Back to the Future

Over the last few years, the ambitious side of me as been asking “what next?”

I have done a solid job managing my decent-sized portfolio since leaving pharmacy in 2007. I have learned enough to become an option trading “expert.” I have developed a trading business that I continue to operate daily. I have posted annual returns approaching 15%. I have begun to take on “friends and family” accounts.

My next step could involve finding other full-time retail traders with whom to collaborate and develop new strategies. In doing so, I would grow as a trader and develop additional streams of income. Unfortunately, collaboration is hard to find as I have found few other “equals” interested in my work.

Another possibility could involve taking definitive steps to enter the wealth management business. I hesitate to launch an investment advisory because I don’t see a clear path to the assets deemed necessary to make this pursuit worthwhile. My ideal situation would be a [handful of] qualified investors[s] each willing to invest seven figures with me. A small number of clients would allow me sufficient time to trade daily in separately managed accounts. Tens to hundreds of [smaller net-worth] clients would require me to take custody in order to trade all assets at once in a hedge fund. This would require a higher level of trust for someone with no industry experience.

Finding high net-worth clients is probably a necessary hurdle to clear because hedge funds with non-accredited investors face additional challenges (blog topic for another day).

Getting institutional money would be perfect but I suspect this would require an officially audited track record that I do not have. My accountant can testify to my performance but he doesn’t get paid to audit.

To this end, I have considered starting an incubator fund but this would leave me with nothing to offer at the time of presentation. The incubator could be officially audited but no outside investors are permitted.

On the way to a career in wealth management, I suspect the journey must involve putting my performance on display for others. In general and clear terms, I need to something to pitch what I do and how well I do it. I then just need someone to give me a chance—maybe someone willing to start off with a relatively small sum of money that we can [hopefully] watch grow together!