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QFS Asset Management -
taking a unique view on the business of managing money
e-Forex talks with two new members of QFS Asset Management, Karlheinz Muhr, CEO and Jim Conklin, Ph.D., Head of Research. QFS is a leading asset and risk management fi rm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA.
How long have you been in the asset management business and what attracted you to the industry?
Karlheinz: I have been in the investment business for over 25 years. I joined QFS last year, and became the CEO as a result of the acquisition of Cenario Capital Management. I was the Chairman and co-founder of Cenario after leaving Credit Suisse in 2009. Cenario provided investors with volatility risk advisory and management services. Additionally, we developed a proprietary Risk Index (the CRIX) – a leading indicator of heightened risk aversion and market turbulence – which is still available on Bloomberg Terminal. I was fortunate to have been one of the people in the industry to have pioneered the concept of volatility as an asset class. In 1999, I formed Volaris with my partners, which was sold to Credit Suisse in 2003. I stayed at Credit Suisse and served as a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Asset Management Division and was head of Credit Suisse Volaris. I was also a member of both the Chairman’s Board and the Management Council of Credit Suisse.
My academic background is in economics and fi nance. I got into the investment management business by starting on the fi xed income trading
desks of First Boston Corp. in 1985. I went on to hold a variety of positions at UBS Warburg and Credit Suisse First Boston, spanning from head of Global Credit Fixed Income to head of Derivative Mortgage Trading. I think this helped shape the way I think about risk in the context of asset management. At QFS, we don’t believe there is such a thing as a free lunch. I believe prudent and successful investment management comes from a manager’s ability to truly understand and manage risk. T e investment decision process should not start with “what return do I need or target?” But, “what is my risk budget?”
Jim: I joined QFS last year as well, as the Director of Research. I have over 14 years of investment experience, working as a quant- trader and strategist in FX volatility trading, currencies, commodities, fi xed income relative value, and equity long-short at various institutions. Before joining QFS, I was Head of Investment Research at FX Concepts and a member of the Management Committee there. And before that, I was a Portfolio Manager at Fortress Investments in the Liquid Markets group. Like Dr. Grossman, I came to fi nance from academia, having held faculty positions at the University of Texas in Austin and the
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