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
23 snips
Nov 11, 2026 • 1h 7min
TTU154: Why Trend Following Isn't Crash Insurance ft. Philippe Jordan
Philippe Jordan, President of quantitative investment firm CFM International, draws on 35 years in systematic investing to challenge assumptions about trend following. They explore why statistical models can struggle in extreme events, how AI agents are reshaping research, and why diversification beats dependence on one strategy. The conversation also examines investment culture, market microstructure, demographic risks, and the limits of trend following as crash protection.
53 snips
Nov 7, 2026 • 1h 4min
SI425: Passive Investing Is About to Face a Real Test ft. Cem Karsan
Cem Karsan, an investor and market strategist specializing in options, volatility, and macro cycles, explores the fault lines beneath global markets. They discuss passive investing’s vulnerability, stressed hedge funds, election-driven volatility, unsustainable debt, dollar dominance, China’s rise, and the possibility of aggressive monetary and industrial policy. The conversation turns to crisis, generational change, AI ownership, and building resilient portfolios for radical uncertainty.
24 snips
Nov 4, 2026 • 52min
OI25: What If Lower Volatility Is the Wrong Goal ft. Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin
Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin, CEO of Singapore-based systematic investment firm QuantEdge, reveals why his firm embraces roughly 25% volatility. They explore hundreds of risk premia across global markets, including insurance-linked securities, and how diversification can make room for more risk. The conversation covers scaling to nearly 300 markets, capacity, investor lockups, and lessons from 2008 and COVID-19.
Oct 31, 2026 • 1h 6min
SI424: Can Your Portfolio Survive the AI Hangover? ft. Alan Dunne
Alan Dunne, an investment professional specializing in systematic investing, joins a timely discussion on portfolio resilience. They explore how an AI boom could unravel, why stock-bond correlation can mislead, and which economic shocks could hurt both assets at once. The conversation also examines trend following, diversification across regimes, and whether reducing drawdowns can strengthen long-term compounding.
12 snips
Oct 28, 2026 • 1h 4min
GM109: Why Buffett Finally Went All In on Japan ft. Andrew McDermott
Andrew McDermott, founder of Japan-focused Mission Value Partners, brings a long-term investor’s view of the country’s overlooked strengths. He explores why Japan’s “lost decades” may be misunderstood, how manufacturing, robotics and practical AI could shape its future, and what Warren Buffett recognized in Japanese equities. The conversation also examines financialization, debt, domestic capital flows and Japan’s potential leadership in a democratic industrial alliance.
15 snips
Oct 24, 2026 • 1h 14min
SI423: Why Trend Following Might Outlast the AI Arms Race ft. Mark Rzepczynski
Mark Rzepczynski, an investment strategist and global macro researcher, examines the forces reshaping markets. They explore rising bond yields, fading safe-haven status, geopolitical fragmentation, liquidity, and the risk of explosive commodity moves. The conversation also tackles AI-driven model crowding, shrinking alpha lifespans, and why trend following may remain resilient amid the machine-learning arms race.
10 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.
54 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.
65 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.
