Our Philosophy
AlphaQuest embodies the intersection of mathematics and mindfulness.
Our identity reflects a deep appreciation for the natural world's mathematical patterns and ratios hinting at an underlying order. We understand that math only tangentially explains reality - reality can be mathematically unstable due to unforeseen shifts.
We champion patience and discipline in our approach, valuing long-term insights over transient market movements.
Our ethos encourages looking beyond the surface to discover the inherent forces that distinguish substantial opportunities from fleeting trends.
Our brand emphasizes growth, balance, and the importance of perspective in investment strategies.
It's a call to cultivate a mindset attuned to the nuances of the market, designed to perceive Alpha where others see beta, leveraging the disciplined, patient analysis that defines our culture.
Our philosophy is not just an investment strategy – it is a holistic view of finding harmony in complexity, ensuring our decisions are grounded in a deep understanding of the world's intrinsic patterns.
It's how we differentiate ourselves, seeking true Alpha in a world captivated by beta.
Team
Through our collaborative approach to research, our team combines our values - intellectual humility, transparent collaboration, rapid prototyping, and knowledge continuity - to improve our understanding of Alpha and tail risk, in an effort to develop quantitative investment strategies that benefit from short-term expansions in volatility and crowding, as well as longer-term shifts in the market regime.
Nigol Koulajian
Nigol Koulajian
Nigol Koulajian is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of AlphaQuest LLC.
Mr. Koulajian founded AlphaQuest in March 2001 to pursue his passion for quantitative investment research and strategy development, which he has focused on from the beginning of his career in the early 1990’s. After lengthy research, Mr. Koulajian identified specific strategies using proprietary techniques that have been continuously enhanced over the past twenty-four years and became the basis for the growth of AlphaQuest.
In 2002, Mr. Koulajian started the NOK Foundation, which is committed to promoting the study and practice of yoga and meditation globally. Mr. Koulajian has acted as a board member of the Omega Institute and David Lynch Foundation. Mr. Koulajian earned an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School and a BS in electrical engineering from Notre Dame.
Strategies
Our strategies seek to provide truly differentiated Alpha that exhibits low to negative correlation to the primary risks in most investor portfolios - long-only exposures in primary assets as well as long-short exposures from alternatives more broadly.
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Derivatives trading involves substantial risk of loss and may not be suitable for everyone. This is not a solicitation.
AlphaQuest Original (AQO)
AlphaQuest Original (AQO) is our flagship, fully systematic investment strategy that seeks to provide investors with strong absolute returns and valuable hedging characteristics, particularly during periods of volatility expansion and equity or fixed income market corrections.
The strategy trades across global markets in equities, fixed income, currencies, and commodities. We believe that AQO provides a differentiated approach to classic systematic strategies due our focus on forecasting and reacting to tail-risk events, as well as trading faster in an effort to adapt quickly during those periods of market shifts and volatility expansions.
This allows our strategy to benefit when tail risk is most likely to materialize. We believe the strategy is a great portfolio diversifier and acts as a hedge to traditional portfolios as well as hedge fund portfolios.
AlphaQuest Market Neutral (AQMN)
AQMN delivers AQO Alpha without the long term negative beta profile.
AlphaQuest Market Neutral (AQMN) represents the beta neutral implementation of AlphaQuest Original (AQO). AQO is a fully systematic investment strategy that seeks to measure and capture breakouts and breakdowns across global markets, asset classes, factors, investment strategies, and time frames. AQO sources convexity within futures and FX, individual equities, alternative markets, and other well-established systematic investment strategies. We aim to deliver strong absolute returns that exhibit positive skew (right-tails). In that effort, we are intensely focused on certain dimensions of risk that most others ignore. AQMN delivers AQO Alpha without the long term negative beta profile. The strategy was launched March 1, 2025, with all prior returns herein representing simulated returns.
AlphaQuest Portable Alpha (AQPA)
AQPA pairs equity market returns with AQO's defensive Alpha profile, seeking to outperform the S&P 500.
AlphaQuest Portable Alpha (AQPA) represents the beta one implementation of AlphaQuest Original (AQO). AQO is a fully systematic investment strategy that seeks to measure and capture breakouts and breakdowns across global markets, asset classes, factors, investment strategies, and time frames. AQO sources convexity within futures and FX, individual equities, alternative markets, and other well-established systematic investment strategies. We aim to deliver strong absolute returns that exhibit positive skew (right-tails). In that effort, we are intensely focused on certain dimensions of risk that most others ignore. AQPA pairs equity market returns with AQO’s defensive Alpha profile, seeking to outperform the S&P 500. The strategy was launched March 1, 2025, with all prior returns herein representing simulated returns.