Igor Yelnik – Think About Non-Market Risks

<p><strong>BIO: </strong>Igor Yelnik founded Alphidence Capital Ltd in 2020 and holds the positions of CEO and CIO. Alphidence is a systematic macro hedge fund management firm based in London, UK.</p><p><strong>STORY:</strong> Igor’s company entered into a forward contract with one of Russia’s biggest banks and sold a very significant amount of the Russian ruble against the US dollar. The company made a considerable profit, but the bank decided not to pay. After a lengthy court battle, the company gave up and counted its losses.</p><p><strong>LEARNING:</strong> Infrastructure and systematic risks can affect your trade significantly.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="ql-align-center"><strong>“Non-market risks are really paramount in forward currency trades.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote class="ql-align-center">Igor Yelnik</blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Guest profile</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/igor-yelnik-3ab5223/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Igor Yelnik</strong></a> founded <a href="https://alphidence.capital/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alphidence Capital Ltd</a> in 2020 and holds the positions of CEO and CIO. Alphidence is a systematic macro hedge fund management firm based in London. Previously Igor was the CIO for ADG Capital Management from 2013 to 2019. Prior to that, he spent 9 years at IPM Informed Portfolio Management, where he was a Partner and Head of Portfolio Management and Research. Before this, Igor co-founded St. Petersburg Capital, an asset management firm that specialized in the Russian securities market, and later Unibase Invest, a managed futures business based in Tel Aviv.</p><h2>Worst investment ever</h2><p>In 1998, Asian prices, oil prices, stock prices, and the Russian ruble were going down. Igor was still working in Russia at that time. The Russian Central Bank established a cap—the currency corridor—they set ranges for the ruble. The exciting part was how much the US dollar could appreciate against the ruble. Everybody understood th