Conquest Capital Group, a USD500 million hedge fund firm based in New York, has launched a fund that uses derivatives to trade volatility as an asset class and attempts to exploit inefficiencies in options markets. According to investor documents, Conquest Volatility Relative Value will trade across equity, fixed income, FX and commodities, primarily in G10 countries.
The fund is co-managed by David Gary and Richard Silver, two Bankers Trust veterans. The pair co-headed the global FX derivative business at Bankers Trust in the early 1990s. Silver also headed UBS' global FX derivatives department. Calls to Gary and Silver were not returned by press time.
"The fund's focus is not on leaning 'long volatility', but more importantly on producing 'good volatility' of returns," says one document. The focus on risk management will aim to eliminate extreme negative return distributions, it adds.
