Simon has over 25 years of experience in investment banking and the financial markets. Starting out as an assistant to equities traders on a large London trading floor, he returned to Sydney to work at the Sydney Futures Exchange as a Senior Risk Analyst and quickly developed an extensive knowledge of derivatives trading, the participants involved in the industry, and the markets in general.
Working in the Risk Management environment, Simon was trained in the mathematics and modelling required to measure, monitor and reduce the many and varied market, credit and operational risks inherent in the trading environment. He continued in Risk Management for JP Morgan before consulting across a number of Australian banks, financial advisers, software companies & managed funds. Simon has traded his own funds through his firm Quantive Alpha full time since 2017.
Simon likes to front-load his quantitative research efforts by spending a long time working out which problems are worth solving and which will be the most lucrative. In a sense he likes to bring an entreprenurial efficiency to trading: surrounding himself with greater minds; using technology to press every advantage; and applying a strict logical framework to avoid being fooled by randomness.
When he’s not philosophising over the data, you will find him reading, surfing, rock-climbing or mountain-biking, and his favourite quote is the US Marines motto: “improvise, adapt, overcome”!
