Ben has been in the investment management business for over ten years. Initially, he focused on tactical asset allocation for the Hull Family Foundation, developing algorithmic strategies to opportunistically adjust the equity exposure of their portfolio. Subsequently, Ben entered the high-frequency trading arena with Matlock Capital, eventually rising to Lead Financial Engineer & Co-Portfolio Manager for the company’s statistical arbitrage portfolio. He was responsible for design, development, and implementation of the business components of an automated trading system that operated on multiple exchanges in the markets for 300 U.S. equities. Following Matlock’s closure, Ben joined Sun Valley Gold, manager of a precious metals hedge fund, where he was solely responsible for research, development and implementation of an automated trading system focused on the Basic Materials sector.
Ben received a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA (honors) from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business with concentrations in Analytic Finance and Econometrics & Statistics.
Ben lives in Sun Valley, Idaho with his wife and two children, where he enjoys skiing, hiking, and mountain biking. In addition, he serves on the board of a local Waldorf school.
Ken McKean, Co-Founder, Manager
Ken has been applying a quantitative approach to trading the derivative markets for over thirty years. He started his career at O'Connor and Associates, managing an equity option book on both the Philadelphia and Pacific Stock Exchange. Ken also spearheaded O&A's exploration into the capital and commodity marketplace as well as the convertible bond arena. From 1987 to 2002 Ken was an independent market maker on both the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade specializing in the modeling and trading of special situations and risk arbitrage.
His latest position was as President for Ketchum Trading, the trading arm of the Hull Family Foundation where he oversaw asset allocation and used stock index trading strategies to enhance portfolio returns and re-balance asset mix while mitigating overall exposure. At Hull, he was also a team leader in developing several high frequency trading strategies that exploited the family office's customer status.
Ken enjoys skiing, cycling and listening to live music. In addition, he has coached and mentored inner-city Little League in Chicago as well as Sun Valley afterschool ski program in Idaho. Along with his family, Ken is committed to and supports Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital and its' mission of compassionate care. He received a B.A. in Economics from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama and holds a Series 3 License.