCL) and for Biopharm Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline R&D, UK. She holds a PhD in Immunology from Paris Descartes University and has extensive R&D experience in drug development for international biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Khadija will discuss:

Recent CDC Report on mortality trends

What's behind the recent drop in life expectancy in the USA?

ILS Life Settlements: The Institutional Approach (US Time Zones)

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

How ILS and Life Settlements found their way into SWFs and institutional portfolios

US Time Zones: Wednesday, January 18th 2023

Life Settlements is an asset class with great promise for producing genuinely non-correlated returns which many investors are not taking advantage of. This may be due to a number of issues including lack of experience, lack of familiarity, or lack of research and analysis they feel they can trust.

To help address these questions, we have assembled an expert panel of experienced professionals who will offer unique insights from their various areas of expertise: as a multi-billion dollar institutional investor, as a Life Settlement asset manager, and in the fields of immunology, drug development, and mortality trends.

Karim Dellal is a former Senior Portfolio Manager at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world's largest and most respected Sovereign Wealth Funds. Karim spent 20 years of his career at ADIA. In that time Karim specialised in Alternative and Quantitative strategies; his focus on the last 4.5 years has been in Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) and Life Settlements.

How and why institutions should consider Life Settlements,

The role the asset class can play in institutional portfolios,

How to diversify an ILS portfolio, and

Unique issues that must be addressed when implementing an allocation to this asset class.

Karim has a Master of science Degree from E.N.S.A.E (Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) in Toulouse, France and worked as Aerospace Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, before moving on to finance in 1993.

Tony Bremness is the Founding Partner and CIO of Laureola Advisors, a boutique Investment Advisory Firm dedicated to managing Life Settlement assets exclusively. Tony has over 35 years' experience in investment management, with over 10 years in Life Settlements. Tony founded Laureola in 2012; the firm has been managing Life Settlement assets since 2013. The Laureola team has grown to 13 professionals with over 200 years of relevant experience..

Tony will discuss:

The asset class and current market conditions

The right structure for Institutions to access Life Settlements

The risks of the asset class and how to manage them

The unique due diligence questions for LS Managers

Tony has a Master of Business Administration degree from McGill University in Canada and has been awarded the CFA designation

Khadija Benlhassan, PhD is a biotechnology executive and entrepreneur with 20 years' experience in preclinical and clinical research and development. Currently Expert for European Community, founding director of Voynich Biosciences Inc, Chief scientific officer of Wellness Group Intl SA and part of scientific advisory board of Laureola Advisors Inc.

Dr Benlhassan worked in the past for ImmunoClin Corporation (IMCL) and for Biopharm Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline R&D, UK. She holds a PhD in Immunology from Paris Descartes University and has extensive R&D experience in drug development for international biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Khadija will discuss:

Recent CDC Report on mortality trends

What's behind the recent drop in life expectancy in the USA?

Investor Workshop: Conducting ODD on Crypto and Digital Assets

Hugely informative. Thank you! (ON)
[more feedback]

Straight forward answers, thank you. (JF)

Great panelists & insights - very informative. Thank you all. (RG)

Excellent information, thank you! (SS)

Appreciate the insights and continued focus, thanks everyone! (MS)

Very instructive insights - thank you all. (RB)

Excellent session. Thank you. (ED)

Excellent panel, thank you all so much!! (CH)

Tuesday, December 13th 2022

As the catastrophic collapse of the crypto exchange FTX continues to unfold, operational due diligence (ODD) on digital assets has become a key topic. Is it even possible to reach an ODD conclusion on a crypto fund - or is it simply not possible to give investors enough ODD comfort that their assets are secure?

While FTX itself was an exchange, not an asset manager, crypto investors face new uncertainties around ODD. For those investors who have already invested in digital asset funds and strategies, was their initial ODD reliable - or was it fundamentally flawed? For investors considering future investments in crypto, what are best practices for crypto ODD 2.0 in the post FTX world? And for those investors who feel that crypto is simply a front for crime and that a NFT of Madonna is worth precisely nothing - are there operational structures which could make digital assets attractive even to the most crypto cynical allocators?

This Opalesque Skillslab webinar looks at key elements of the crypto ODD process:

A recap of the basics - crypto assets, exchanges and the blockchain
Custody, exchanges and wallets - can investors be comfortable that digital assets actually exist?
What do you need internal to an asset manager: back office resources and systems
Valuation issues - from Bitcoin to the obscure
Compliance and regulation
Cyber security
Business risk of any asset manager: ownership, conflicts, financial stability and succession
Words of advice and war stories: What to avoid post FTX

Due Diligence Lessons from FTX: Opalesque Interactive Risk Briefing with Castle Hall Diligence

"The best summary of the compliance situation I have seen." (AC)
[more feedback]

Just wanted to say it was a great webinar. One of the most helpful/interesting ones I listened to in a long time. Thanks for putting this together. (ET)

That was fantastic and very helpful to have all the key points summarized in one place. (BL)

This is the best analysis I have seen on FTX and SBF. (KI)

We are pleased to introduce Opalesque Risk Briefings, offering a new format of 45 minute, focused webinars to discuss time sensitive issues impacting our industry. Our first Opalesque Risk Briefing will be an ODD Alert, looking at due diligence lessons from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto exchange. The session will discuss points specific to crypto and also look for lessons which impact operational due diligence across all strategies.

Time: Thursday November 17, 2022
Presenter: Chris Addy FCA CFA, President and CEO of Castle Hall Diligence
Moderator: Matthias Knab, Founder, Opalesque

The replay is a user-friendly video, so you can fast forward and navigate to the following sections as you wish:

04:47 (min:sec): Conflicts of interest and affiliated entities
11:34 (min:sec): The need for an adequate operational infrastructure
15:34 (min:sec): Regulation and compliance
20:30 (min:sec): Auditor and audited financial statements
24:32 (min:sec): Transparency
See here for FTX org chart: https://d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net/production/8566b562-d5e8-412d-80eb-77ff899f0d29.jpg
27:35 (min:sec): Inability to rely on other investors' due diligence
30:18 (min:sec): Fear of Missing Out
32:48 (min:sec): CONCLUSION: A structured ODD process should have raised at least (the following) red flags ("reject") on FTX
34:17 (min:sec): Cult of the founder
41:51 (min:sec): Did your crypto fund tell you they are "doing due diligence" on their exchanges?
44:38 (min:sec): Q&A: Why did investors fail to identify red flags as part of the due diligence process?

Please also share or forward this video link to friends and colleagues.

We'd love to get your feedback on the webinar and in particular how useful you found it - simply hit reply and send me your comments... thank you!

Winter is Coming: Billion-dollar hedge fund manager (+75% YTD) with decades of experience can prepare you for the storm

Amazing clarity of thought! Thank you Roy, and thank you Matthias. (RB)

Wednesday, November 2nd 2022

Stocks and bonds no longer provide the diversification they used to. The Fed Put is gone. Central Banks are intent on tightening, until they break something. And investors are in uncharted territory.

Markets have the potential to move in ways that are unprecedented, and unknown risks abound. The pain that has occurred so far may not be over.

Is moderate stagflation the only outcome?
Are stocks actually a buy?
Is downside protection useful in an inflating world?
Is crypto and Bitcoin still a thing?

Alternative data: Early peek into US election results and other macro-economic analytics

This webinar was an exquisite experience and a great opportunity to widen my investment opportunities. (TB)

Thursday, October 20th 2022

Opalesque has invited QuantCube Technology to discuss the application of real-time alternative data in financial applications. During the webinar we will review case studies including US mid-term election and macro regime analysis. Elections can often affect the market behaviour, and consequently, they influence investor's behaviour. Therefore, it is important to understand the potential impact of election results.

We will also discuss how best to assess current macroeconomic regime using real-time alternative data with a particular focus on GDP and Inflation nowcast. The webinar will conclude with the discussion about commodity market analysis using QuantCube's in-depth proprietary AI and data science technology.

Interactive webinar session and Case Study with Thanh-Long Huynh based on Live Data and Intelligence from Quant Cube:

1. Red or blue? Predicting US midterms results at district level with social media analytics

How did US stocks perform in the past post-midterm election?
The role of alternative data to predict election results - why is it important to reflect real-time sentiment in investment strategies?

2. Assessing current macroeconomic regime with real-time macro analysis

What are the main drivers of regime changes?

