Kirkoswald Asset Management's Greg Coffey at the 2024 Sohn New York Investment Conference
Hedge fund manager Greg Coffey has some advice for younger traders: “trade smaller and let trends run longer.”
Coffey, founder and CIO of Kirkoswald Asset Management, spoke at the Sohn Investment Conference held in New York April 3 and reflected on how he has changed as a trader over the years. He said that advice is something he follows now that he wishes he had done earlier in his career and that these days, “we no longer take big swings.”
Coffey, who started his career in 1994 and previously worked at GLG Partners and was also co-CIO of Moore Europe Capital Management, shot to prominence as a macro trader and was nicknamed the “Wizard of Oz.” He rarely gives interviews.
Asked on stage at the Lincoln Center when he started believing in himself, the Australian investor answered, “I don't know that anyone ever believes in themselves. I think that that's the key to this business is understanding that the markets are there to teach you how bad you are at your job.”
His risk appetite now is “significantly different” to when he was younger and focused on being a “money maker.” Now, Coffey said, “my focus is more on risk management.” The key to running a macro hedge fund, Coffey said, is not being stopped out — exiting a position with a loss — and ensuring your size is never big enough to get near a stop/loss area.
Coffey came out of retirement and launched Kirkoswald, a macro hedge fund, in 2018. Kirkoswald has approximately $8 billion in assets under management. Coffey has been in talks to acquire Emso Asset Management to create a $13 billion firm.
Amid audience laughter, Coffey said he was once asked what he would tell his younger self and he answered, “I don’t want to be anywhere near my younger self.”
