Key Takeaways
- • SAVIN founded in 2020 by Iain Somers and three co-founders (Bas Emmerig, Ricardo Westra, Erdem Yavuz) with combined 20+ years of trading experience across Dutch proprietary trading firms including Optiver and Market Wizards.
- • Previous flagship strategy (Done Hedge Fund, 2012–2018) delivered 1.4 Sharpe ratio, ~7% average annual returns, zero equity market correlation, and only one losing year, with maximum drawdown of 7%.
- • SAVIN's investment approach focuses on opportunistic and innovative arbitrage strategies, emphasizing uncorrelated alpha generation through balanced, flexible, and liquid portfolio construction.
- • Team collectively survived multiple market crises including the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, signaling operational resilience and adaptability to adverse conditions.
- • Somers became the youngest trader on the Amsterdam exchange at age 19 in 1997, establishing a track record of early-career success in quantitative and relative value trading.
Summary
Iain Somers, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of SAVIN, launched the Amsterdam-based hedge fund in 2020 after more than two decades in trading and quantitative finance. The firm represents a collaborative effort among four seasoned professionals: Somers as CIO, Bas Emmerig as Managing Partner and co-CIO, Ricardo Westra as Partner and Head of Volatility Trading, and Erdem Yavuz as Head of Business Development. All four founders built their careers at prominent Dutch proprietary trading firms, including Optiver, Market Wizards, and EDU traders, where Somers notably became the Amsterdam exchange's youngest trader at age 19 in 1997.
SAVIN's investment thesis centers on generating uncorrelated alpha through opportunistic and innovative arbitrage strategies. The firm's strategy foundation derives from Somers' previous venture, Done Hedge Fund, which he ran from 2012 to 2018. That strategy achieved a Sharpe ratio of 1.4, delivered average annual returns of approximately 7%, and maintained zero correlation to equity markets while experiencing only a single losing year across its operating period. The worst 12-month performance registered a 7% loss during a period of depressed volatility when market conditions broadly deteriorated. This historical resilience informed both the firm's positioning and its name—derived from the Latin designation for the juniper plant, which flavors Dutch genever gin and thrives in harsh environments.
The founding team's collective experience spans multiple financial crises and market regimes. According to Managing Partner Bas Emmerig, the team has "deployed a wide range of strategies in different circumstances" and explicitly notes that "the coronavirus crisis was not our first crash, and it will not be the last one." This perspective underpins SAVIN's operational philosophy: constructing balanced, flexible, and liquid portfolios designed to adapt as market conditions evolve. Somers articulates the firm's forward-looking approach: "Every year the markets get tougher, but our models get better," emphasizing continuous refinement of quantitative models and risk management frameworks in response to competitive market pressures.
SAVIN's investment thesis centers on generating uncorrelated alpha through opportunistic and innovative arbitrage strategies. The firm's strategy foundation derives from Somers' previous venture, Done Hedge Fund, which he ran from 2012 to 2018. That strategy achieved a Sharpe ratio of 1.4, delivered average annual returns of approximately 7%, and maintained zero correlation to equity markets while experiencing only a single losing year across its operating period. The worst 12-month performance registered a 7% loss during a period of depressed volatility when market conditions broadly deteriorated. This historical resilience informed both the firm's positioning and its name—derived from the Latin designation for the juniper plant, which flavors Dutch genever gin and thrives in harsh environments.
The founding team's collective experience spans multiple financial crises and market regimes. According to Managing Partner Bas Emmerig, the team has "deployed a wide range of strategies in different circumstances" and explicitly notes that "the coronavirus crisis was not our first crash, and it will not be the last one." This perspective underpins SAVIN's operational philosophy: constructing balanced, flexible, and liquid portfolios designed to adapt as market conditions evolve. Somers articulates the firm's forward-looking approach: "Every year the markets get tougher, but our models get better," emphasizing continuous refinement of quantitative models and risk management frameworks in response to competitive market pressures.
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