3. Commodity markets insights through the lens of alternative data

AI technology for in-depth commodity markets intelligence

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 10

PRESENTERS, YOUR PASSION AND COMMITMENT SHINED THROUGH (MM)

Thank you to all presenters and Matthias. Perfect webinar as always. (VP)

Very interesting! Thank you! (AG)

Thank you indeed! Very informative presentations. (ON)

Wonderful session! (SS)

Excellent webinar (MW)

"Thank you for putting this presentation together and all the work you are doing to provide access to these unique managers and opportunities." (RR)

Tuesday, October 4th 2022

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 10 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

Manjeet Mudan, Ph.D.,Carmika Partners: Absolute Return Options Strategy

Aman Oberoi, K2Q Capital: Statistical systematic Japan macro strategy

Ted Parkhill, Incline Investment Management: Trend Following, Systematic, Quantitative

Pascal Rohner, Katch Investment Group: European Secured Lending Strategy

Live: Bahamas Securities Commission Presents Framework For Digital Assets Business

This webinar was an exquisite experience and a great opportunity to widen my investment opportunities. (TB)

Wednesday, Sept. 28th 2022

Interactive session with Christina R. Rolle, Executive Director, Securities Commission of The Bahamas

With its groundbreaking Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act (DARE Act) in 2020 and the Government's 2022 white paper "The Future of Digital Assets in The Bahamas", The Bahamas has managed to lay a wide regulatory foundation for digital assets. This includes the facilitation of digital token exchange registration and the provision of services related to them, the regulation of digital assets-based payment service businesses, and for the registration of financial services related to the creation, issuance or sale of digital tokens and other digital assets.

Based on a five year plan, the Bahamas Government's white paper is not only opening the door to accept the new payment systems that are coming, but demonstrates the Government's long-term commitment which provides the certainty that clients and businesses need to strategically plan and execute their digital assets business.

Get an in-depth look at the business and regulatory environment for digital assets in The Bahamas and how the jurisdiction is taking steps to maintain and enhance this environment:

Overview of The Digital Assets Policy White Paper
Overview of the DARE Act

The registration process - who can participate?
Reporting and Disclosure Requirements
Investigation and Cooperation Offences and Penalties

AML/CFT and DARE
Investor Protection Elements
What differentiates the Bahamas' digital assets regulatory framework from that of other countries
Enhancements to the Regulatory Framework On the Horizon

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - Episode 3

PRESENTERS, YOUR PASSION AND COMMITMENT SHINED THROUGH (MM)

Thank you to all presenters and Matthias. Perfect webinar as always. (VP)

Very interesting! Thank you! (AG)

Thank you indeed! Very informative presentations. (ON)

Wonderful session! (SS)

Excellent webinar (MW)

"Thank you for putting this presentation together and all the work you are doing to provide access to these unique managers and opportunities." (RR)

Wednesday, Aug. 31st 2022

Focus session on European mezzanine debt, an underinvested asset class which offers equity-like returns with downside protection and Innovations in Artificial Intelligence for Investment Strategy development.

SIG-i Capital

Concentrated European mezzanine debt: European mezzanine debt is an underinvested asset class which offers equity-like returns with downside protection. This is likely due to the exodus of traditional banking players from certain segments of the market as well as the lack of understanding on the investees' side of potential benefits of mezzanine instruments.
SIG-i plays an active role in originating deals and educating investees of the pros and cons of junior debt in their capital structure. This, in turn, allows the firm to win deals in a relatively low-competition process.
SIG-i was founded by former executives of Special Investments Group of Credit Suisse in 2019. The two senior team members have known each other for over fifteen years.
Historically, the strategy delivered mid-teen returns

Rubinstein & Schmiedel

Founded in 2019 after more than six years of fundamental research and development, pushing the boundaries of AI in financial market forecasting. The result: a novel AI which extracts information and learns complex strategies without human input solely based on data.
20+ experts in Switzerland and Germany with research backgrounds in AI, Software Engineering, Data Science, Big Data, and High-Performance Computing develop and operate fully automated, high-precision trading systems capable of creating systematic and sustainable returns - so far unmatched by professional traders and rule-based algorithms.
The AI utilizes multiple strategies simultaneously, investing in digital assets for very short periods of time and extracting returns while preserving portfolio capital otherwise. The annualized value of Alpha is 123% with a Beta of 0.12. Bitcoin was used as a benchmark.

Investor Workshop: Conducting ODD on Crypto and Digital Assets

PRESENTERS, YOUR PASSION AND COMMITMENT SHINED THROUGH (MM)

Thank you to all presenters and Matthias. Perfect webinar as always. (VP)

Very interesting! Thank you! (AG)

Thank you indeed! Very informative presentations. (ON)

Wonderful session! (SS)

Excellent webinar (MW)

"Thank you for putting this presentation together and all the work you are doing to provide access to these unique managers and opportunities." (RR)

December, 13th 2022

As the catastrophic collapse of the crypto exchange FTX continues to unfold, operational due diligence (ODD) on digital assets has become a key topic. Is it even possible to reach an ODD conclusion on a crypto fund - or is it simply not possible to give investors enough ODD comfort that their assets are secure?

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 9

This webinar was an exquisite experience and a great opportunity to widen my investment opportunities. (TB)

Thursday, July 7th 2022

Ascender Capital:

Ascender Capital is a Hong Kong based boutique, investing across Asia since 2012, with a process designed to systematically exploit reoccurring inefficiencies across local public equity markets. The resulting portfolio of high-quality businesses has a small and mid cap bias, and minimal overlap with passive or larger funds.

With economic growth and 22,000 listed stocks, Asia is a region that shouldn't be ignored. Boutique investor Ascender Capital has outperformed indices (and peers) on a 1, 3, 5 and 10 year basis, reflecting the consistency of their process and a disciplined investment philosophy:

Deep Field Capital:

Based in Zug, Switzerland, Deep Field Capital's quantitative intraday and short-term programs are built on more than 20 years of trading experience.

Deepfield's Intraday Crisis Alpha (ICA) is a pure intraday momentum program, focusing on large tail events in global equity index futures, aiming to stay away from the average daily trading ranges that tend to be mean-reverting. It is up 14.7% YTD after returning 5.5% in April during the equity sell-off and 4.4% in May when equity markets crashed-up again, annualizing net returns of 8.3% since inception in May 2017.

Skylar Capital Management:

Based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with offices in Houston, Skylar Capital Management employs a fundamental, discretionary and analytical approach to trading the liquid energy markets with a focus on North American and European natural gas.

The founder, William O Perkins III, has more than 25 years of experience in trading and risk management. He launched Skylar after a successful 10-year tenure as a senior portfolio manager at Centaurus Energy, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund, where he generated over $1bn in profit.

MoSAIQ - Icon Asset Management AG:

Zurich based Icon MoSAIQ is an all weather absolute return strategy that seeks to generate double digit average yearly returns throughout market cycles with no negative years an objective the strategy has met since inception:

"We're proud of our strong absolute returns (+41.33% in 2020 and +0.64% YTD 2022 as of June 17th 2022), meeting our objective of generating double digit average yearly returns since inception with no negative years. For our flagship strategy, the net IRR since inception above +25.6%," says Elias Nechachby, CFA, MoSAIQ Founder and Portfolio Manager, Icon Asset Management AG.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 8

I was there. I really enjoyed it. Thank you. I have already reached out to all four managers. I am putting together a 'Fund of Funds' of Undiscovered Managers. Do you have any other managers presented for you in the not too distant past that I can contact? (JP)
[more feedback]

PRESENTERS, YOUR PASSION AND COMMITMENT SHINED THROUGH (MM)

Thank you to all presenters and Matthias. Perfect webinar as always. (VP)

Very interesting! Thank you! (AG)

Thank you indeed! Very informative presentations. (ON)

Wonderful session! (SS)

Excellent webinar (MW)

"Thank you for putting this presentation together and all the work you are doing to provide access to these unique managers and opportunities." (RR)

Wednesday, June 8th 2022

Prestige Funds:

Prime Alternative Finance: Renewable Energy / Infrastructure Finance

Prime seeks to generate uncorrelated, absolute returns by investing in a diverse portfolio of senior secured, debt based, renewable energy / waste to energy infrastructure opportunities, many of which receive long term UK government incentives. Prime was launched at the end of 2018, although the wider ‘alternative finance' strategy has been operational for more than 13 years and has produced positive returns for investors every year since inception.

R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management:

A 28-year track record of innovation in short-term trading

R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, Inc. (RGNCM) was founded in 1993 by Roy Niederhoffer, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a degree in Computational Neuroscience. The firm is a pioneer in short-term, quantitative futures trading exploiting behavioral biases, and has been recognized for its combination of strong absolute return and consistent protection in difficult periods for most strategies. The manager's 30 years of research into how behavioral biases affect financial markets has identified over 60 situations in which markets are predictable.

Eagle's View Contrarian Macro Fund, Ltd.:

Eagle's View Contrarian Macro strategy seek to capitalize upon the view that asset prices have just begun a multi-year process of re-pricing downward due to global central bank regime change toward a more restrictive liquidity environment. The primary objective is to generate superior returns during periods when markets decline and preserve capital during periods when markets are in ‘risk-on' mode.

Helm Investment Partners:

Helm Investment Partners seeks to generate superior absolute returns by investing in securities of the largest and strongest domestic companies listed in out-of-favor countries that are recovering from a temporary political or macroeconomic dislocation. Helm believes these specific situations represent some of the least competitive hunting grounds in which to identify and invest in high quality, industry-leading franchises, at extremely attractive valuations.

