Alpha Exchange

In the market for global equity volatility, few investors have the magnitude of experience of David Rogers. Starting at Goldman Sachs in 1982, Dave was evaluating option strategies in the nascent period of the US derivatives market. His experience through the ’87 crash as well as his time in Asia in the early 1990’s, were formative in establishing a risk management philosophy that has proven critical during the many episodes of market turbulence of the past two decades. Our conversation around the Long Term Capital unwind in 1998 and its exposure to short equity volatility, illustrates the importance that Dave puts on patience and position sizing. Founding JD Capital Management in the aftermath of the tech bubble, Dave has managed complex option exposures from both the long and short side through periods of high and low volatility. Our discussion considers correlation dislocations during the Great Financial Crisis, the impact that structured products can have on volatility surfaces, and the changing regulato