ReSolve Riffs with Cem Karsan on Options Alpha and a Shifting Macro Landscape
We had the pleasure this week of speaking with Cem Karsan (the pronunciation can be a bit challenging, bit the hint is in his Twitter handle - @jam_croissant), founder of Kai Volatility Advisors. His deep knowledge of market structures and investment flows took us on a fascinating conversation that included: Joining a team early in his career that would become one of the Street’s largest options market makers Developing a profound understanding of the reflexive game of dealer positioning and its feedback effects on asset prices Launching Kai Volatility Advisors and three uncorrelated strategies A quantitative approach with a discretionary overlay The circumstances under which dealer flow becomes most relevant The upcoming June expiration and the ‘massive delta’ hovering over the market Distributions vs expectations The remarkable advances in the options market over the last two decades The ‘dramatic oversupply’ of volatility and its underperformance as an asset-class The JP Morgan Equity Hedge giant and its impact on the market Efficiency, transparency and performance – the trade-offs between ETFs and private pools Cem’s global macro perspective and his take on the current environment The explosive combination of cheap capital and technological innovation The road to inflation – inequality, populism and a pandemic-induced fiscal trigger of titanic proportions And much more This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global* and Richard Laterman of ReSolve Asset Management Inc. *ReSolve Global Inc. refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global Inc. is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.