MANAGER WORKSHOP: Market Entry Into Europe - Made Easy

This webinar was an exquisite experience and a great opportunity to widen my investment opportunities. (TB)

Thursday, May 19th 2022

As we all know, the structuring of Alternative Investments poses a challenge, because the set-up, regulation and reporting is highly complex. However, with the right know-how, process and partners, your market entry into Europe can be a major success.

Hear from our expert panel:

What is the set-up of the European market?
How does the structuring process for Alternatives work in Europe?
How can managers get the best and most cost efficient guidance through the jungle of regulatory requirements?
Case Studies and practical examples

Manager Discovery Panel: London

Thanks for another great webinar, this was extremely interesting!. Would love to receive a full-length presentation on each strategy. (DL)
[more feedback]

Great presentations! (GR)

Well done everyone. Thanks! (AH)

Great presentation and I agree with a lot of your thoughts. (CA)

I enjoyed the panel conversations. xxxx Capital caught my eye. Could you please facilitate an introduction? (JB)

Tuesday, May 3rd 2022

Eschler Asset Management LLP

Eschler Asset Management is an independent investment practice with alignment modelled on the original Buffett Partnership. Eschler invests in resilient businesses in capital constrained markets. The strategy combines market cycle and industry analysis with bottom-up stock picking and holds substantial inflation hedges in the form of natural resource and multi-industry deep value holdings.

Derby Street

Derby Street runs two Cayman funds and separately managed accounts with the objective of compounding clients' capital over the long term by investing in a concentrated portfolio of undervalued high quality businesses in the UK and Europe.

Tollymore Investment Partners

We do not expect superior investment results to come from any IQ advantage, but from the implementation of factors that will allow us to acknowledge ignorance or exercise conviction better than our peers. These factors relate to the consistency of investment horizon, temperament, working environment, incentives, and investment partners' beliefs and actions.

ARR Investment Partners

The ARR Global L/S Equity strategy aims to generate attractive returns over the long run by achieving strong performance during market rallies, but importantly, protecting investor capital or generating positive returns during market selloffs. To achieve both aims, the strategy has an unconstrained mandate and focuses solely on opportunities perceived to have ‘asymmetric risk-reward' both on the long and short side.

Agera Capital

Agera Capital runs a long-biased thematic equity strategy with a macro overlay. The strategy's focus is capturing mispriced secular and cyclical trends in global equities. The portfolio typically has up to 30 positions and trades futures to manage risk. The founder's background is managing large mandates in emerging market equities where understanding macro factors, flows and sentiment is critical. By combining value investing fundamentals with top-down macro models allows for superior returns while minimizing drawdowns.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 7

I attended the webinar, it was very interesting and relevant. Is it possible to get PDF presentations from all 4 funds? (CIO Multi Family Office)
[more feedback]

This webinar was an exquisite experience and a great opportunity to widen my investment opportunities. (TB)

Tuesday, March 8th 2022

Savin: Multi-Strategy Arbitrage

Strategy aims to achieve positive returns in all market conditions:

Uncorrelated returns with equity markets and the ability to profit from volatility
Quantamental approach to portfolio construction
Continuous hedge of tail-risk ensures capital preservation in unsettled markets

Balliol Road: Liquid Digital Assets hedge fund strategy

A liquid Digital Assets hedge fund strategy that seeks to capture the value proposition of the next generation of champions within the ecosystem.

Katch: Litigation Funding

The Katch Litigation strategy delivers targeted returns with an emphasis on risk and liquidity management by funding small-size, short duration claims eligible to UK quasi-governmental compensation scheme, as well as larger claims where a group of claimants act together to get compensation in Court. Focuses on the UK financial service sector which enjoys much less credit risk, higher diversification and better liquidity than typical litigation funds.

Rotella Capital Management: Commodity strategies

The new Rotella Qdeck ML Commodity Program uses proprietary momentum and risk management techniques to attain tactical exposure to commodity upside that seeks to outperform passive approaches. The expertise utilized by the strategy was also implemented successfully in the Rotella Qdeck ML Long-only Volatility Program, which won "AI/Machine Learning Long Volatility Strategy - Best Performing Fund in 2020" from the Hedge Fund Journal CTA Awards.

Master Class (ME/Asia time zone): The End of Easy Money - What Now?

Great session! (NB)

Great job. Thanks for your time all managers... (AH)

Thursday, February 17th 2022

Central banks across the globe looked poised to raise rates in response to rampant inflation. However, current market pricing looks too aggressive, notably for the Fed, as inflation is likely to cool in 2022. In this environment, find out:

Our base case for 2022, in terms of macro fundamentals and central bank responses
How to navigate in a year of central bank "normalisation"
What divergent responses by different central banks (e.g. developed vs. emerging) means for investors
How best to position for cooling inflation
The scenarios that could derail the markets

Central banks slam on the breaks faster and harder than expected
Covid lingers, gets worse

Why US assets in general look the most attractive, and which ones in particular

Join Unigestion Multi-asset portfolio manager Jeremy Gatto for an in-depth discussion on how best to navigate the markets in a world where central banks are back in the spotlight.

Master Class (US time zone): The End of Easy Money - What Now?

Thanks everyone for this great masterclass! (AO)

Thank you very much for this insightful presentations. (TB)

That was a very interesting discussion. (JR)

Wednesday, February 16th ET 2022

Central banks across the globe looked poised to raise rates in response to rampant inflation. However, current market pricing looks too aggressive, notably for the Fed, as inflation is likely to cool in 2022. In this environment, find out:

Our base case for 2022, in terms of macro fundamentals and central bank responses
How to navigate in a year of central bank "normalisation"
What divergent responses by different central banks (e.g. developed vs. emerging) means for investors
How best to position for cooling inflation
The scenarios that could derail the markets

Central banks slam on the breaks faster and harder than expected
Covid lingers, gets worse

Why US assets in general look the most attractive, and which ones in particular

Join Unigestion Multi-asset portfolio manager Oliver Marciot for an in-depth discussion on how best to navigate the markets in a world where central banks are back in the spotlight.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 6

Great webinar! You assembled a terrific panel. Each of the presenters did a wonderful job describing their edge. (TY)
[more feedback]

Great session! (NB)

Great job. Thanks for your time all managers... (AH)

Tuesday, January 11th 2022

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

Episode 6 of this ground breaking webinar series presents you another carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

In one hour, you'll meet them all, get to know their top quartile strategies, and - since this an interactive session - can ask your questions.

1. Duo Reges: Exploiting Human-Machine Biases in Financial Markets with a Quantamental Behavioral Equity Long / Short Strategy

Founded in 2018, Duo Reges is a division of Alpha Innovations and is comprised of senior professionals from highly respected technology and capital market firms, all with a demonstrated track record managing assets for firms including Point72, OMERS, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs and leadership data science roles at venerable technology firms such as Microsoft, Intel, and as a Chief Data Scientist at Amazon.

2. LRT Capital Management: "The Vision to See Economic Moats"

LRT Capital aims to beat the S&P 500 by a substantial margin over a full market cycle. Since launch in 2012, the strategy displayed very strong historical results with only one down year, averaging 26.50% net vs. 13.44% for the S&P500 and a historic beta to S&P500 between 0.4-0.6.

3. Grey Value Management: Unmistakable Alpha

Grey Value focuses on extremely mispriced securities generating long-term returns superior to the S&P 500 historical average, without a corresponding increase in risk.

4. Lavaca Capital: Convex payouts and risk reduction

Lavaca Capital specializes in U.S. listed equity options strategies that create convex payouts and reduce risk. The firm was founded in 2014 and manages $450m for a diverse institutional client base.

MASTER CLASS: Growth Stock Investing in the Age of Technology - What Investors Misunderstand about Growth

This was a very interesting webinar and contrarian. (MP)
[more feedback]

Thanks everyone for this great masterclass! (AO)

Thank you very much for this insightful presentations. (TB)

That was a very interesting discussion. (JR)

Thursday, December 9th 2021

Growth has retaken the lead in the market after a strong start for value stocks and is set to remain strong (including current market observations such as Q4 earnings, impact of Delta, and inflation on the market).

Macro factors like rising inflation and higher interest rates are often viewed as bad for growth stocks. This argument had been levied against the stock market for the past century before it recently morphed into an argument directed at the growth style.

But Robert Zuccaro, a quantitative investor with 40+ years' experience and a track record that ranks him among the top 10 managers according to the Wall Street Journal and Lipper, says that history tells us that this argument is without merit.

