Charles McGarraugh - "Change in the Market is Accelerating" (S7E1)
Flirting with Models
Flirting with Models is the show that aims to pull back the curtain and meet the investors who research, design, develop, and manage quantitative investment strategies.
Corey Hoffstein
PodcastAI
PodcastAI

Charles McGarraugh - "Change in the Market is Accelerating" (S7E1)

S7 E1 • Dec 4, 2023 • 73 mins

Corey Hoffstein engages with Charles McGarraugh to explore his diverse career path and transitions across various markets, including OTC, sports betting, and crypto. The discussion highlights the history and technology stack of Altus Partners, addressing challenges like market data nonstationarity and integrating alternative datasets. They delve into portfolio construction, risk management, and adapting to market changes, with a focus on institutional volatility and investment design for diversification. The episode examines the suitability of alternatives and ETFs, implications of non-stationary risk for active management, and balancing research priorities. They conclude with a discussion on asset duration and market expectations.

In this episode I speak with Charles McGarraugh, Chief Investment Officer of Altis Partners.

Charlie finds himself at the helm of Altis from a non-traditional route. His career began at Goldman, where his experience spanned everything from asset backed securities to liquid commodities. He then started a firm specializing in machine-learning driven sports betting before moving into cryptocurrency markets. Today, Charlie is betting that alternative strategies will play an increasingly important role for investors over the coming decade.

We spend the majority of our conversation talking about Altis’s investment stack, which is comprised of two components: an upstream signal layer and a downstream strategy layer. The signal layer is responsible for ingesting data and constructing a prediction curve for different futures markets. The strategy layer ingests these prediction curves and constructs a portfolio. Charlie discusses the types of signals Altis relies on, how they turn prediction curves into trade signals, and where risk management fits into the equation.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Charles McGarraugh.

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