The Derivative

Eric Crittenden, Founder and CIO of Standpoint, joins Jeff to discuss managing chaos through trend following strategies, trends as inflation protection, being short bonds, foreign equities performance, and the impact of LME's actions on the market.

It's not every day you get to sit down with a Volatility veteran with over 30 years of experience…..Well, maybe it’s a bit more common here on the Derivative than elsewhere, but we’ve got a special treat with Ari Bergmann(@AriBergmann) joining Jeff on this week's Derivative episode. Listen in as they dive into where to find convexity, why that’s not the same thing as buying lottery tickets, how there’s a difference between a low price and a value, and the processes needed to maintain portfolios of convex instruments. Ari is the Founder and Managing Principal/CIO at Penso Advisors, where he leads the firm's investment committee and manages various Penso funds and clients' mandates. Ari and Jeff are sorting through all of the Volatility mumbo jumbo and taking a closer look at the practical limits of cheap convexity, where imbalances come from in residuals and structured notes; how the ignorance of the possibility of a second leg down formed and still exists, trading complex options vs. vanilla options, the importance of monetization, and so much more! Plus, Ari is giving his hottest take on gold and why it's crucial to keep your personal life private — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:53 = Intro 01:54-14:38 = Confusion de Confusiones & the start of Penso 14:39-24:48 = Approaching the limits of cheap convexity, residuals & structured notes 24:49-34:45 = Ignorance and Opportunities for a Second leg down 34:46-42:51 = Dual digital, complex options vs vanilla options & the importance of Monetization 42:52-52:19 = Always rebalance your portfolio 52:20-56:32 = Hottest take: Gold is good & Keep your personal life private From the Episode: Check out and read Confusion de Confusiones Follow along with Ari on Twitter @AriBergmann and for more information on Ari and his team at Penso Advisors visit their website at www.penso.com  Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

For those lucky few who’ve sold a business, inherited wealth, or otherwise find themselves in the enviable position of staying wealthy, not getting wealthy – the investment game can be more about playing defense than going on offense. But how do you go about that, who do you partner with to figure out complex tax and estate issues. This week, Jeff is sitting down with Homer Smith(@HomerSmith_KWP), the founder of Konvergent Wealth Management, to dig into just how investment advisors like him go about solving the complex financial challenges end investors face. Homer and Jeff dive into a variety of topics, including how allocating to managers differs from being an asset manager, how to add DEFENCE to build an all-weather portfolio, the benefits of return stacking (Be sure to check out this WP on Return Stacking), how to navigate and scale an investment firm, and take a closer look into the future of wealth service. Plus, we're playing two truths and a lie with Homer; tune in to see if he really is Matt Damon's stunt double — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:13 = Intro 01:14-11:51 = Flipping the Script: How Picking the Managers differs from Being the Manager 11:52-28:34 = Adding DEFENCE to make an all-weather portfolio 28:35-37:23 = Return Stacking, Leverage & Wealth destruction in the Tech Wreck 37:24-58:56 = The RIA: Then vs Now, helping navigate life, scaling your firm & the Future of Wealth Services 58:57-01:05:06 = Two Truths and a Lie: Matt Damon's Stunt double? Follow along with Homer on Twitter @HomerSmith_KWP and also Konvergent Wealth @KonvergentWP and for more information check out Konvergentwealth.com Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

Summer’s nearly over and class is definitely back in session for this episode, as we're about to get schooled on options and trying to separate the scams from the science. This week we're delivering the long-awaited episode with Dr. Benn Eifert, a Derivative appointed Jedi of Volatility from QVR Advisors, and Dr. David Rhoiney, who overcame being homeless to become a robotic surgeon who is learning the financial ropes and sharing his journey on Twitter from Surgifi. David has questions: what do you do with all the Greeks, can’t you tell a trend is starting by analyzing options volume, what about skew?  And Benn has the answers in this entertaining 70-minute lively back and forth. They touch on being an independent thinker like David to come to your own investing conclusions, whether the options courses out there are knowingly selling lies, or more innocently peddling luck and lottery tickets. Why Black Scholes doesn’t really do anything except normalize prices…meaning there’s no secret math that lets you ‘figure out’ options. How trend following only works 25% of the time, Nancy Pelosi’s high fee LEAPS trades, Nassim Taleb’s tail hedges, why it counter-intuitively makes sense to add a losing asset to your portfolio, and so much more! Plus, we discuss should retail investors walk away from options and how not to get caught up in the index funds cult — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:54 = Intro 01:55-21:52 = Greeks, Bid/Ask, a Tech Stack… where do you even get started? 21:53-39:36 = Implied Volatility doesn’t tell you anything about what to do 39:37-58:36 = Someone selling you a trade based on skew = run the other way 58:37-01:12:15 = Pelosi’s LEAPS? Taleb’s Tail Hedges? Why add a losing asset?  01:12:16-01:17:22 = Hottest takes: just walk away from Options, steak is overrated, and the Devil’s nipples From the episode: Benn Eifert's Tweet on adding Tail Risk Surgifi's newsletter Follow along with Benn Eifert on Twitter @bennpeifert and David Rhoiney on Twitter @FiSurgi. For more information on QVR Advisors check out their website www.qvradvisors.com and for more on Surgifi visit surgifi.com Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

