True Alpha
For over two decades, we at AlphaQuest have championed a deeper understanding of risk, moving beyond the traditional reliance on volatility-based measures, to recognize the multidimensional nature of risk, including tail risk – which often goes underappreciated or ignored.
We believe that True Alpha, which normalizes for tail risk, is rare and persistent over the long-term cycle. Whereas most “Alpha” that investment managers generate is highly cyclical and often a by-product of underwriting tail risk (selling volatility), or in other words, betting that market volatility remains low.
Our value system, and desire to deliver more stable returns over decades, has led us to focus on generating true Alpha in the risk blind spots of most other investors — that is, benefiting from short-term expansions in volatility and crowding, as well as longer-term shifts in the market regime.
Who we are
AlphaQuest is an alternative asset management firm headquartered in New York City, focused on delivering truly uncorrelated investment strategies at the intersection of mathematics, data science, and investing.
We are thinkers, analysts, and strategists. We strive to create an environment where people of any background can thrive. This diversity of talent and perspective is integral to AlphaQuest’s success.
Founded in 2001 by Chief Investment Officer Nigol Koulajian, the firm manages assets on behalf of some of the world’s leading institutional investors.
AlphaQuest continues to broaden its application of over two decades of experience in measuring and capturing breakouts and breakdowns across global markets, asset classes, factors, investment strategies, and time frames. This includes novel ways to source hidden convexity within futures and FX, individual equities, alternative markets, and other well-established systematic investment strategies. This research evolution has taken place while remaining faithful to one of our founding principles of delivering strong absolute returns that exhibit positive skew (right-tails).
Our Values set us Apart
Intellectual Humility
Recognizing that low probability events can materially impact the accumulated gains of asset owners, we have developed a rigorous intellectual process that focuses, and indeed accentuates, tail risks - risks that most investors are not measuring (and therefore mispricing), in their pursuit of short-term profitability.
Transparent Collaboration
We foster a culture of clarity as far as individual responsibility is concerned, that encourages continuous feedback, growth-oriented coaching and a commitment to recognizing outstanding contributions in the pursuit of persistent Alpha.
Rapid Prototyping
By confronting the most difficult aspects of a project first, we are more likely to fail rapidly, iterate more efficiently, and achieve better outcomes.
Knowledge Continuity
Our strength lies not merely in individual intellect, but in our collective ability to build upon the work of others through the creation of automated processes that continually harness, amplify and augment the firm’s institutional knowledge base.