Top Traders Unplugged
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
Top Traders Unplugged is where the world’s best investors come to share how they think - not just what they trade.
Hosted by Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, the show goes deep into systematic trend following, global macro, and the principles that drive long-term success.
No forecasts. No fads. Just real conversations with hedge fund managers, economists, authors, and allocators - revealing the timeless ideas, mental models, and risk frameworks behind robust performance.
If you're building resilient portfolios, allocating capital, or simply looking to cut through the noise - this is your edge.
Clear thinking. Deep insights. Real experience.
🎧 New episodes weekly. Explore all episodes at toptradersunplugged.com https://toptradersunplugged.com
Hosted by Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, the show goes deep into systematic trend following, global macro, and the principles that drive long-term success.
No forecasts. No fads. Just real conversations with hedge fund managers, economists, authors, and allocators - revealing the timeless ideas, mental models, and risk frameworks behind robust performance.
If you're building resilient portfolios, allocating capital, or simply looking to cut through the noise - this is your edge.
Clear thinking. Deep insights. Real experience.
🎧 New episodes weekly. Explore all episodes at toptradersunplugged.com https://toptradersunplugged.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
10 snips
Feb 14, 2026 • 1h 14min
SI387: The Cost-Benefit of Being Trendy ft. Andrew Beer & Tom Wrobel
Tom Wrobel, a researcher on trend following and systematic strategies, and Andrew Beer, a systematic investor and allocator, discuss model design and the tradeoffs between short and long horizon signals. They debate implementation costs, why CTAs sometimes miss big moves like gold, and the pitfalls of liquid alternatives and product innovation. They end optimistic about persistent trends ahead.
18 snips
Feb 11, 2026 • 1h 1min
GM96: The End of the Hedge: When Bonds Stop Protecting Portfolios
Ian Harnett, co-founder and chief investment strategist with decades in markets and former Bank of England economist. He outlines a regime shift where bonds may stop hedging stocks. Talks about deglobalization and supply chains shortening. Discusses capital as a policy tool, dollar fragility around US political fractures, and winners like commodities and non-US value.
62 snips
Feb 7, 2026 • 1h 9min
SI386: When Position Sizing Saves You ft. Rob Carver
Rob Carver, quantitative investor and author specializing in systematic trading and risk management. He breaks down silver’s wild spike and collapse, explains volatility-adjusted position sizing and why scaling back saved capital, and explores liquidity myths, cross-asset dislocations, and portfolio construction trade-offs in fast markets.
58 snips
Feb 4, 2026 • 1h 1min
UGO09: Playing the Players in a Narrative Market ft. Ben Hunt
Ben Hunt, founder of Epsilon Theory and former hedge fund manager/academic, probes how stories shape markets and decision making. He explains why narrative momentum and inference, not raw sentiment or counts, drive outcomes. Conversations cover using LLMs as tools, spotting dormant narratives, timing trades with options, and geopolitical shifts that could reroute capital.
47 snips
Jan 31, 2026 • 1h 5min
SI385: When Volatility Becomes the Signal ft. Katy Kaminski
Katy Kaminski, researcher and systematic investing specialist focused on trend following and managed futures. She discusses the comeback of commodity and metals trends. They explore volatility estimation as a hidden driver. Conversation covers diversification across markets and speeds, replication limits, and why trend thrives during market regime shifts.
46 snips
Jan 28, 2026 • 1h 4min
GM95: When Consensus Gets the Cycle Wrong ft. Dario Perkins
Dario Perkins, Managing Director of Global Macro at TS Lombard and former Treasury adviser, challenges the consensus on growth and inflation. He argues policy stimulus, supply constraints and term‑premia shifts could reaccelerate growth and spark overheating. Discussions cover Fed credibility, Japan’s yield normalization, Europe’s fiscal pivot and China’s cautious rebalancing.
12 snips
Jan 24, 2026 • 1h 1min
SI384: Building an Inflation-Proof Portfolio ft. Yoav Git
Yoav Git, Head of fixed income and commodity research at Gresham, explains why bonds can break down in inflationary regimes and how commodity trend strategies can act as a structural ballast. They discuss geopolitics, supply shocks, deglobalization, and why building robust portfolios matters more than forecasting. Short, sharp takes on commodities, bond fragility, and constructing inflation-resilient allocations.
23 snips
Jan 21, 2026 • 54min
IL45: Where Markets Reveal Human Error ft. Alex Imas
In this engaging conversation, Alex Imas, a behavioral economist and professor at the University of Chicago, dives into the complexities of human decision-making around money. He explores mental accounting, revealing how we treat different types of wealth and the impact on spending habits. Alex also introduces the concept of the 'winner's curse,' discussing its effects in auctions and IPOs. He highlights the importance of stimulus design in influencing financial behavior and provides actionable insights for making better financial choices.
37 snips
Jan 17, 2026 • 60min
SI383: When Signals Matter More Than Stories ft. Nick Baltas
Join quantitative investor Nick Baltas as he delves into the evolving world of trend following. With insights on why signals can overshadow narratives, he highlights the unexpected impact of trading speed and universe choice on performance in 2025. Nick cautions against overreacting to past results and underscores the value of discipline in strategy. He also unpacks new research on nonlinear momentum and the mechanics of trend-following during market stress, revealing the critical role of timing and diversification.
53 snips
Jan 14, 2026 • 1h 8min
GM94: When Capitalism Reboots and Crashes Again ft. Mark Blyth
Mark Blyth, Professor of International Economics at Brown University, dives into the evolving landscape of capitalism, likening it to a software crash. He discusses how past crises have shaped today’s economic environment, touching on populism, inflation, and the failures of austerity. Blyth critiques the central bank's focus on inflation while neglecting real-world issues and proposes state-led industrial policies as a potential solution. He also examines the implications of demographics and geopolitical dynamics, all while warning us of a return to 19th-century rivalries.