We’re breaking the law...the laws of trading, that is! On this episode of the Derivative, we're joined by Agustin Lebron, who started his career as an engineer and turned prop trader (you'd be surprised how common of a story and skill set that is) before writing his book The Laws of Trading: A Trader's Guide to Better Decision-Making for Everyone Today, Agustin is the co-founder and manager of Esselin Research, where he helps growing tech companies make better decisions using his trading knowledge. Jeff and Agustin dive into his laws of trading, the book, and also chat on topics like; recognizing and nabbing players in small tech companies, applying the laws in a prop firm investing in crypto scenario, how and why trend following seems to break the law around having an edge, and so much more! Plus, tune in if you want to get Agustin's take on FinTwit’s stop order debate —SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:19 = Intro 01:20-12:33 = Why are engineers drawn to trading and markets? 12:34-23:49 = What is Toxic flow? And what is the edge for all these big players 23:50-37:12 = Recognizing & nabbing A players in small tech companies & Applying the Laws in Crypto 37:13-46:56 = Crypto Prop firm scenario part II: Execution, cost, automation & adaptation 46:57-50:58 = Is there any edge in Trend following? 50:59-58:25 = Hottest take: Stop orders & Leveraged ETFs Follow along with Agustin on Twitter @AgustinLebron3 and for more information visit his website lawsoftrading.com and check out his book The Laws of Trading here. Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

This week we're adding a different twist to our typical episode, and we're diving into WHY Commodities can be accretive in your portfolio with Tim Pickering (@AuspiceTim). Tim is the Founder, President, and CIO of Auspice Capital Advisors and leads the strategic decision-making and the vision for Auspice's diverse suite of award-winning rules-based quantitative investment strategies. In this week's episode, Tim illustrates why the current environment could be very bullish commodities long-term, active tactical strategies, and dives into Trend following, non-correlation, CTAs ability to act as a return-enhancer, inflation protection, and much more! Chapters: 00:00-01:52 = Intro 01:53-09:48 = Born from Canadian Commodity Country 09:49-20:08= Shell Oil and Tactical Active Strategies 20:09-29:19 = The Auspice Edge vs Buy and Hold Commodities 29:20-40:28 = The other 25%, an Agnostic approach & the Adaptive Volatility process 40:29-57:03 = Crisis Alpha Opportunities, Inflation hedges & Institutional products Follow along with Tim Pickering on Twitter @AuspiceTim and Auspice @AuspiceCapital. And for more information on Auspice check out their website and research! Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

Will the real Portnoy please stand up? This week's guest may not be rating pizzas worldwide in one bite, but he is an expert at simplifying the complex world of money — we're sitting down with the one and only Brian Portnoy, Ph.D., CFA. Brian(@brianportnoy) is the founder of Shaping Wealth, a coaching and content platform inspiring financial well-being globally. He also has multiple bestselling books on the psychology of money, most notably The Geometry of Wealth (which has been published in 8 different languages.) For this interesting chat, Jeff and Brian dive into YOLOers needing to take some form of agency, where Crypto falls in the 7 dimensions of money life, behavioral conversations (rich vs. wealthy), Financial literacy, the happiness equation, investment expectations, and so much more! Plus, we get exclusive insight into how Brian is "Shaping Wealth" — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:49 = Intro 01:50-08:00 = The Real Portnoy 08:01-20:06 = Taking some form of Agency & Does Crypto fall into the 7 Dimensions of money life? 20:07-36:36 = Behavioral conversations, Rich vs Wealthy: the Geometry of Wealth & Achieving funded contentment 36:37-46:59 = Youth financial literacy & Behavioral bias with institutional investors 47:00-01:02:10 = The happiness equation, Investment expectations & Offense vs Defense investing 01:02:11-01:08:43 = Behavioral framework Follow along with Brian on Twitter @brianportnoy and for more information on Shaping Wealth, please visit shapingwealth.com Check out Brian's book, The Geometry of Wealth Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