Hear from Zuccaro and fellow panelist Francois-Serge Lhabitant, Professor of Finance at the Edhec Business School:

What investors consistently fail to understand about growth stocks and how exactly they get it wrong
Why Small Stock Theory no longer works
Why many tech stocks are among the market's biggest winners
Why P/Es, earnings surprises, and Wall Street recommendations are irrelevant in growth stock selection
Why there are abundant opportunities to find many big winners among recent IPOs and money losing companies
"Innovation is inherently controversial", says Cathie Wood. How Zuccaro's stock selection process harnesses innovation's momentum without playing with fire.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 5

Thank you very much. That was a useful webinar. (AM)

A really good educational session on Total Return Futures which have seen increasing volumes and market share from players who previously used Total Return Swaps. (MF)

Tuesday, November 30th 2021

1. Alpha DNA: Seeks to balance capital appreciation and downside protection by combining cutting-edge stock selection research with a disciplined index hedging program

2. Ocean Park: All-weather hedged equity strategy investing in North American and Western European large-cap, liquid, listed companies with hard assets and cash flows

3. Strix Leviathan: Quantitative crypto hedge fund algorithmically trading digital assets

4. Carbon Cap: Generating absolute returns from global carbon markets with direct climate impact

Master Class: The New Frontiers of Factor Investing

These webinars are excellent! (OB)

Great presentations! Thank you! (DL)

Excellent webinar! (CK)

Thursday Nov. 18th 2021

Recognizing that Quantamental has become the final frontier in investing, concepts like RORO (risk on, risk off) Regimes, Smart Betas and ML driven Alphas are defining the new frontiers of Factor Investing.

At the same time, the factor woes of 2020 prove need for better timing, which has always been a key focus of QuantZ. Based on 25 years of experience in quantitative investing and a mission to democratize access to hedge fund alphas, the company is a global market leader in Quantamental signal generation. QuantZ's extensive factor library includes over 600 factors and 22 years of clean data which is used by trillion-dollar asset managers as well as prominent hedge fund pods.

This Master Class, led by QuantZ founder Milind Sharma, is a hands-on introduction and walk-through of today's state-of-the-art quant techniques. We will also cover how RORO regime-based Factor Investing outperformed during the 2020 Covid crash and how such Smart Betas can be combined to outperform popular strategies such as Q+GARP, Q+Val, Val+Mo, Qual+Mo etc., as well as powerful hedge fund signals. We will also touch on the Great Factor Rotation of 2021 & Q1 Gamestop histrionics - going well beyond the basic Fama-French constructs:

The compression & commoditization of alpha
Traditional stock-picking vs ML Enhanced Smart Betas (ESBs)
ESB characteristics -- How QuantZ's 18 ESBs (which combine 600+ factors into ML enhanced cohorts) have outperformed naïve factors
How to express any view on Equities via a spanning set of ESBs
Quantamental signal generation: Off the shelf vs. Customized signals
Hedge Fund in a Box - From signal spreads to fully optimized HF portfolios
Sector rotation with QMIT signals
RORO regime detection via ML & the classification of ESBs
From RORO regimes to a Universal Crash Factor
Case Study: Shorts from the Fabulous 14 signal vs. Cathy Wood's Top 10

Milind Sharma is Founder & CEO of QuantZ. His 25 years of market experience span running prop desks at RBC & Deutsche Bank (Saba unit) as well as hedge funds (QuantZ) & mutual funds (MLIM) + the QMIT fintech. His funds have won many awards over the years including those from Morningstar, Lipper, WSJ, Battle of the Quants & BattleFin. He was also a co-founder of Quant Strategies at MLIM (now BlackRock) & Manager of the Risk Analytics and Research Group at Ernst & Young where he was co-architect of Raven TM.

Milind's publications have appeared in the Journal of Investment Management, Risk, Elsevier, World Scientific, Wiley etc. His educational background includes Oxford, Vassar, Carnegie Mellon & Wharton. He has also lectured, presented and/ or taught Capstone courses at Columbia, Carnegie Mellon, Courant, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, NYU Tandon, UCSD, UCLA etc. He is founder & President of the quant society (QWAFAxNEW) (formerly QWAFAFEW New York).

3 Elements most managers MISS in their E-Capintro/Webinar/
Video presentations

Thank you very much. That was a useful webinar. (AM)

A really good educational session on Total Return Futures which have seen increasing volumes and market share from players who previously used Total Return Swaps. (MF)

Thursday Nov. 4th 2021

Also in 2022, cap-intro events and digital platforms such as online ("Zoom") meetings, webinars or videos will be used by investment managers and allocators as meeting and marketing channels.

However, few firms have given thought to how to strategize and optimize their online marketing efforts and presentations. As a result, an exceeding number of investment managers are not fully reaping the benefits of the new communication channels, or worse, fail to score because of simple failures in their overall process, their presentation, or their attitude.

ONE SHOT ONLY!

Institutional investor Panayiotis Lambropoulos, CFA, CAIA, FRM, from the Employees Retirement System of Texas explained in our podcast, "There are only 250 trading days in the year, and you may only get one shot in one calendar year to speak to us given the voluminous amount of meeting requests that we get in addition to our other responsibilities."

Therefore, every single presentation should be flawless and convincing.

The three of us (Donald Steinbrugge of Agecroft Partners, Matthias Knab from Opalesque and ProfundCom's Paul Das) have been part of thousands of manager presentations and have identified three elements most managers miss in their E-Capintro/Webinar/Video presentations.

Join this free MANAGER WORKSHOP (because every (online) meeting counts) and learn:

Why Pitching and Presenting is NOT a Side Act
Presentation Failures, Process Failues, Attitude Failures: 50 Ways to Disappoint Your Audience (and how to fix them)
How fund managers can increase the probability of success at cap intro events
The Ultimate 27-Point Check List for Successful Virtual Meetings
How to create a create a which puts your audience into a highly receptive "flow" state
The best place to put your performance information in a presentation
A Guerrilla Tactic that accelerates your sales process and helps you reach thousands of investors outside of your current reach

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 4

"I consider the Opalesque webinars relevant and interesting, I enjoy each of them as they enrich my intellectual horizon each time. I actually push the "Join this webinar" button as soon as I get their invitation. My best to Matthias Knab and the Opalesque team." Gregory Chernizer, Ph.D.
[more feedback]

These webinars are excellent! (OB)

Great presentations! Thank you! (DL)

Excellent webinar! (CK)

Thursday, October 21st 2021

1. Multi-Discipline Market Timing: Doshi Capital Management

Heeten Doshi, CFA, Managing Partner & Portfolio Manager, Doshi Capital Management

2. Absolute Return Private Debt: Prestige Funds

Craig Reeves, Board Director & Founder, Prestige

3. Disruptive Growth with International Small Cap: Pinnacle Associates

Randy Baron, Lead Portfolio Manager, Pinnacle Associates

4. Investing in secured SME trade finance assets: Artis Trade Invest

Andreas Schweitzer, Managing Director, Arjan Capital

The Great Migration: How hedge funds and active strategies profit from new instruments on regulated exchanges

This webinar was excellent, and I look forward to more. (RD)
[more feedback]

Thank you very much. That was a useful webinar. (AM)

A really good educational session on Total Return Futures which have seen increasing volumes and market share from players who previously used Total Return Swaps. (MF)

Thursday, October 7th 2021

A MASTER CLASS for hedge funds, active investors with Stuart Heath, Nicolas von Kageneck, Natasha Sibley and Antoine Deix

The Eurex Total Return Future (TRF) on the EURO STOXX 50 index is a prime example of the ongoing futurization process - an exchange-listed solution for implicit equity repo trading on the EURO STOXX 50 index. TRFs have gained significant traction and have taken over much of the flow that used to go to Total Return Swaps (TRS).

As part of the Total Return Futures portfolio Equity Total Return Futures (ETRF) and Basket Total Return Futures (BTRF) aim to support equities financing activities which are focused on collateral optimization and the use of equity collateral to raise financing. With this aim they also support the futurized, centrally cleared solution for equity financing.

Hear from industry experts:

Why Repo is emerging as a new asset class
How Total Return Futures deliver margin efficiency & trading opportunities for buy and sell side. The three benefits of Total Return Futures over Total Return Swaps.
When dividends are uncertain: Time to switch to Total Return Futures
How institutional investors such as asset managers, pension funds and insurance companies can benefit from the dislocation in the repo term structure and from locking in financing spreads and repo levels on longer maturities
How margin optimization allows for increased leverage and profits
How to use Equity Total Return Futures and Basket Total Return Futures in a smart way

MASTER CLASS for Investors:

Moving From Zero - Prudent Investment Exposures & Risk Management in Digital Assets

I'm on another webinar for Family Offices and I must say the content on YOUR webinar is far and above what I am hearing over there. I am honored to be connected to you and Opalesque. (BM)

Very impressive presentation today! Please put me on your email list for future presentations. (FD)

Thanks for hosting! So much wisdom in William's book and very relevant right now after/during the pandemic. (JA)

Thanks for putting on a wonderful webinar today with William and Guy, it was very informative! Looking forward to the next one and thanks for all you do! (SD)

Thanks for this great webinar! It was really inspiring- well done Guy Spier & William Green - and thanks Matthias Knab for organizing! (JS)

Great to hear what the super rich are doing. (BK)

Thank you so much for such insights (NK)

Guy and Williams Books significantly changed my thinking! (BG)

I already bought all books via Audible - Cant wait to listen to them while jogging :) (JS)

Thank you so much, William, Guy and Matthias! Superb content, concise, packed with gold. Will look into getting your book Richer Wiser Happier. Thank you! (AT)

Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was just what I needed this morning. Stay safe guys! (LP)

This has been such a useful, insightful session....and it's free! Thanks a ton, William, Guy, Matthias for making this such a great investment of my time. (AS)

Thursday, September 23rd 2021

The excitement around the rapid development of digital assets and blockchain technologies, mixed with the realization of accommodative monetary policies, increasing geo-political tensions, and materializing concerns over inflation growth, all has investors seeking exposure to asset classes such as digital assets.

