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
6 snips
Oct 21, 2026 • 1h 3min
GM108: Maybe Japan Is Finally Changing for Real ft. Jesper Koll
Jesper Koll, a Japan strategist, macroeconomist and investor based in Japan since the 1980s, makes the bullish case for the country’s next economic chapter. They explore labor scarcity, rising wages, returning domestic savings, corporate reform and Bank of Japan normalization. The discussion also covers semiconductors, defense, energy security, AI, the yen and why Japanese equities could thrive despite modest GDP growth.
43 snips
Oct 17, 2026 • 1h 9min
SI422: Why Trend Following Rewards Patience ft. Katy Kaminski
Katy Kaminski, an investment researcher and systematic-investing practitioner, explores how inflation and geopolitical turmoil are reshaping portfolio construction. She examines bonds losing their safe-haven role, commodities versus trend following, and crisis alpha for a changing world. New research reveals why investors often miss trend following’s best returns, making patience, governance, and thoughtful portfolio design essential.
11 snips
Oct 14, 2026 • 1h 10min
UGO13: How Much Longer Can AI Carry the Market ft. Christian Mueller-Glissmann
Christian Mueller-Glissmann, Goldman Sachs’ Head of Asset Allocation Research, examines whether AI can keep markets aloft as bond yields rise. He explores an earnings bubble versus a valuation bubble, AI’s long road to productivity, and the risks of debt-funded investment. The conversation also covers cheap equity volatility, extreme dispersion, geopolitical shocks, gold, FX volatility, and diversification in a more inflationary regime.
62 snips
Oct 10, 2026 • 1h 18min
SI421: Taking CTAs Mainstream ft. Andrew Beer
Andrew Beer, investor and co-founder of Dynamic Beta Investments, challenges the assumptions behind 60/40 portfolios. He explores AI’s impact on entrepreneurship, the unpredictability of complex systems, and why managed futures can diversify portfolios when stocks and bonds move together. They also discuss crisis performance, lumpy returns, manager selection, and how clearer language could bring CTAs mainstream.
13 snips
Oct 7, 2026 • 1h 1min
IL54: Why Smart Investors Keep Making Crazy Decisions ft. Alex Edmans
Alex Edmans, a London Business School finance professor and behavioral finance researcher, explores the madness behind market movements. They discuss how football results and Spotify playlists influence sentiment, why individuals may outlast professionals, and how momentum, benchmarks, round-number orders, and AI hype shape decisions. The conversation also covers overlooked opportunities and the psychology of holding losers while selling winners.
43 snips
Oct 2, 2026 • 1h 4min
SI420: The Market Might Be More Fragile Than It Looks ft. Cem Karsan
Cem Karsan, options trader and founder of Kai Volatility Advisors, explores why markets may be more fragile than they appear. He examines rising bond yields, refinancing pressure, waning Treasury demand, and the AI investment boom. They also discuss concentrated equity risk, political intervention, underpriced volatility, a potential Treasury shock, and whether the traditional 60/40 portfolio can survive a new inflationary regime.
44 snips
Sep 30, 2026 • 1h 7min
TTU153: Why Investors Keep Getting Trend Following Wrong ft. Patrick Welton
Patrick Welton, founder and CEO of Welton Investment Corporation and a former physician, brings four decades of systematic trading experience to a wide-ranging conversation. He recalls lessons from Paul Tudor Jones and John Henry, explores the responsibility of managing outside capital, and examines trend following’s return sources, replication, capacity, regime change, and investor behavior. A sharp look at why disciplined compounding is harder than finding a strategy.
98 snips
Sep 26, 2026 • 1h 6min
SI419: What Happens When AI Starts Building the Portfolio ft. Nick Baltas
Nick Baltas, a quantitative researcher and portfolio manager, explores trend following’s strong run, rising bond yields, and whether volatility should shape model speed. He challenges regime triggers and overengineered strategies before turning to agentic AI: specialized systems that debate macro conditions, construct portfolios, and support investment committees. The discussion also tackles backtesting bias, reproducibility, and human oversight.
Sep 23, 2026 • 60min
OI24: Why Power Trading Is 10 Times Crazier Than Crypto ft. Cory Paddock
Cory Paddock, co-founder of GBE Energy and a specialist in North American power markets, opens the door to a world where weather, physics and economics collide. He explores round-the-clock trading, extreme intraday volatility, grid constraints, rare big opportunities, painful losses and the challenge of developing young traders with AI. The conversation also looks at rising electricity demand from data centers and electrification.
17 snips
Sep 19, 2026 • 1h 16min
SI418: Why Markets Are More Alive Than We Think ft. Richard Brennan
Richard Brennan, an Australian trend-following practitioner and researcher, explores why markets behave more like living, evolving systems than predictable machines. He discusses structural outliers, self-reinforcing trends, reflexivity, increasing returns, and the Santa Fe Institute’s complex-systems research. They also examine letting winners run, the limits of backtests, and why responding may matter more than forecasting.
