Join Jeff Malec for a special solo "6-pack" episode where he tackles six topics on his mind during the summer podcast break. Jeff starts by examining the challenging trend following drawdown that's been plaguing the markets, sharing insights from his 25 years in the space and why this one feels different. He pays tribute to Waldo Wiens, the legendary Kansas farmer who backed dozens of CTAs with hundreds of millions and helped shape the managed futures industry. Reflecting on Hurricane Katrina...| RCM Alternatives
Talk about timing! Today, FanDuel is celebrating its cheeky “Futures Day” campaign—inviting fans to bet on the upcoming football season—while also making waves for a much bigger reason: its brand-new joint venture with CME Group to launch a non-clearing Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).You couldn’t script that kind of overlap if you tried. On one hand, people are asking, “Will the 49ers finally win it all?” On the other, FanDuel and CME are setting the stage for traders to ask,...| RCM Alternatives
“Diversification Limits Returns” Some investors believe that spreading investments across various assets, a practice known as diversification, necessarily reduces potential returns. Let’s examine this belief. Reality: The core purpose of diversification is not to maximize returns but to manage risk. [1][2] However, by mitigating losses during downturns, a diversified portfolio can achieve more consistent growth […] The post Common Diversification Misconceptions appeared first on RCM A...| RCM Alternatives
In this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with Mike Stendler of O’Brien Investment Group to explore their history and evolution of trend following strategies. Stendler shares insights into their innovative approach, blending traditional trend models with machine learning techniques across multiple time frames. They dive deep into the evolution of quantitative trading, […] The post Beyond Traditional Trend: Leveraging Experience, Short Term, and Crypto with Mike Stendler appe...| RCM Alternatives
July 2025 presented a mixed picture across asset classes, with Commodities leading the charge for the second consecutive month with a +3.45% gain. U.S. Stocks continued their momentum with a solid +2.30% return, while World Stocks pulled back -1.12% after their strong June performance. The commodity surge pushed this asset class to +4.73% year-to-date, representing […] The post Commodities Extend Rally as World Stocks Retreat in July appeared first on RCM Alternatives.| RCM Alternatives
In this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with Jeff Apel, principal at Wharton Capital Management, to dive deep into the current cattle market. With beef prices hitting near-record highs, Apel shares his extensive experience from the trading floor to today’s futures markets, explaining the complex dynamics behind rising meat prices. From drought […] The post Beef Prices at All-Time Highs: Inside the Meat Markets with Jeff Apel of Wharton Capital appeared first on RCM Alterna...| RCM Alternatives
Lunch & Learn Recap: Four Investment Innovators Share Their Market-Beating Strategies at CME Group A packed room of RIAs and institutional investors filled CME Group’s headquarters on Tuesday, July 22nd for what turned out to be one of our most engaging lunch and learns of the year. With seersucker jackets presenting and RCM’s Jeff Malec […] The post Beyond 60/40: The New Playbook for Portfolio Survival appeared first on RCM Alternatives.| RCM Alternatives
Posted by RCM Ag Services Grocery shoppers are feeling the heat, and this time, it’s not just from the grill. Beef prices have climbed to new highs in 2025, becoming the latest symbol of inflation and supply chain strain. What’s behind the surge? A historically small U.S. cattle herd, years of poor feed yard margins, […] The post Beef Is the New Egg? Why Meat Prices Are Skyrocketing appeared first on RCM Alternatives.| RCM Alternatives
In this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with Bernie Yu, co-founder and CIO of Patronus Capital, to dive deep into the world of options trading, market making, and the nuanced art of capturing convexity. Drawing from his experience at Optiver and his journey to founding Patronus, Bernie shares insights into how a […] The post Options Alchemy: How Bernie Yu of Patronus Capital Transforms Market Making into Strategic Investing appeared first on RCM Alternatives.| RCM Alternatives
June 2025 maintained the market momentum as U.S. Stocks delivered another strong month with a +5.14% gain, while World Stocks rose +3.90%. This continued strength has pushed U.S. Stocks' year-to-date return to +6.05%, while World Stocks extended their impressive lead with an +18.49% return for the year.Commodities rebounded significantly with a +4.11% gain in June, moving back into positive territory for the year at +1.23%. Hedge Funds contributed positively with a +1.53% monthly return, brin...| RCM Alternatives
We help investors looking to achieve alternative investment success by providing the technology, introductions, and, above all – the people, to find high-performing Managed Futures & Global Macro investments for investors.| RCM Alternatives
April represented a step back following March’s gains, aside from Managed Futures being the star of the show this month. Commodities demonstrated resilience, posting a modest +0.95% growth despite the turbulence induced by the prospects of normalizing financial conditions. This volatility led to portfolio recalibration across sectors. Managed futures strategies once more, demonstrating relative resilience, […]| RCM Alternatives
