Alex Orus's guest appearances

Alex Orus

Mutiny Investing Podcast

The Derivative

Wayne Himelsein

Corey Hoffstein

Kris Sidial

Jeff Malec

Eric Crittenden

Tim Pickering

Diego Parrilla

Aaron Larkin

Matt Laviolette

Noel Smith

Brett Nelson

Benn Eifert

Mike Green

John Krautsack

Bastian Bolesta

OwlTail

In this episode we're diving deep into VIX futures and using that instrument to gain convexity in a portfolio, we chat with Swiss hedge fund manager Alex Orus of Principalium who have a three pronged approach to trading volatility as an asset class. Our topics include  Swiss country music, personifying your trading models, the volatility of volatility, Roger Federer, negative interest rates hurting Europe’s youth, Jeff’s pop-up helmet invention, the good old days (2010) in the VIX, and why convexity matters. Take a Listen! Principalium Capital AG’s Volatility Strategy operates across three facets of the volatility trade:  1. collecting the roll yield premium present in the VIX futures curve, 2. Positioning the portfolio for spikes in volatility during a market crash, and 3. Capturing the mean reverting properties of volatility. The strategy systematically adjusts exposure to these different concepts dynamically, by combining 25 different individual models on different time frames applied to each of the three facets. Follow Alex on Linkedin Follow Principalium Capital AG on Linkedinand check out their website And last but not least, don't forget to subscribe to The Derivative, and follow us on Twitter, 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

In this episode we're diving deep into VIX futures and using that instrument to gain convexity in a portfolio, we chat with Swiss hedge fund manager Alex Orus of Principalium who have a three pronged approach to trading volatility as an asset class. Our topics include  Swiss country music, personifying your trading models, the volatility of volatility, Roger Federer, negative interest rates hurting Europe’s youth, Jeff’s pop-up helmet invention, the good old days (2010) in the VIX, and why convexity matters. Take a Listen! Principalium Capital AG’s Volatility Strategy operates across three facets of the volatility trade:  1. collecting the roll yield premium present in the VIX futures curve, 2. Positioning the portfolio for spikes in volatility during a market crash, and 3. Capturing the mean reverting properties of volatility. The strategy systematically adjusts exposure to these different concepts dynamically, by combining 25 different individual models on different time frames applied to each of the three facets. Follow Alex on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-orus-8b995718/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Linkedin</a> Follow Principalium Capital AG on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/principalium-capital-ag/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Linkedin</a>and check out <a href="http://principalium.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">their website</a> And last but not least, don't forget to subscribe to <a href="https://www.rcmalternatives.com/the-derivative-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Derivative</a>, and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/rcmAlts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, or <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/rcm-asset-management/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RCMAlternatives/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://info.rcmalternatives.com/get-our-blog-alternatives" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sign-up for our blog digest</a>. 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 <a href="http://www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer</a>

The principles of VIX trading with Alex Orus of Principalium

Alex Orus is a principal at Principalium Capital based in Zurich, Switzerland. Alex is one of the most experienced traders of the volatility index, often called the VIX, having founded Blue Diamond Capital which traded the VIX starting in 2010.   In this conversation, we talk about risk and how many investors measure risk in a way that actually increases their risk. We then dive into the history and the structure of the VIX and its associated products and how investors can trade it to improve the performance of their portfolio.   There were a couple of terms Alex talked about in the interview that I wanted to introduce. Alex mentions a few times an event in February 2018. What happened was that VIX went from 13 to 37, nearly a 300% move in a day which was it’s largest percentage move in history causing large losses or large gains for traders on either side of the market.   We also talk about mean reversion. Mean reversion is the idea that an asset moves back to its long term average. So the VIX’s long-term historical average is around 20 so if the VIX spikes to 40, then moves back towards 20, we call that mean reversion.   I hope you enjoy this conversation with Alex as much as I did.

Alex Orus is a principal at Principalium Capital based in Zurich, Switzerland. Alex is one of the most experienced traders of the volatility index, often called the VIX, having founded Blue Diamond Capital which traded the VIX starting in 2010. In this conversation, we talk about risk and how many investors measure risk in a way that actually increases their risk. We then dive into the history and the structure of the VIX and its associated products and how investors can trade it to improve the performance of their portfolio. There were a couple of terms Alex talked about in the interview that I wanted to introduce. Alex mentions a few times an event in February 2018. What happened was that VIX went from 13 to 37, nearly a 300% move in a day which was it’s largest percentage move in history causing large losses or large gains for traders on either side of the market. We also talk about mean reversion. Mean reversion is the idea that an asset moves back to its long term average. So the VIX’s long-term historical average is around 20 so if the VIX spikes to 40, then moves back towards 20, we call that mean reversion. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Alex as much as I did.

[MM]11. Alex Orus: All about the VIX, Mean Reversion