Quote from makloda:
A couple of years ago I read about Fairfield's Sentry "Split Strike Conversion" trading approach and was intrigued by the low volatility returns. I tried backtesting and understand the strategy, but I couldn't. It just didn't make any sense to me.
Long a basket of stocks and short the synthetic (split strike) underlying is not an edge.
92% positive months, outperforming LIBOR 550 bps over the last 10 years... I thought these guys know something I don't.
Here's a WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122903010173099377-email.html
10% every year after fees with a "strategy" that has zero edge? It sounded too good to be true I guess.
Attachment: 3x leveraged investment product in Fairfield Sentry LTD offered by a Swiss private bank. Equity looks like a completely smooth curve.
The biggest loser may be Walter Noelâs Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoffâs eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said. Another client was Kingate Management Ltd., whose $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff, they said.