It sure seems like world renowned investor Paul Tudor Jones (PTJ) was pitching the exact product the smart folks over at ReturnStacked ETFs launched. PTJ is known for calling the 1987 market crash, and generally having big opinions on big market moves over the years. He was mostly right (gold and bitcoin) last November, while somewhat wrong (or maybe just early) saying Commodities were underpriced. (see our old post here). And now he’s adding equities to the mix, telling Bloomberg in ...| RCM Alternatives
In this dynamic episode of the Derivative podcast, Jeff Malec sits down with Kevin Jamali, Senior Vice President at Farther, for an unfiltered dive into the evolving world of wealth management. What begins as a journey through Jamali's career—from Chicago Board of Trade futures trader to alternative investment strategist—quickly becomes a provocative exploration of how technology and personalized advice are reshaping financial planning.Jamali and Malec dissect the limitations of tradition...| RCM Alternatives
Forget fat tails, left tails, even tall tales. We’re going into extracting value from long tails of the distribution on the pod in this episode. Vineer Bhansali is a 29-year industry veteran, previously at PIMCO, a Forbes columnist, author of four books on finance, and is currently the founder and CEO of longtail alpha. In […]| RCM Alternatives
In this dynamic episode of the Derivative podcast, Jeff Malec sits down with Kevin Jamali, Senior Vice President at Farther, for an unfiltered dive into the evolving world of wealth management. What begins as a journey through Jamali’s career—from Chicago Board of Trade futures trader to alternative investment strategist—quickly becomes a provocative exploration of how […]| RCM Alternatives
Now that the dust has settled a bit after a topsy, turvy April - it’s time for a check in on the Volatility space.With the S&P down -12% MTD and -19% from it’s highs at one point, and the VIX hitting 52; April was crazy enough that we added a new VIX peak to our VIX spike chart in our updated VIX/VOL whitepaper… [download here] And it left many investors wondering out loud - how do you protect against wild, social media driven volatility spikes like these… Forbes was bumping up agai...| RCM Alternatives
This week on The Derivative: In this compelling episode, @David Dziekanski, founder of Quantify Funds, joins host Jeff Malec to unpack the fascinating world of Bitcoin and gold. Dive deep into the innovative BTGD ETF, which stacks 100% Bitcoin and 100% gold, and explore the cutting-edge concept of portable alpha. Dziekanski shares insights on why […]| RCM Alternatives
In this episode, we dive deep into the world of commodity trading with Stephane Bernhard, CEO/CIO of CAM Multi-Strat Asset Management. Drawing from his 30+ years of experience starting at Louis Dreyfus through commodity trading house ETG, Stephane shares how commodity trading has evolved from pure fundamental analysis to today's complex intersection of physical, financial, and systematic trading.The conversation explores the world of commodity houses and physical trading of commodities, befor...| RCM Alternatives
In this wide-ranging conversation, Jeff Malec sits down with Dave Morehead, CIO of Baylor University's $2.2 billion endowment, to explore the unique challenges and strategies of institutional portfolio management. From his early days trading derivatives in Chicago's financial district to overseeing one of Texas's prominent university endowments, Morehead shares invaluable insights on risk management, alternative investments, and maintaining intergenerational equity.The discussion covers Baylo...| RCM Alternatives
In this emergency pod edition, Jeff Malec is joined by Vineer Bhansali, Founder and CIO at LongTail Alpha, LLC, to break down the market's wild rollercoaster ride that demanded immediate attention. When markets hit new lows only to rocket back with a stunning 10% rally, we knew it was time for another "WTF episode" – our signature emergency broadcasts reserved for the financial world's most shocking moments.Together, Jeff and Vineer dissect the tariff chaos sending shockwaves through global...| RCM Alternatives
We can't blame you if you've been looking to put out an APB on trend following so far this year—needing some help from that Alts bucket in what is increasingly looking like an ugly market moment. The S&P 500 is now down 17% from its highs, while the Nasdaq and Russell indices have plunged into bear market territory (down 21.5% and 21%, respectively). But Mr. Trend hasn’t answered the call… thus far. The SG CTA Index is down -5.3%, SG Trend Index down -7.3% through Thursday, April 3rd, a...| RCM Alternatives
Dive into the fascinating world of trend following with Jeff Malec and one of the GOATs: Harold de Boer, a pioneering systematic trader who transformed his life path from a Dutch dairy farm into the sophisticated global investment firm Transtrend. In this episode, Harold shares insights into the evolution of trend following, discussing how understanding market trends is similar to understanding herd behavior, navigating complex market correlations, and maintaining resilience during challeng...| RCM Alternatives
Trading futures, forex, and other commodity interests involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.Diversification stands as one of investing's most powerful concepts—yet many investors still misunderstand its true value. Beyond simply "not putting all your eggs in one basket," proper diversification can create resilience against market volatility while potentially improving long-term returns. Let's...| RCM Alternatives
In this episode, we dive deep into the current state of AI… getting to its transformative impact on the alternative investments landscape. Our guest, Mohammad Rasouli, is a renowned researcher at Stanford University and the founder and CEO of AIx2, a leading AI solutions provider for private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Mohammad shares […]| RCM Alternatives