It's not every day you get to talk about investing and food in the same conversation, and this week, refinancing, restructuring, and investing in niche businesses is on the menu with Adam Tkaczuk(@Adam_Tkaczuk). Adam is a tax consultant, project CFO, and private equity investor. He raises debt, equity, and government subsidies for projects and helps business owners reduce the tax liability on the sale of their business. In this episode, Adam and Jeff get into "The Greatest Show on Earth" and discuss investing in distressed companies, just what deep value means, food processing and Philly cheesesteaks (we'll take a Whiz with onions, please), private vs. public equity (is the juice worth the squeeze), the true heroes of finance, tax strategies for business owners and so much more! Plus, we're playing two truths and a lie with Adam where he throws in a coffee roasting twist — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-01:47 = Intro 01:48-03:45 = Choose your Fighter: Calgary Stampede or Tour De France 03:46-20:49 = Flipping distressed companies, Food processing & Philly Cheesesteaks 20:50-37:48 = Private vs. Public Equity, site selection, subsidy programs & is the juice worth the squeeze? 37:49-45:59 = Family-owned small businesses are the heroes, why not just be a plumber? 46:00-59:37 = Tax strategies for business owners, selling a business & breakdown of an opportunity zone 59:38-01:07:42 = Two Truth's & a lie? A Coffee roast profile --- From the episode: Check out Adam's newest white paper 8 Ways to Minimize Taxes When Selling a Business Follow along with Adam on Twitter @Adam_Tkaczuk and for more information visit ventouxholdings.com Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

You may know this week's guest as a Kansas City Chief and sometime Royals fan on Twitter, but he has more than one connection to Kansas City. Jay Soloff (@jsoloff), an options volatility analyst, former CBOE market maker, pirate, and seller of uncapped forward variance swaps, joins us this week to discuss covering calls and charting curves. Jay brings an exciting twist to this episode and talks about options education and where to find the premium, is the VIX broken (did we create a monster? + curve doodles), retail vs. investing (an exclusive look into what retail investors are getting wrong), and more. Plus, Jay gets put into the hot seat, where he provides his take on how The Fed is doing — SEND IT! Chapters: 0:00-01:09 = Intro 01:10-06:18 = Chiefs? Royals? What it takes to be a KC sports fan 06:19-20:02 = Option trading at KC Board of trade, being a market maker & Pit language 20:03-36:48 = Is the VIX broken? The VIX: Did we create a monster? VIX curve doodles 36:49-50:14 = Options education - Find the premium! 50:15-59:24 = Retail vs Investing w/ pros & what are retail investors getting wrong? 59:25-01:05:57 = Hottest Take: The Fed's doing pretty good Follow along with Jay on Twitter @jsoloff and for more information check out investorsalley.com Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

Are the Fed’s hikes starting to dampen inflation? Oil, grains, and metals have all fallen from their highs. But the rarely spoken of Cotton market was one of the first to crack…falling from 1.58/lb to 0.95/lb in just a few short days. We're digging into this sharp drop and just why and how Cotton is involved in seemingly everything with RCM's very own cotton king, LOGIC Advisors Ron Lawson. In this episode, Ron is giving us the low down on how and why he believes it’s not Dr. Copper which acts as the global economic barometer, but how Cotton is the real Canary and leading indicator on global demand. In between those talks, we’re covering all things Cotton including crop insurance, irrigated vs dry land, the scam that was Pima and Egyptian Cotton, the process of cotton – which countries have it, which want it, ginning it, spinning it, dyeing it, global commodity merchant co’s pushing it around, and even micro-plastics, climate change, and how Cotton always flows to the cheapest labor source. Finally,  we're walking in some high Cotton putting Ron in the hot seat. Will we ever get the growth back? Tune in to get these critical hot takes — SEND IT! Chapters: 00:00-02:00 = Intro 02:01-07:10 = Welcome to Ernie's Tin Bar 07:11-26:16 = Cotton market Selloff, the lack of demand, and Crop Insurance Payouts 26:17-42:20 = Who has the cotton? Where is it going? The Touch, the Feel, the Process of Cotton 42:21-55:34 = Merchants, Ginners, and Spinners: The players in the cotton game 55:35-01:11:45 = Pima & Egyptian Cotton, Technologies & Standards 01:11:46-01:16:38 = UC Davis - Is all Wine starting to taste the same? 01:16:39-01:24:32 = Hottest Take: We'll get the Growth Back Check out and sign up for LOGIC newsletters here and for more information visit their website at logicadvisors.com Don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter at @rcmAlts and our host Jeff at @AttainCap2, or LinkedIn , and Facebook, and sign-up for our blog digest. Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer