Today’s interview features Jonathan, aka @HF_Trader. He was a former head of macro desk at a pretty large head fund, turned independent trader. His focus is on algorithmic strategies.
Jonathan got into trading after a sports related injury changed in his life. There is a silver lining though, because he had a change to be mentored early on. His mentor was one of the first peopled hired at Steve Cohen’s S.A.C. Capital Advisors. If you don’t know who Steve Cohen is, he ran a multi-billion dollar statistical arbitrage fund.
Jonathan got a job with a hedge fund after getting degrees in economics and quantitative finance. He was then promoted to head trader within six months. Over the next few years, the company’s assets under management grew to a $5 billion and more while he worked there.
In 2014, he decided to start trading independently. He put $260,000 in a trading account and has since grew that to more than $2 million. Jonathan trades crude oil and the E-Mini S&P 500 using an intraday system he’s developed.
During this interview we talk about the insights he got from his mentor and when he managed to lose $35,000 trading futures using his student loans. He didn’t mention this in the interview, but he did manage to lose a similar amount from poor trading. The money came from a family member (oops!). We also chat about his experience working at the hedge fund, his thoughts on trading and how he developed his system.
What’s Covered in This Interview:
- Jonathan’s insights from a trader who mentored him. He was one of the first hires over at SAC Capital and who also ran a multi billion dollar statistical arbitrage fund.
- How it felt for Jonathan to lose $35,000 in student loans when he used it to trade futures.
- Jonathan explains how he went into a hedge fund
- Jonathan’s reflection on his experience working in a fund – including 16 hour workdays, implementing quantative models and being able to witness $40 million PnL swings.
- An insight into Jonathan’s system research overview and why it’s difficult to teach a system context
- Why Jonathan talks about markets as being “transaction based.”
Links and Resources:
- Market Wizards – Check out this book Jonathan recommends everyone reads
- Steven Cohen – Check out this biography on Steven
- @HF_Trader – Follow Jonathan on Twitter
