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Alternative markets give edge to Florin Court strategy

Reported by Risk
Aug 24, 2020· 2 min read
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Key Takeaways
  • • Florin Court Capital Fund employs a highly diversified systematic macro strategy focused on alternative markets including French electricity futures, Chinese commodities, and Colombian interest rates, positioning itself as a differentiated alternative to traditional CTA offerings.
  • • The fund's strategy demonstrates low correlation to stocks, bonds, and commodities, while achieving reduced correlation and superior performance compared to typical commodity trading adviser funds, providing genuine diversification benefits.
  • • Douglas Greenig, founder and CIO, brings an unconventional analytical background combining macroeconomic studies from Princeton and doctoral-level pure mathematics from Berkeley, specifically expertise in topology and dynamic systems theory that informs the fund's systematic approach.
  • • By concentrating on exotic and alternative markets rather than crowded mainstream commodity futures, Florin Court has sidestepped the overcrowding and correlation issues that characterize traditional trend-following CTA strategies.
Summary
Florin Court Capital Fund is positioning itself as a differentiated player within the competitive landscape of systematic macro strategies by deliberately focusing on alternative and exotic markets rather than the crowded commodity futures space where most commodity trading advisers concentrate their efforts. The fund's strategy spans unconventional markets including French electricity futures, Chinese commodities, and Colombian interest rates—asset classes that remain relatively underexploited compared to traditional macro trading universes.

The firm's competitive differentiation centers on delivering low correlation across traditional asset classes. According to the fund's literature, the strategy exhibits reduced correlation to stocks, bonds, and commodities, while simultaneously achieving better performance than typical funds offered by established CTAs. This correlation profile addresses a persistent challenge for institutional investors seeking genuine diversification within their alternative investment allocations, where many systematic macro strategies have converged on similar methodologies and underlying exposures.

Douglas Greenig, the fund's founder and chief investment officer, brings an atypical analytical framework to macro strategy design. His educational foundation combines macroeconomic studies at Princeton with doctoral-level research in pure mathematics at Berkeley, where he specialized in topology—a branch of mathematics examining properties of objects under continuous deformations. This mathematical expertise extends to dynamic systems theory, which addresses the evolution of complex systems. Rather than pursuing academia, Greenig transitioned to Goldman Sachs, where he applied these principles to trading and investment management before establishing Florin Court Capital.

The strategic rationale reflects a deliberate market positioning: by avoiding the crowded exposures and trend-following methodologies that characterize mainstream CTA indices, the fund constructs a portfolio with meaningfully different risk and return characteristics. For institutional investors and family offices evaluating macro alternatives, the fund represents an option specifically designed to complement rather than replicate traditional systematic trend-following approaches.

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Risk Alternative markets give edge to Florin Court strategy