Specifically, wealth managers, financial advisors and institutions are expressing a strong appetite for digital assets exposure, but desire a risk-managed approach that focuses on mitigating the inherent volatility and drawdowns common with the emerging asset class; this is what IDX seeks to provide.

Join us for a conversation with IDX Digital Assets' Chief Investment Officer, Ben McMillan and Michael Mell, Senior Director Custom Indices, S&P Dow Jones, where we'll go into detail on how to systematically manage risk within the rapidly developing digital assets ecosystem.

Topics that will be covered during the webinar:

Why the drivers of volatility in digital assets are most likely here to stay, even with further institutionalization.

How to evaluate blockchain technologies from an investment perspective.

What the future of digital assets might provide for the global economy.

Time-tested investment principles for emerging asset classes and technologies.

Risk Management and robust solutions for deploying them in the Digital Assets Investable Universe.

The Rise of both retail and institutional Investing in Digital Assets, and the different means of accessing the category.

The Approach that IDX and S & P have taken toward this universe and the differences between Passive and Active digital asset management.

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 3

It was great - a lot of information and very interesting. I will "see you" at your next webinar! (IC) [more feedback]

Great presentations from everyone, thank you very much! (AO)

That was an excellent webinar today. Thank you for inviting me. (OB)

Tuesday, September 7th 2021

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return.

We are proud to present you Episode 3 of this ground breaking webinar series with the following carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

1. Unigestion Global Macro Strategy:

This strategy manages long and short exposure across and within asset classes, and trades over 60 liquid instruments across global markets by combining a set of three independent investment approaches:

2. SAVA Investment Management:

The SAVA Digital Asset Fund is an absolute-return investment vehicle to profitably capture volatility and deliver alpha in the digital-asset space's most liquid pairs on its most liquid exchanges.

3. Eschler Asset Management:

Eschler Partnership is a long-biased long-short equity strategy deploying long-term capital on behalf of committed partners into a small number of well-researched small-and-mid-cap ideas in out of favor segments of the market. The strategy combines market cycle and industry analysis with bottom-up stock picking and is currently invested in multiple deep value industries that exhibit strong risk-reward characteristics.

4. Blue Swan Investors:

Blue Swan Investors LP was founded in 2021 by Dan Butler, Rob Reilly, and TJ Villano, a team of investment professionals and friends with over 20 years of investment experience each.

Keeping Your Family Office (and Company) Secure

I'm on another webinar for Family Offices and I must say the content on YOUR webinar is far and above what I am hearing over there. I am honored to be connected to you and Opalesque. (BM)

Very impressive presentation today! Please put me on your email list for future presentations. (FD)

Thanks for hosting! So much wisdom in William's book and very relevant right now after/during the pandemic. (JA)

Thanks for putting on a wonderful webinar today with William and Guy, it was very informative! Looking forward to the next one and thanks for all you do! (SD)

Thanks for this great webinar! It was really inspiring- well done Guy Spier & William Green - and thanks Matthias Knab for organizing! (JS)

Great to hear what the super rich are doing. (BK)

Thank you so much for such insights (NK)

Guy and Williams Books significantly changed my thinking! (BG)

I already bought all books via Audible - Cant wait to listen to them while jogging :) (JS)

Thank you so much, William, Guy and Matthias! Superb content, concise, packed with gold. Will look into getting your book Richer Wiser Happier. Thank you! (AT)

Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was just what I needed this morning. Stay safe guys! (LP)

This has been such a useful, insightful session....and it's free! Thanks a ton, William, Guy, Matthias for making this such a great investment of my time. (AS)

Thursday, August 26th 2021

Sometimes there is a simple solution to a complex problem.

The purpose of this webinar is to demo what the industry leader Trusted Family has created to help family members, family offices and corporate managers to make the best use of technology in serving your family and organization(s) more effectively. We'll get to know Trusted Family's award winning platform and see best use-cases from clients and also look at cybersecurity, data management, and how more efficient communication methods translate into better governance and communication throughout the family unit, stakeholders, and organizations.

Investor Workshop: Why & How to Protect Yourself From Apocalyptic Thinking

Thursday, August 12nd 2021

Save the Children (and Your Investments) From Apocalyptic Thinking: Why the Bad News is Mostly Wrong

"Most of the time, the end of the world doesn't happen." - Howard Marks on Sept. 19th 2008

Doomsday scenarios can cloud our thinking and misguide our investments. Why do so many people fear the future? Is their concern justified, or can we look forward to greater wealth and continued improvement in the way we live?

Many people believe that our world is experiencing stagnant economic growth, climatic deterioration, dwindling natural resources, and an unsustainable level of population increase. The world is doomed, they argue, and there are just too many problems to overcome.

But is this really the case? The world is full of challenges, and we need to tackle them head on. But we need to teach our children, and adults, the facts about how we went from an almost entirely impoverished world to a moderately affluent one in the last 250 years, and how they can help that trend to continue and flourish in those parts of the world that have not benefited as much as we have.

And, to become better investors, we need to understand how to take advantage of the progress that is almost certain to take place within our lifetimes and beyond.

Learn from Laurence B. Siegel, the Gary P. Brinson director of research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation and author of Fewer, Richer, Greener; David S. Rose, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and Associate Founder of Singularity University, and Ric Edelman, three times ranked the #1 independent financial advisor by Barron's:

Where and why the world has improved—and will continue to improve
How the dramatic slowing in global population growth spreads prosperity from the developed to the developing world
How technology is helping billions of people rise above levels of mere subsistence
How to develop independent thinking and find your own fact based position
How to build resilient portfolios which also capture the upside of technological growth and innovation.

Investor Workshop: Cracking the Billionaire Investor Mindset with William Green

"One of the best 90 minute investments of my life." (Feedback on Twitter) [more feedback]

I'm on another webinar for Family Offices and I must say the content on YOUR webinar is far and above what I am hearing over there. I am honored to be connected to you and Opalesque. (BM)

Very impressive presentation today! Please put me on your email list for future presentations. (FD)

Thanks for hosting! So much wisdom in William's book and very relevant right now after/during the pandemic. (JA)

Thanks for putting on a wonderful webinar today with William and Guy, it was very informative! Looking forward to the next one and thanks for all you do! (SD)

Thanks for this great webinar! It was really inspiring- well done Guy Spier & William Green - and thanks Matthias Knab for organizing! (JS)

Great to hear what the super rich are doing. (BK)

Thank you so much for such insights (NK)

Guy and Williams Books significantly changed my thinking! (BG)

I already bought all books via Audible - Cant wait to listen to them while jogging :) (JS)

Thank you so much, William, Guy and Matthias! Superb content, concise, packed with gold. Will look into getting your book Richer Wiser Happier. Thank you! (AT)

Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was just what I needed this morning. Stay safe guys! (LP)

This has been such a useful, insightful session....and it's free! Thanks a ton, William, Guy, Matthias for making this such a great investment of my time. (AS)

Thursday, July 29th 2021

More than anything, it's the mindset which determines an investor's ability to achieve towering returns and long-term success.

Few are better equipped to explore the mindset of the world's greatest investors than William Green, who has interviewed, studied and befriended more than fifty of the leading global investors over the last 25 years. William authored "The Great Minds of Investing" (2015) and most recently "RICHER, WISER, HAPPIER: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life," which examines how to stack the odds in our favor so we can build lives that are truly successful and abundant. The book is already a global bestseller, has received extraordinary customer reviews on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2TzH9BC), and is currently being translated into 12 languages.

In this interactive INVESTOR WORKSHOP, William Green and Matthias Knab will dive into the "Habits of Mind" of remarkable Billionaire Investors and distill five key strategies of their mental make-up which can enrich us financially, professionally and personally.

We are thanking Guy Spier for his steadfast and abiding contributions to better connect and share within the investment community. William Green helped Guy to write his much-praised memoir, The Education of a Value Investor, and is an adviser to the board of Guy's firm, Aquamarine Capital.

Small Managers - Big Alpha - Episode 2

Great and diverse selection of managers. (AG) [more feedback]

Very educating and enriching. (JSS)

I came in late but great experience there. Thanks! (NN)

Tuesday, June 22nd 2021

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same Alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return. Opalesque presents a carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

1. Target QR Strategies

Target QR Strategies invests in equities using a systematic process for stock selection. The method is based on over four decades of quantitative research and proprietary data, seeking high returns by investing in a concentrated portfolio of stocks in the "world's fastest growing companies". The firm's long-only strategy generated a 134% net return in its first year.

