The Alternative Data Podcast The Mohsen Chitsaz Episode
Oct 13, 2025
Mohsen Chitsaz, a portfolio manager and quantitative researcher at Eisler Capital, shares insights from his diverse career in event-driven trading and alternative data. He explains why physicists make excellent quants, and the crucial role of news data and satellite imagery in market analysis. Mohsen discusses the evolution of LLMs and their impact on news interpretation, emphasizing the balance between speed and precision in parsing market-moving headlines. He also highlights the importance of unique data integration to gain a competitive edge.
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Episode notes
Micro Forces Create Macro Market Effects
- Mohsen sees deep similarity between problems in biophysics and market modelling through multiscale interactions.
- He argues micro interactions aggregate into macro market phenomena like inflation or job numbers.
Building A Prop Firm From Scratch
- Mohsen launched a prop trading firm, Alpha Beta Investments, building execution and research from scratch and reached $100M AUM.
- They used reinforcement learning and optimal control for equity index strategies early on.
ETF Market Making Experience
- At JP Morgan Mohsen worked on ETF market making to capture ETF illiquidity premia.
- The desk provided liquidity across less popular ETFs and learned market impact and risk dynamics.