Empirica Capital LLC was a hedge fund founded in 1999 by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in partnership with Mark Spitznagel, that used Taleb's black swan strategy.[1][2][3][4] The firm closed in 2005.[5][4]: 157
| Company type | Hedge fund |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Nassim Nicholas Taleb |
| Defunct | 2005 |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | , |
The investment strategy of the fund has been explained in a New Yorker article.[6] One of Empirica's funds, Empirica Kurtosis LLC, was reported to have made a 56.86% return in 2000 followed by returns of -8.39% in 2001, -13.81% in 2002, and -3.92% in 2003, according to an investor letter.[7][8]
Taleb has stated that he shut down Empirica LLC, in 2005 to become a "writer and a scholar".[3][9][10] At the time he also "feared he might have a recurrence of throat cancer."[9][11]
In 2007 Spitznagel founded the firm Universa Investments L.P. with Taleb as an adviser using black swan portfolio hedging strategies similar to Empirica's.[10][12]
References
edit- ^ Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (2007), "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable", Random House and Penguin, New York, ISBN 978-1-4000-6351-2
- ^ Harrington, Shannon D. (July 19, 2010). "Pimco Sells Black Swan Protection as Wall Street Markets Fear". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
- ^ a b "Mr. Volatility and the Swan", The Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2007, retrieved January 5, 2016
- ^ a b Hubbard, Douglas W. (April 2009). The Failure of Risk Management: Why It's Broken and How to Fix It. Wiley. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-470-38795-5.
- ^ "Black swan manager returning 23%, anticipating bear market". 24 October 2011.
- ^ Gladwell, Malcolm (22 April 2002). "Blowing Up". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ Patterson, Scott. "Mr. Volatility and the Swan". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ^ Alexander, Jan (November 2011). "Spreading his Wings". AR: Absolute Return + Alpha. Institutional Investor & Hedge Fund Intelligence. pp. 24–32.
- ^ a b Lubove, Seth; Weiss, Miles (6 October 2011). "Black Swan Manager Returning 23% Anticipating Bear Market". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ a b Patterson, Scott (November 4, 2008), "October Pain Was 'Black Swan' Gain", The Wall Street Journal, retrieved January 5, 2016
- ^ Farrell, Maureen (June 27, 2011). "Protect Your Tail". Forbes.
- ^ "Black Swan Trader Bets Reputation on Inflation", The Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2009