Key Takeaways
- • Tungsten TRYCON AI Global Markets UCITS won The Hedge Fund Journal's Best Performing Fund award for 2024 and across 2, 3, 5, and 10-year periods ending December 2024 in the CTA – Short Term Trader strategy category.
- • The fund maintains low correlation to equities and bonds with moderate correlation to other CTAs, contrasting with the broader "liquid alternatives" category which Tungsten TRYCON estimates carries approximately 80% equity correlation.
- • Portfolio managers Pablo Hess and Michael Günther have 25 years of AI research history dating back to 2000, positioning the fund among the earliest AI-based UCITS-compliant hedge funds in the market.
- • The strategy employs 3 uncorrelated AI model families comprising 48 sub-models collectively to identify trading opportunities across global futures markets.
- • Tungsten TRYCON launched a higher-leverage version, Tungsten TRYCON AI Global Markets Dynamic, in May 2024, targeting 10-15% volatility to capture investor demand for enhanced risk-adjusted returns using identical trading signals.
Summary
Tungsten TRYCON AI Global Markets UCITS has secured The Hedge Fund Journal's UCITS Hedge award for Best Performing Fund in 2024, with recognition extending across all major performance periods—2, 3, 5, and 10 years through December 2024—within the CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor) – Short Term Trader strategy classification. This achievement underscores the fund's consistent ability to generate returns across multiple market cycles.
The fund represents one of the oldest AI-based UCITS-compliant hedge fund vehicles, with portfolio managers Pablo Hess and Michael Günther pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to systematic trading. Their AI research lineage extends to 2000—predating the mass adoption of technology platforms including the iPhone and Facebook—reflecting decades of methodological development and refinement. Both founders maintain ongoing personal investment in the fund, aligning their interests with external capital.
Tungsten TRYCON's return profile exhibits low correlation to equities and bonds with moderate correlation to other CTAs, creating genuine diversification benefits for multi-asset investors. The managers note that the broader "liquid alternatives" category demonstrates approximately 80% correlation to equities, highlighting the structural differentiation of their approach. The strategy's uncorrelated performance characteristics stem from a multi-model architecture: three distinct AI model families, each built to operate independently and complement one another, together comprising 48 sub-models that collectively identify trading opportunities across global futures markets.
Portfolio managers attribute their strategy's performance to what Hess describes as a deeper engagement with data compared to traditional systematic approaches. "We felt frustrated with shallow use of data in traditional systematic strategies and wanted a much deeper dive," reflecting their commitment to advanced analytical methodology rather than conventional quantitative frameworks.
In May 2024, responding to institutional demand for higher absolute returns, Tungsten TRYCON launched Tungsten TRYCON AI Global Markets Dynamic, a leveraged variant targeting 10-15% volatility. This fund employs identical trading signals to the flagship vehicle but applies increased notional exposure, generating more dynamic performance characteristics while preserving the core investment logic and correlation profile that characterize the original fund.
The fund represents one of the oldest AI-based UCITS-compliant hedge fund vehicles, with portfolio managers Pablo Hess and Michael Günther pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to systematic trading. Their AI research lineage extends to 2000—predating the mass adoption of technology platforms including the iPhone and Facebook—reflecting decades of methodological development and refinement. Both founders maintain ongoing personal investment in the fund, aligning their interests with external capital.
Tungsten TRYCON's return profile exhibits low correlation to equities and bonds with moderate correlation to other CTAs, creating genuine diversification benefits for multi-asset investors. The managers note that the broader "liquid alternatives" category demonstrates approximately 80% correlation to equities, highlighting the structural differentiation of their approach. The strategy's uncorrelated performance characteristics stem from a multi-model architecture: three distinct AI model families, each built to operate independently and complement one another, together comprising 48 sub-models that collectively identify trading opportunities across global futures markets.
Portfolio managers attribute their strategy's performance to what Hess describes as a deeper engagement with data compared to traditional systematic approaches. "We felt frustrated with shallow use of data in traditional systematic strategies and wanted a much deeper dive," reflecting their commitment to advanced analytical methodology rather than conventional quantitative frameworks.
In May 2024, responding to institutional demand for higher absolute returns, Tungsten TRYCON launched Tungsten TRYCON AI Global Markets Dynamic, a leveraged variant targeting 10-15% volatility. This fund employs identical trading signals to the flagship vehicle but applies increased notional exposure, generating more dynamic performance characteristics while preserving the core investment logic and correlation profile that characterize the original fund.
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