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

How do you transition from working alongside the capital management industry to starting your own hedge fund? Our next guest grew up in Bangladesh but fled to London during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He worked as an accountant and then went on to join the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) where he pioneered the organization’s futures investment department. Learn about his personal setbacks and successes, his innovative investment strategies, and how he founded Quality Capital Management in the UK.

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In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

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

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Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Learn about Aref Karim on his Wikipedia page.
• Learn about the Bangladesh Liberation War that displaced Aref from his country of birth to the UK.
• Learn more about the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.

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