As the final whistle blew on December 2024, the asset class scoreboard showed a tough month for most players, with only a few bright spots. Managed Futures showed some resilience, posting a solid gain of +1.27% in December, although that was mainly a bounce back from a down month in November. Elsewhere, most other asset classes struggled to stay afloat. Commodities also managed to finish in the green with a +2.98% gain, recovering from November losses. However, the rest of the field faltered,...| RCM Alternatives
Remember back in 2021 when Rodrigo Gordillo, Adam Butler, and Corey Hoffstein introduced us to "Return Stacking"? What started as an intriguing whitepaper has blossomed into something much bigger, transforming how many of us think about portfolio construction. Let's dive into how this concept has evolved and why it matters even more today.The Basics Haven't Changed (But The World Has)At its heart, return stacking remains beautifully simple - it's about using leverage intelligently to enhance ...| RCM Alternatives
As Ferris Bueller famously said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."In that spirit, we thought we’d take a minute and look around at this impressive stock market we’re in. The stock market has been absolutely roaring. The S&P 500 is up about 30% this year (+28.07% through December 9th), and has surged more than 75% since the depths of September 2022. How does this spectacular run stack up historically?Breaking Down the NumbersL...| RCM Alternatives
In October, most asset classes experienced setbacks amid increased market volatility:Global equities faced significant headwinds, with the ACWX world stock index falling -4.65% on concerns over slowing economic growth and geopolitical tensions. U.S. stocks showed more resilience but still declined, with the S&P 500 slipping -0.89%.Real estate also encountered challenges, with the IYR index dropping -3.49% as rising borrowing costs and economic uncertainty weighed on the sector. Speaking of th...| RCM Alternatives
In September, most asset classes saw a slight upward trajectory, except for commodities, which have continued to slip since July:U.S. real estate maintained its momentum, with the IYR index gaining +3.07%, as favorable mortgage rates and sustained demand persisted. Global equities extended their advance, with the ACWX world stock index rising +2.64% and the S&P 500 climbing +2.10%, driven by positive economic data.Bonds delivered solid returns, with the BND index up +1.31%, as yields remained...| RCM Alternatives
🎉 August was a wild ride for asset classes! 🎢U.S. real estate stole the show, with the IYR index showed gains of 5.40% as lower mortgage rates had buyers jumping for joy! U.S. and global equities also advanced, with the S&P 500 rising 2.34% and the ACWX world stock index climbing 2.71% on solid corporate earnings.Bonds delivered positive returns of 1.45% as Treasury yields stabilized. Hedge funds increased by 0.76%, with the QAI index benefiting from diversified strategies across asse...| RCM Alternatives
Kicking off in the third quarter, the month of July delivered a moderately positive performance across the major asset classes. There were not exceedingly great gains, but mostly, all were above the red, with only a couple suffering from declines. Commodities retreated, with the GSG index slipping -2.89% and falling to the bottom of the chart. Though relatively strong initially, they have begun to lose their luster coming off the 2nd and starting this 3rd quarter. Managed futures strategies t...| RCM Alternatives
In June 2024, most asset classes delivered positive returns, with U.S. stocks leading the pack:U.S. equities showed strong performance, with the S&P 500 climbing +3.53%, continuing the positive momentum from May. This robust growth in the domestic market contrasts with the slight decline in World stocks, which fell by -0.43%.U.S. Real Estate maintained its upward trajectory, gaining +1.88% in June, following a strong showing in May; this suggests a continued recovery in the property market de...| RCM Alternatives
We’re back! Today’s podcast features The Derivative show stoppers Rodrigo Gordillo and Adam Butler of Resolve Asset Management discussing the carry trade and its applications in investment strategies. They begin by explaining what the carry trade is and discussing common misconceptions around it. They then dive into different types of carry that can be found in various asset classes like bonds, commodities, currencies, and equities. The guests discuss how carry strategies can be implement...| RCM Alternatives
In May, most asset classes rebounded after April's pullback: U.S. stocks led the way, with the S&P 500 gaining an impressive +5.06% as corporate earnings showed resilience. Real estate also recovered, with the IYR index climbing +4.93% as lower mortgage rates renewed demand. International shares participated in the rally, rising +3.95%. Bonds stabilized, with the Barclays Aggregate index gaining +1.68% as yields pulled back from recent highs. Hedge funds captured the upside with more direct...| RCM Alternatives
April represented a step back following March's gains, aside from Managed Futures being the star of the show this month.Commodities demonstrated resilience, posting a modest +0.95% growth despite the turbulence induced by the prospects of normalizing financial conditions. This volatility led to portfolio recalibration across sectors.Managed futures strategies once more, demonstrating relative resilience, advancing +1.99% through balanced long-short exposures, and leveraging their flexible fra...| RCM Alternatives
