Ramsey Quantitative Systems Inc. (RQSI) is a quantitative-oriented investment firm that leverages 35 years of experience developing, managing, and allocating to alternative strategies. Our long history has been defined by major pivots that have allowed us to remain relevant throughout several different regimes in the investment landscape.
The next chapter in that story is a fully integrated portfolio creation, trading, management,
analytic and back office product for institutional investors –
qubit (Quant-Based Investment Tool).
Click to learn more about
qubit, RQSI Advisory, and RQSI's future
Management
brings GYfi to life
global macro program
Macro Fund
Advisory and GAA
qubit is a cloud-based portfolio generation and management application. The customizable twelve box framework offered in qubit gives an investor access to not only our GAA Program but also an entire suite of GAA based products that meet unique objectives. qubit allows an investor to directly integrate our value-added components into their existing portfolio in the most effective way.
qubit is a cloud-based portfolio generation and management application. With qubit an investor can build, customize, backtest and manage a portfolio that not only captures the value of traditional investing, but takes it a step further using a proven Econometric quant framework (GYfi) that modulates risk based on the relative attractiveness of traditional assets.
alpha
alpha
Because liquid futures contracts are used to create the desired notional exposure, a client has 60 to 80% of their collateral to employ in income-producing strategies that can enhance their net return. The end result is a portfolio with multidimensional, transparent alpha where the contribution of each factor is clear.
qubit can be implemented 100% in-house with full client control into all the inputs and subcomponents on a fully automated, user-friendly basis. In the interest of giving investors complete control over how decisions are made in their portfolio, we have also launched RQSI Advisory in order to educate investors about how GYfi determines the relative attractiveness of different asset classes.
Portfolio generation, trading, reconciliation and analytics are all part of the qubit solution.
Liquid Alternative Funds are unable to provide the desired value to institutional investors because the effect of the Fund’s return stream on the investor’s entire portfolio remains unclear when the investor is not given full transparency into how the return stream is generated.
Further, we have seen that the existing relationship between the institutional investor and the liquid alternative fund is imperfect in the following ways:
Proposition
Quant Expertise
Transparent Inputs
Excess Returns
Reduction
Diversification
To ensure that the GYfi framework will be as transparent and understandable as possible, we have created RQSI Advisory, an educational website that explains the background of each factor of GYfi and shows the detail of how the factors are measured in real-time. This website is valuable because it allows the investor to know how decisions in his portfolio are actually made, but it will also help the investor become more informed and knowledgeable. Below is an overview of each part of the site:
The Framework tab explains the background research and economic theory that justifies the inclusion of each factor in GYfi.
In addition, this page gives details about the relationship between each factor and the major asset classes.
The Measurement tab shows both the current and historical reads of each factor in GYfi.
It also contains functionality to see and understand how these reads use raw macroeconomic data.
The Signals tab provides daily opinions on each Asset Class based on today’s GYfi reads. Historical opinions are also available.
The exposure shown in these graphs represent the positions that a qubit investor would have using a preset GYfi portfolio.
The Toolbox tab is a combination of miscellaneous tools intended to make the user more knowledgeable about the markets and the economy.
Many of the concepts displayed in the tools are incorporated into qubit’s automated functions
qubit is a fully integrated portfolio creation, trading, management, analytic and back office engine for institutional investors.
This tab is where you can actually access the tool.
economy performing?
uncertainty in the markets?
stock risk or bond yield?
posing a threat to my porfolio?
GYfi was adapted from GAA’s Econometric portfolio; we eliminated some of the extraneous detail and distilled the models down to their critical components, which are Growth, Yield, Fear and Inflation – GYfi. At its core, this framework has two defining characteristics:
- Superior returns and diversification: These models have been a major contributing factor to the success of the GAA Fund for 5+ years.
- Attractive to institutions: These models have a frequency that aligns more closely to that of an institution, and they are guided by straightforward economic principles that an institution can understand and feel comfortable with.
Most economic research is unactionable conjecture. While it may have value fitting into a mosaic of
anecdotal information, it’s difficult to translate into thoughtful risk-taking or have it effectively
fit into an investment framework.
GYfi is the opposite. It measures the most fundamental building blocks that affect markets to systematically inform investing.
If "Panacea Paragon Research Affiliates LTD" puts out a paper predicting a Eurozone recession in nine months and they are
wrong... nothing happens.
GYfi carries real weight. The predictions espoused by Growth, Yield, Fear and Inflation have been real trading signals for our
GAA Fund for the last 5 years. If they are wrong, we feel it. Which is why we work so hard to make sure that they are right.
they happen for specific reasons.
never, ever, ever sell them.
constantly present; what happens during times when they have faded?
investors for risk.
and generate profitability.
Equities, but Fixed Income and Commodities, as well, in order to generate our exposure.
economy performing?
uncertainty in the markets?
stock risk or bond yield?
posing a threat to my porfolio?
GYfi was adapted from GAA’s Econometric portfolio; we eliminated some of the extraneous detail and distilled the models down to their critical components, which are Growth, Yield, Fear and Inflation – GYfi. At its core, this framework has two defining characteristics:
- Superior returns and diversification: These models have been a major contributing factor to the success of the GAA Fund for 5+ years.
- Attractive to institutions: These models have a frequency that aligns more closely to that of an institution, and they are guided by straightforward economic principles that an institution can understand and feel comfortable with.
The RQSI GAA Systematic Global Macro program (“GAA”) is a purely systematic, global futures strategy designed to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns with little or no correlation to traditional asset classes. At its core, this program seeks to take advantage of multiple levels of diversification by leveraging a deep understanding how markets and sectors interrelate and the optimal frequencies of basic market anomalies.