2. Prestige Funds

A private markets management group which was established in 2007 with a team of over 100 professionals and has raised more than USD 2.3b in fund and debt assets. Their oldest credit fund strategy has successfully operated for over 12 years having generated positive, consistent, uncorrelated returns every year. The group's investment strategies focus on providing short and medium term financing to small companies in the UK and USA and renewable energy / waste to energy infrastructure finance.

3. Portal Asset Management

The Portal Digital Fund is a global, multi-strategy hedge fund that invests in funds that are running strategies in the digital currency space. The Fund is uncorrelated with traditional as well as alternative asset classes and targets a net return of 25% pa with 15% volatility on an annual basis.

4. Arbitrium Capital Partners

Arbitrium Capital Partners was established in 2020 when the founders saw a gap in the market providing flexible financing solutions to complex situations for middle-market companies where banks and non-bank institutions are unwilling to provide funding. The funding solution is structured to assist borrowers first to stabilize and turnaround, and then grow the business, thus not only providing loans but also add value through active and interactive advice to corporate borrowers.

Small Managers - Big Alpha

Thank you all - the Opalesque team and presenting managers. Could you send me all presentations used in the webinar by email? (ET) [more feedback]

I really enjoyed the event. (NS)

Thanks to all the managers - great webinar! (CL)

Thank you. Very informative. (BO)

Excellent event! (GL)

Tuesday, May 11th 2021

With larger quantities of capital chasing the same alpha strategies and continuing to erode Alpha, savvy investors are turning to smaller and/or emerging managers as they look for alternative sources of return. Opalesque presents a carefully screened panel of investment managers worth taking a look.

1. Quantumrock is an AI-driven investment technology asset manager working to disrupt traditional asset management. Their flagship Special Opportunities Program (VSOP) is an Equity Tail Hedge strategy which since launch in 2016 has vastly outperformed its peers (up over 30% in 2020) and never had a negative year.

2. Icon Asset Management's MoSAIQ-Icon-Carmika Market Neutral aims to achieve long-term positive absolute returns in all market conditions (all weather strategy) while maximizing the Sharpe Ratio. The strategy was up over 40% in 2020 and over 11% by end of March 2021.

3. Ridgedale is a systematic global macro manager specializing in quantitative investment strategies trading over 100 global futures markets in equities, fixed income, currencies & commodities. Its Global Alpha strategy is up over 21% in 2021 with an annualized return of 19.5%.

4. Derby Street Managers is a value-oriented fund manager focusing on niche opportunities in UK and European equities managed by Richard Simmons, an investor with a proven track record since 1998.

Empowering Generations With The BeeWyzer Method

Thursday, May 6th 2021

Discover how the BeeWyzer Method empowers families of wealth, principals, family office staff and NextGen.

Discuss with Peter Brock and Christian Stadermann, the founders of BeeWyzer, an unconflicted and independent video learning platform for wealth structuring:

How and why family values and a solid governance and investment policy glue the family together
Why is a strategic asset allocation so important to avoid over-concentration (failure to diversify by asset class and liquidity)
How to avoid over-reliance on advisors and implement better controlling and risk management
Sustainable and impact investing for families that really mean it
Why they founded BeeWyzer
What the turning points were in their traditional careers
and why they are so committed to enable wealthy families to get their wealth structure right across generations.

Stay Rich Series #1: How's Your Financial Education, really?

Yes, you can do both: enjoying life while also remaining in the driver's seat to overlook and manage your wealth.

If there's anything comparable to a vaccine against a catastrophic blow up of your wealth, it's Financial Education. And, the greater the wealth, the more dimensions need to be mastered by the wealth owners themselves - you should never rely entirely on other people to manage your wealth. The ultimate empowerment is a strong, multi-dimensional education.

The most common, and most detrimental risks for wealth owners include:

Over-concentration (failure to diversify by asset class and liquidity)
Over-reliance on advisors
Missing or half-baked strategies for wealth structuring and wealth controlling

For this webinar I have assembled a panel of wealth owners and internationally recognized experts on wealth management to discuss:

Understanding return & performance after cost and risk
Best practice of how to prepare, take and implement investment decisions
How to monitor your investments, suppliers or your family office management.

Corona Fighters REVISITED

One of the most organized and informative presentations I have seen in a long time (LA)

Excellent! Learned quite a bit - the speakers were excellent. I look forward to watching the replay also. (CM)

Really thought provoking, thank you all! (JT)

Thanks for a terrific webinar. (ES)

Thanks, everyone. Good, thought-provoking presentations. (CM)

Thank you all for this interesting webinar! Many important questions came through. (SM)

Thank you very much for this high-quality webinar. (BM)

Thanks and well done! It was very interesting. (JZ)

I really enjoyed the webinar. (AG)

The three speakers were so good because they were easy to follow and understand, with good visualisations, and they were not simply trying to sell their fund. Your next webinar looks as good as this one. (LF)

Tuesday, March 30th 2021

After the market drop in Q1, the Opalesque CORONA FIGHTERS Webinar Series was the dominant virtual event for investors in 2020 as we presented 20 alternative investment managers who were significantly up or protected capital during the corona-virus led market downturn.

In the Corona Fighters REVISITED Webinar we present you the "winners of the winners": Strategies that not only performed in Q1 '20 but also during the rebound later that year:

Stephane Prigent, CFA, CEO Katch Investment Group
Robust returns and strong protection Real Estate Lending

Michelle Leung, CEO, Xingtai Capital
Value Driven Investor in Chinese Growth

Tony Bremness, CFA, Managing Director Laureola Advisors
Life Settlements as Bedrock investments

Jagdeesh Prakasam, CAIA, CEO Rotella Qdeck
Since 1995 on the cutting edge of finance, using statistical and machine learning frameworks to develop investment strategies to achieve high-quality returns.

Investor Workshop: In Search of PERSISTENT ALPHA with Alexander Ineichen, Panayiotis Lambropoulos, Dave Finstad and Eric Uhlfelder

Thank you all - I found this webinar most insightful. (TL) [more feedback]

Congratulations for your ever more relevant webinars and publications that are an invaluable tool to parse the all too crowded hedge fund space! (AM)

Very interesting webinar. Well done. (JC)

Thank you all for a great session! (ED)

Thank you again team Matthias and presenters (ET)

Great webinar - thanks everyone! (AO)

Alexander Ineichen's (CFA, CAIA, FRM) "In Search of Alpha" (Oct. 2000) and "The Search for Alpha Continues" (Sept. 2001) were the most often printed research publications in the documented history of UBS. His books "Absolute Returns" and "Asymmetric Returns" (Wiley Finance) are considered the author's manifesto for active risk management.

At this Opalesque SKILLSLAB Investor Workshop, Ineichen will discuss with institutional investors Panayiotis Lambropoulos (CFA, CAIA, FRM) and Dave Finstad (CFA), Eric Uhlfelder's updated 2020 HEDGE FUND SURVEY focusing on the most consistently performing hedge funds ("Consistent Performers") Uhlfelder identified in his 18th annual survey.

Lambropoulos is responsible for the Texas Employees Retirement Systems' Emerging Hedge Fund Manager program - the ERS Launchpad - which he proposed and spearheaded. Finstad is Senior Portfolio Manager, Partnership Portfolio at British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI).

The 50 Most Consistent Hedge Funds ranked by their 5 Year Annualized Net Returns and other key data
Identifying Alpha - then and now. How to narrow the global universe of funds to just 50
What is the #1 quality these 50 funds reflect and their average life span? What is their AUM sweet spot? Do they run diversified or concentrated portfolios?
What are institutions looking for in hedge funds?
Monitoring fund managers & the power of nowcasting
Why also large allocators should not overlook smaller or mid sized asset managers
How investors reflect on the future of the hedge fund industry

Investor Workshop: The Seven Keys to Behavioural Investing

Phenomenal webinar. Thank you very much. (AB) [more feedback]

Excellent! Learned quite a bit - the speakers were excellent. I look forward to watching the replay also. (CM)

Really thought provoking, thank you all! (JT)

Thanks for a terrific webinar. (ES)

Thanks, everyone. Good, thought-provoking presentations. (CM)

Thank you all for this interesting webinar! Many important questions came through. (SM)

Thank you very much for this high-quality webinar. (BM)

Thanks and well done! It was very interesting. (JZ)

I really enjoyed the webinar. (AG)

The three speakers were so good because they were easy to follow and understand, with good visualisations, and they were not simply trying to sell their fund. Your next webinar looks as good as this one. (LF)

While 'Behavioural Investing' is the broad catch-all term to describe the psychological forces that influence investors' decisions, research (and true introspection) reveal each time where and how we fail as a result of our own blind spots.

But, being aware of blind spots does not mean we're able to avoid the pitfall next time.

As James Montier writes, the solution lies in designing and adopting an investment process that is at least partially robust to behavioural decision-making errors:

How to identify & neutralize pitfalls & investment blind spots
Can we design investment strategies that exploit behavioral biases?
How do you know if you have hired a good manager? - Julian Robertson (via Video)

Eight Ways Investment Managers Should Be Using Digital Marketing Right Now - Part II

The pandemic has structurally changed the process and methods of asset raising. Investors don't travel any more to check out and visit potential managers to invest in. But they still invest: Hedge funds, for example, got estimated net inflows of $13.0bn in 3Q 2020 but $11.2bn (82%) went to funds managing more than $5bn. Mid sized firms experienced a small outflow of $810m, while firms managing less than $1bn received inflows of $2.6bn.

