Business
On today’s episode, Hari Krishnan is joined today by Benn Eifert, to discuss running a volatility fund, the benefits that Benn gets from using Twitter, how to effectively serve clients as a volatility trader, the drawbacks of hedging via ETFs, monitoring market flows, the popularity of short-dated options, implied volatility versus realised volatility, how correlations change over time, balancing family-life with managing a fund, and the new normalisation of working from home. In this episode, we discuss: A behind the scenes look at running a volatility fund How to use Twitter as an investor Bringing value to clients as a volatility trader Hedging via ETFs Market flows Options Implied volatility Finding a good work & life balance Follow Niels on https://twitter.com/toptraderslive (Twitter), https://www.linkedin.com/in/nielskaastruplarsen (LinkedIn), https://www.youtube.com/user/toptraderslive (YouTube) or via the https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/ (TTU website). Follow Hari on https://twitter.com/HariPKrishnan2 (Twitter). Follow Benn on https://twitter.com/bennpeifert (Twitter). IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/Ultimate (here). And you can get a free copy of my latest book “The Many Flavors of Trend Following” https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/flavor (here). Learn more about the Trend Barometer https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/resources/market-trends/ (here). Send your questions to info@toptradersunplugged.com And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on https://www.toptradersunplugged.com/reviewttu (iTunes) so more people can discover the podcast. Episode TimeStamps: 00:00 - Intro 02:20 - How did you end up running a Volatility fund? 06:39 - Why did you join a Vol fund instead of a Global Macro fund? 09:30 - What do you gain from being on Twitter? 11:50 - Explain some of the methods behind how you serve your clients 16:19 - What are some of the weaknesses of hedging via ETF products? 19:44 - Do you find a lot of value in monitoring the flows into various markets? 23:34 - Why is it people are so eager to sell shorter-dated options? 26:17 - How do you counter the argument that it’s a good idea to write calls against short positions? 30:05 - What are some of the issues with looking at implied volatility versus realised volatility? 33:13 - What challenges do you face as a Volatility pro, when it comes to the extreme moves up and down? 37:37 - What do you do when you expect large volatility but the direction is unknown? 40:30 - How would you react if you knew that there was a huge amount of open interest, 5% down in the S&P, with a few weeks to go? 42:52 - Do you have any thoughts on the recent dislocation between the VIX and the S&P 500? 46:04 - What are the changes in dispersion dynamics and implied correlations that you’ve noticed over the years? 55:03 - Is it fair to say that if you’re long enough Volatility, and there’s a large enough systemic shock, then you’re going to make money? 56:48 - Do you have anything to say about the 10-year note futures options surface? Are there persistent distortions there? 59:25 - If you see a distortion in the skew, how do you approach it? 01:02:56 - Balancing family life and managing a fund 01:05:12 - The recent legitimisation of working from home