RQSI has been engaged in developing investment strategies based on econometric, quantitative and technical trading factors for over 20 years. The Fund represents a fusion of our expertise and experience into a single investment product that combines a strong econometric based asset allocation process to proven quantitative and technical inputs. The Fund invests in Global Equities, Global Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies and focuses on three main market drivers:
The Fund recognizes that at times there are inherent conflicts and contradictions between these three drivers of return and allows the interaction of these drivers to develop on a continuum basis taking into account the fact that the four asset classes – Global Equities, Global Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies, provide differing return streams under different economic scenarios.
We think of our opportunity set for research as the intersection of Economic Theory, Market Knowledge and Statistical Methods.
Our Mission:
RQSI is a quantitative-oriented investment firm, committed to delivering innovative strategies that consistently meet clearly defined and stated risk and return objectives across our entire suite of products:
Our philosophy:
We embed Risk Management at every stage of the investment process. Risk is analyzed and diversified across style, asset class and timeframe to ensure balanced exposures.
We use Quantitative methods to test our ideas, not create them. All strategies are based on the fundamental drivers of return and computational methods are used to test and refine them. We think of our opportunity set for research as the intersection of Economic Theory, Market Knowledge and Statistical Methods.
We believe a systematic approach to investing is the most robust way to insulate portfolios from behavioral biases and generate durable alpha over time.
Our team:
Mr. Ramsey founded Ramsey Financial, Inc., the predecessor of RQSI, in 1986 and has been involved in the development and execution of systematic trading models including both
futures and equity trading since that time. He is responsible for all investment activities for RQSI including development and approval of all trading strategies and
portfolio/risk management and for providing overall strategic direction for RQSI. Mr. Ramsey is also responsible for managing all external investments for the firm with
outside trading managers and has been allocating to external managers for over 25 years.
Prior to forming RQSI, Mr. Ramsey was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with both domestic and foreign multi-national corporations in
strategy development. Mr. Ramsey holds an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a B.E., summa cum laude, in Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
Mr. Gregory joined RQSI in 2005 and is responsible for the overseeing all operational aspects of the firm including Trading, Back Office,
Compliance, and Performance Management/Reporting. Prior to serving in this role, Mr. Gregory was Head of Research at RQSI, responsible for
the development and review of the analytical models used for systematic trading at RQSI.
Prior to joining RQSI, Mr. Gregory was with Prosperitas Investment Partners, responsible for due diligence, deal structuring, and portfolio company oversight,
and with McKinsey & Company, where he focused on strategic and operational areas. Mr. Gregory received a B.S. in Physics from Davidson College, a B.S. in
Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Mr. Albertsen joined RQSI in 2014 as Chief Administration Officer. In this role, he provides leadership and oversight to the firm’s operations and
administrative functions. His responsibilities include creating and improving operating policies/procedures, financial analysis/planning, fund compliance,
information technology systems, and human resource functions.
Prior to joining RQSI, Mr. Albertsen worked in commercial banking, most recently at JP Morgan Chase, where he managed, advised, and developed tailored solutions for
commercial clients seeking to expand, acquire, and improve operating efficiencies. In his career, he was also CFO of an impact investment fund, as well as manager of
all operations at a full service multi-state supplier/dealer of positioning technologies. Mr. Albertsen graduated from Samford University.
Mr. Satterfield joined RQSI in September 1999 and is currently responsible for overseeing client and business relationships and strategic planning.
Mr. Satterfield is currently located in Hong Kong and working on behalf of RQSI as CEO of ChinaPost Global to establish distribution relationships for
RQSI products in Asia and with other global distribution platforms.
Before his role as Director of New Business, Mr. Satterfield was Chief Operating Officer for five years overseeing Operations and Information Technology
and spent four years as RQSI’s Director of Research and Trading where he was responsible for research, development, and implementation of RQSI’s quantitative
strategies. Prior to joining RQSI, Mr. Satterfield spent three years developing and trading quantitative systems. Mr. Satterfield served in the United States
Navy for six years as a nuclear submarine repairman and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal and received his Honorable Discharge in 1997.
Mr. Younie joined RQSI in 2007. As CTO and CISO, he is responsible for overseeing the company’s entire network and software engineering landscape with a
focus on information security. In this role, he is responsible for planning and overseeing development of the company’s internal software systems, network
infrastructure, disaster recovery, and business continuity, as well as ensuring the safety of the organization’s intellectual property. Prior to serving this
role, Mr. Younie served as Director of Information Security, Senior Software Engineer and Tradedesk Liaison which included coordination and development of
RQSI’s internal trading and trade management systems.
Prior to joining RQSI, Mr. Younie worked as a software and network/security engineer, most recently as Director of Information Technology for Nicolet Capital,
an investment firm focused on the development of short-term trading strategies. He has been in professional computer engineering and information systems
management for over 20 years and possesses more than 15 technology certifications in the software, network, and security engineering fields as well as technical
training certifications.
Mr. Karnawat joined RQSI in 2008 and is a Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager for the GAA and Small Cap Funds.
He is responsible for the development of quantitative and risk strategies for RQSI’s futures and equity trading strategies including development of
automated risk management and trading execution tools.
Mr. Karnawat received both a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from IIT, India in 2006 and an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from
Vanderbilt University in 2008. Mr. Karnawat also holds the Financial Risk Manager designation given by Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
Mr. Ramsey joined RQSI in May 2018 as a Quantitative Research Analyst. In this role, he researches and develops mathematical models for use in systematic trading.
He is also responsible for the tactical design of RQSI Advisory and qubit.
Prior to joining RQSI, Mr. Ramsey worked as an Analytics Consultant in New York City for Deloitte, LLP.
He received a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Mathematical Decision Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.