At the same time, investors are starting to realize that this dynamic is not sustainable and that in this new normal they also need to research and consider mid and smaller sized firms.

Part II: Thursday, Dec. 10th 2020

1. How to Master Investor-Centric Marketing - Matthias Knab

2. Three Key Techniques to Improve Your Investor Pitch - Benjamin Ball

3. Four Hacks for Convincing Video Calls & Presentations - Benjamin Ball

4. How To Turn Cold Leads Into Hot Prospects - Matthias Knab

5. Guide To SEO In Fund Marketing and Digital Media Compliance - Paul Das

In this two-part webinar series we pass on actionable intelligence, tips, tools and data to empower those managers in what is now a mostly digital competition for attention and assets:

FREE / discounted offers:

BUDGET CONSTRAINTS was cited by most of the webinar participants as a challenge. To help you get started and save costs, the speakers are offering as part of this webinar series FREE / discounted packages to audit or consult on your Pitch Deck / Digital Marketing / PR or Video Productions.

These seats are limited - claim your slot here now: https://www.opalesque.com/8waysoffer/

Eight Ways Investment Managers Should Be Using Digital Marketing Right Now - Part I

The pandemic has structurally changed the process and methods of asset raising. Investors don't travel any more to check out and visit potential managers to invest in. But they still invest: Hedge funds, for example, got estimated net inflows of $13.0bn in 3Q 2020 but $11.2bn (82%) went to funds managing more than $5bn. Mid sized firms experienced a small outflow of $810m, while firms managing less than $1bn received inflows of $2.6bn.

At the same time, investors are starting to realize that this dynamic is not sustainable and that in this new normal they also need to research and consider mid and smaller sized firms.

Part I: Monday, Dec. 7th 2020

1. Assess & Maximize Your Digital Presence - Matthias Knab

2. From 0 to 1000: Four Steps to a Great Webinar - Don Steinbrugge

3. How To Use Automation and Data Science to Improve Client Engagement and Boost AuM - Paul Das

In this two-part webinar series we pass on actionable intelligence, tips, tools and data to empower those managers in what is now a mostly digital competition for attention and assets:

FREE / discounted offers:

BUDGET CONSTRAINTS was cited by most of the webinar participants as a challenge. To help you get started and save costs, the speakers are offering as part of this webinar series FREE / discounted packages to audit or consult on your Pitch Deck / Digital Marketing / PR or Video Productions.

These seats are limited - claim your slot here now: https://www.opalesque.com/8waysoffer/

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - Episode 2: More outperforming strategies

Thank you for taking us around the world on this webinar with your expert speakers from Vancouver, Paris, Geneva and Sydney! (ET) [more feedback]

I was delighted with an impressive agenda, including very productive and insightful panels with the 4 managers. (RA)

I want to thank you for these webinars. I feel honored having been able to attend most of them, and I really learn a lot about advanced financial asset management. (NEF)

Thank you for inviting me to this excellent webinar. (NL)

Great online event (GAA)

Tuesday, Oct. 27th 2020

Opalesque presents a new slate of investment managers who not only were up / protected capital in the turbulent first quarter 2020 but also YTD and in previous years.

Learn more about:

Diversifying strategies that actually worked before, during and after the Corona-led meltdown of Q1
Return drivers, opportunity set, outlook

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - More outperforming strategies

"Impressive webinar!! Interesting, diverse range of managers, fund strategies and concepts. Looking forward to studying the presentations and fund facts, and attend more of your webinars! (MA)" [more feedback]

Thank you for organising the webinar - you had four very high-quality managers there. (JD)

Love this webinar: The qualitative fundamentals in your speakers' presentations were pandemically successful, and they were knocking to the quantitative Financial Markets Investment Strategic Door. Your organizing and moderating skills are beautiful. Thank you! (GC)

Great job as usual! (GA)

Thank you Matthias for organizing very useful webinar. Waiting for next ones. (TV)

Thank you very much for organizing the webinar - it was very helpful indeed. Look forward to the Episode 2 of your webinar series.(AZ)

Tuesday, Sep. 22nd 2020

Opalesque presents a new slate of investment managers who not only were up / protected in the turbulent first quarter 2020 but also YTD and in previous years.

Learn more about:

Diversifying strategies that actually worked before, during and after the Corona-led meltdown of Q1:

Volatilty Trading and Volatility Arbitrage
Energy
Value Investing in Chinese Growth
Institutional Digital Assets Funds of Funds

Return drivers, opportunity set, outlook

Fixed Income Alternatives Strategies

Wednesday, Sep. 9th 2020

With negative rates or near 0%, more and more investors are looking for Fixed Income Alternatives where they are still able to harvest a yield based on illiquidity and/or complexity premia, combined with high diversification benefits.

Many of these fixed income replacement strategies have proven to be resilient during volatile times and economic crises and can even fundamentally benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The attraction of liquid and illiquid strategies such as Private Debt, Trade Finance, Consumer Debt, Life Settlements as fixed income replacement
Valuation and liquidity aspects
Return drivers, opportunity set, outlook

Investor Workshop: The Keys to Asymmetric Returns

Kenny Arnott has thirty years' experience investing in equity and commodity markets money and has run money for several well-known hedge fund managers including Paul Tudor Jones.

Kenny Arnott about himself: "In 1990 I went to work for Paul Tudor Jones' uncle, Billy Dunavant, in Memphis, Tennessee, trading cotton. He introduced me to the concept of asymmetric investing and that has been my investment approach ever since. Find, Invest in, and Deliver Asymmetric returns."

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

A great format. Really informative. (KP)

I enjoyed the webinar and found the introduction to the strategies to be diverse and insightful. (SL)

The webinar was very good, including the format, hence my registration for Episde 2. (GM)

Appreciate the wisdom of all the managers, as a result of a lifetime in crazy markets. (ET)

Wonderful presentations, all - thank you for all the great perspectives and insights. (ED)

Many thanks to all participants. Very resourceful and insightful. (OU)

Great presentations and thanks to all of the speakers for such an informative session It was a pleasure attending the webinar today. (SH)

Wonderful presentations. Thank you. (DB)

Thanks for the webinar! Always a pleasure to attend your SKILLSLAB series. (RM)

I learnt about managers I did not know. (TD)

With five investment managers, July 21st 2020

Opalesque presents five investment managers with a succinct presentation how and why their strategies delivered positive returns and/or protected during the Corona led market meltdown, with Q&A session.

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

"The whole Corona Fighters program has been extremely educational for me and a great opportunity to learn more about hedge funds and compare/contrast their approaches. (DW)" [more feedback]

Excellent webinar, thank you. (BF)

Thank you so much for these presentations. (DB)

Thanks for this webinar, which I enjoyed very much! (JM)

With five investment managers, June 23rd 2020

Opalesque presents five investment managers with a succinct presentation how and why their strategies delivered positive returns and/or protected during the Corona led market meltdown, with Q&A session.

How Quants Achieve Material Improvements in ESG Investment Performance

"Thank you all speakers for the great presentation! (AV)" [more feedback]

Very interesting discussion. (AM)

Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation. (AB)

I wanted to drop you a line because the webinar you organised on how to apply ESG factors though quantitative strategies with the Welton Investment team was really great. I have learnt a lot and found them very professional. The way they expressed themselves and the information displayed on the slides was smooth and clear, it was very enjoyable. Thank you for organising it.(DR)

ESG funds provide an important means for investors to align their portfolios with their values. However, the average ESG investor has underperformed the market - sometimes by a meaningful margin - while shouldering the same systemic risks borne by equity investors. Idiosyncratic risk mitigation is simply overpowered by systemic market risk during crises and corrections alike. This is exacerbated by the fact that ESG fund assets are almost entirely concentrated within long only equity funds as opposed to Fixed Income or Balanced funds.

Moreover, equity-only ESG funds may not provide the returns investors require going forward, especially post-COVID-19. For example, on average public pension plans have a 50% allocation to global equities, and a 7.2% investment plan return assumption. Given diminishing forward equity return expectations, it is likely that long-only ESG equity portfolios will not solve this problem alone.

This Opalesque SKILLSLAB webinar will cover:

Brief review of long-term performance of ESG funds: Near-market returns and unmitigated market risk may not represent the apex of achievable ESG performance

How a new quantitative approach to ESG strategy can guard against the key risk of acute economic contraction by mitigating downside risk.

Three ways this quantitative approach can improve an ESG portfolio’s risk/return profile:

1. Integration of timely and broad ESG datasets

This allows for the manager to combine big data and ESG metrics to assess the performance and sustainability of companies worldwide

2. Dynamic stock selection and weighting using machine learning techniques

Alternative techniques taking risk exposures into account have the potential to better manage portfolio volatility.

