AYU Member Spotlight: Thomas Pontin of Shikuma Capital
Thomas Pontin co-founded Shikuma Capital in 2020 and is responsible for all things non-investment related along with his colleague Anna McCutcheon.
Hi Thomas, what are you working on today?
Hi! Today I’m finalising Shikuma’s counter-party roster, I have two calls with potential seeders, and whenever I get a spare moment I’m slowly building out our CRM.
How did you get to where you are now?
I have a slightly unconventional career path in that I went almost directly into a hedge fund sales role after university, initially for F&C Alternative Investments, where I learned from various vol and variance trading fund managers and legendary industry veteran Alex Ingham Clark, who is still something of a mentor to me. Unfortunately being a ‘short vol’ business wasn’t the best strategy for the 2008 GFC and the business imploded.
From there I went to Fulcrum Asset Management, where I got to work with some industry legends like Gavyn Davies (former global chief economist at Goldman Sachs), Suhail Shaikh and my good friend Athanasios Bolmatis; all brilliant minds and fascinating to work with. I was the product specialist for the macro and alternative risk premia strategies and also launched the Commodity Fund in UCITS, which we were early pioneers of. It was a great time and I learned a huge amount.
After Fulcrum I went to Harmonic Capital Partners, another systematic macro house founded by Richard Conyers. Unfortunately they blew up shortly after I arrived so there wasn’t much for me to do, and I left for another systematic macro house, ADG. ADG was a great period – we grew the business from $100m to $3.4bn at peak in under 5 years. I really consolidated my experience here and got to develop deeper relationships with clients.
What attracted you to this business?
I read economics at university so the intersection of big picture macro and geo-political events has always been interesting to me. I remember reading “Inside the house of Money” at an early age and finding the various approaches to macro investing fascinating. Once I was in the industry I really enjoyed meeting the clients – again such diverse backgrounds and ways of thinking about markets. I find it a real privilege to sit in client meetings and hear smart people riffing on what’s going in in the world.
What has been the most pivotal moment of your career so far?
I hope that I will look back on the current pivot – from asset raiser to company founder of Shikuma Capital – as the most significant!
What aspect of our industry excites you the most?
I think the industry has painted itself into a corner in recent years – too specialised, too inflexible. I’m hoping we can lead a reversal back to nimble, dynamic strategies that can adapt to a fast-changing environment.
What would you change?
My experience of pigeon-holed strategies has taught me that we need far more flexibility in mandate, particularly in terms of risk premia captured, volatility profiling and risk management techniques. I do not believe that hedge funds should be constrained by the same parameters that long-only and retail strategies should be. That said I also think that hedge funds should be more accessible to a broader section of the investment community as when used correctly they can provide important diversification at a time when the traditional 60:40 method of investing should be consigned to history.
What do you invest in personally?
Outside of our strategy I invest in property (I come from a family of builders), contemporary art, gold and crypto. I’m long inflation!
Where do you celebrate?
I enjoy cooking and am happiest around my own dining table with a good group of friends. My favourite local pub is The Cow (Guinness and Oysters), favourite local is “Upstairs at the Oak” and my favourite hotel bar is The Connaught, where my wife and I like to go after visiting galleries. For restaurants, I like Portobello Gold and Sushi Tetsu and I always try to go to Lure Fishbar in New York whenever I’m over.
What is at the top of your bucket list right now?
I have always wanted to visit Japan.
What does success mean to you?
My family around a kitchen table in a house I’ve built.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
“Always buy when there’s blood on the streets, even if that blood is your own” Baron Rothschild
Thomas Pontin has been an AYU member since 2019.