3. Integration of orthogonal strategies to mitigate market risk and enhance performance

The addition of a diversifying trend strategy to the mix has the potential to elevate investor experience away from market risk, and beyond market-only performance.

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

"This webinar was really informative and insightful about how these managers assess and manage risk. I also appreciate that it was smaller managers which is not what most firms focus on." [more feedback]

Was very good. Thought a useful selection of managers. Well done. (JC)

Thank you for hosting this webinar. It was very interesting. (SW)

This webinar was really informative and insightful about how these managers assess and manage risk. I also appreciate that it was smaller managers which is not what most firms focus on. (LH)

I really enjoyed this Corona Fighters webinar. (CW)

With five investment managers, May 19th 2020

Opalesque presents five investment managers with a succinct presentation how and why their strategies delivered positive returns and/or protected during the Corona led market meltdown, with Q&A session.

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

"A well-chosen topic of discussion and a great set of speakers to hear and learn from." [more feedback]

A great format. Really informative. (KP)

I enjoyed the webinar and found the introduction to the strategies to be diverse and insightful. (SL)

The webinar was very good, including the format, hence my registration for Episde 2. (GM)

Appreciate the wisdom of all the managers, as a result of a lifetime in crazy markets. (ET)

Wonderful presentations, all - thank you for all the great perspectives and insights. (ED)

Many thanks to all participants. Very resourceful and insightful. (OU)

Great presentations and thanks to all of the speakers for such an informative session It was a pleasure attending the webinar today. (SH)

Wonderful presentations. Thank you. (DB)

Thanks for the webinar! Always a pleasure to attend your SKILLSLAB series. (RM)

I learnt about managers I did not know. (TD)

With five investment managers, April 20th 2020

Opalesque presents five investment managers with a succinct presentation how and why their strategies delivered positive returns and/or protected during the Corona led market meltdown, with Q&A session.

COVID-19 Survival Training for Family Businesses

"One of the most thorough and well prepared webinars I have ever attended." [more feedback]

One of the most thorough and well prepared webinars I have ever attended. Thank you! (JZ)

Great presentation. This is a game changer. (DS)

I am currently invited to many such sessions, but yours yesterday with Octavian was really outstanding! (MS)

Thanks for uploading the informative webinar. It offers a based overview of the methods and pitfalls that arise from the nature of complex relationships or crises. (KS)

Thank you for this. Very compelling ideas! (K)

Very good presentation! Very thorough and useful! (GR)

Thank you for a very informative presentation (KP)

Thanks for the structured presentation! (EVR)

Huge thank you! (EB)

With Octavian Graf Pilati, April 15th 2020

This Opalesque SKILLSLAB webinar will cover:

What to do in times of crisis and what not to do
Tools that can be used to navigate crisis
The Art of Accepting Crisis Paradoxons
Managing a Crisis Starts With Managing Stress
The 7 P's of Managing a Crisis
Turning Adversity into Opportunity

Climate Change and Carbon as a Liquid Asset Class

"This webinar on carbon markets and trading is brilliant!!" [more feedback]

This webinar on carbon markets and trading is brilliant!! (RH)

A first rate presentation! Michael had some great slides and a strong message. (LM)

Very informative, sobering and yet inspiring. (WJ)

The webinar was excellent and well worth my staying up until midnight to watch it live from my time zone!! (IJ)

Thank you for such an insightful presentation. Awesome job. (ET)

Terrific presentation. (WJ)

With Michael Azlen, CEO Carbon Cap Management LLP, April 7th 2020

The Science of Climate Change
The Paris Agreement & the importance of carbon pricing
Cap and Trade as a successful policy tool and how it is spreading globally
Why carbon has outperformed other asset classes since 2012, with a higher Sharpe Ratio and low correlation
The outlook for carbon prices and how to add value with active risk management & multiple alpha strategies
How investing into carbon can generate attractive returns and a direct impact on climate change

RETHINKING MANAGER SELECTION:

SKILL OR LUCK?

"Thank you for such an insightful Webinar with Cedric. I really caught some new light." [more feedback]

Thank you for such an insightful Webinar with Cedric. I really caught some new light. One of the things Cedric highlighted was the importance of "management" understanding the risk strategies being undertaken. I also applause him for highlighting the effects of AUM growth on the fund, that was really insightful. (CD)

I watched the recording immediately after it became available, it provided some good perspective. I will be an eye out for any such engagements again in the future. (RS)

Intriguing webinar - lots to take away. (A)

With Cedric Kohler, Head of Advisory at Geneva-based Fundana, March 2nd 2020

How do you select good managers?
What does "good manager" actually mean?
How do you differentiate skill and luck?
And when is a good time to exit a manager?

Chris Addy

Growth Strategies for a Successful Investment Management Business - PART 2

Growth Strategies for a Successful Investment Management Business - PART 1

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 15

How emerging market fund manager Kevin Dougherty outperforms in Crypto, Web3

How to Access Mission Critical Investments in AI, Aerospace & Defense

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 14

The Ultimate Alpha Strategy: Mastering Early-Stage Tech Investments

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 13

Service Provider Due Diligence: The Next ODD Challenge

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 12

Tech Innovation in Fine Wine is Captivating Consumers, Investors, and the World's Leading Winemakers

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: How to Crack the Magic Triangle of Diversification, Crisis Alpha and Return

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: How to Unlock Lucrative Opportunities through Secured Lending in Mispriced Niche Markets

Opalesque INTERACTIVE with Chris Addy on Valuation, Cyber and the upcoming SEC "private fund" rule

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 11

Opalesque Risk Briefing: Debt Ceiling Déjà Vu?

INVESTOR WORKSHOP: Regulated UK platform democratising art with fractionalised Warhol starting at $3K says sweet spot are $1.5m - $20m paintings

How to Run a Due Diligence Fire Drill - What Should Investors Do?

Longevity Biotech: Investing in a healthier future

Hacking VC: How private investors can strategically access early-stage VC

Is there still ALPHA in HEDGE FUNDS?

ILS Life Settlements: The Institutional Approach (Asian Time Zones)

ILS Life Settlements: The Institutional Approach (US Time Zones)

Investor Workshop: Conducting ODD on Crypto and Digital Assets

Due Diligence Lessons from FTX: Opalesque Interactive Risk Briefing with Castle Hall Diligence

Winter is Coming: Billion-dollar hedge fund manager (+75% YTD) with decades of experience can prepare you for the storm

Alternative data: Early peek into US election results and other macro-economic analytics

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 10

Live: Bahamas Securities Commission Presents Framework For Digital Assets Business

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - Episode 3

Investor Workshop: Conducting ODD on Crypto and Digital Assets

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 9

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 8

MANAGER WORKSHOP: Market Entry Into Europe - Made Easy

Manager Discovery Panel: London

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 7

Master Class (ME/Asia time zone): The End of Easy Money - What Now?

Master Class (US time zone): The End of Easy Money - What Now?

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 6

MASTER CLASS: Growth Stock Investing in the Age of Technology - What Investors Misunderstand about Growth

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 5

Master Class: The New Frontiers of Factor Investing

3 Elements most managers MISS in their E-Capintro/Webinar/Video presentations

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 4

The Great Migration: How hedge funds and active strategies profit from new instruments on regulated exchanges

MASTER CLASS for Investors: Moving From Zero - Prudent Investment Exposures & Risk Management in Digital Assets

Small Managers - BIG ALPHA Episode 3

Keeping Your Family Office (and Company) Secure

Investor Workshop: Why & How to Protect Yourself From Apocalyptic Thinking

Investor Workshop: Cracking the Billionaire Investor Mindset with William Green

Small Managers - Big Alpha - Episode 2

Small Managers - Big Alpha

Empowering Generations With The BeeWyzer Method

Stay Rich Series #1: How's Your Financial Education, really?

Corona Fighters REVISITED

Investor Workshop: In Search of PERSISTENT ALPHA with Alexander Ineichen, Panayiotis Lambropoulos, Dave Finstad and Eric Uhlfelder

Investor Workshop: The Seven Keys to Behavioural Investing

Eight Ways Investment Managers Should Be Using Digital Marketing Right Now - Part II

Eight Ways Investment Managers Should Be Using Digital Marketing Right Now - Part I

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - Episode 2: More outperforming strategies

DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS - More outperforming strategies

Fixed Income Alternatives Strategies

Investor Workshop: The Keys to Asymmetric Returns

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

How Quants Achieve Material Improvements in ESG Investment Performance

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

The Corona Fighters: Meet the asset managers who actually delivered during the melt down

COVID-19 Survival Training for Family Businesses

Climate Change and Carbon as a Liquid Asset Class

RETHINKING MANAGER SELECTION:

SKILL OR LUCK?

How Quants Achieve Material Improvements in ESG Investment Performance

3 Elements most managers MISS in their E-Capintro/Webinar/
Video presentations

MASTER CLASS for Investors:

Moving From Zero - Prudent Investment Exposures & Risk Management in Digital Assets