Move To Zürich Leads Directly To Near Tripling Of Hedge Fund’s Returns

We’ve never been to Schaffhausen, but it seems like a nice enough place: Swiss, with a Renaissance old city, views over a particularly scenic part of the Rhine, proximity to cut-rate German pizza. Maybe a bit too nice, too comfortable. Because a couple of years ago, a little Schaffhausen hedge fund picked up and moved to the hustle and bustle of Zürich (full disclosure: we have also never been to Zürich), and suddenly, that hedge fund, Quantica Capital, which had managed double-digit returns just twice in between 2009 and 2016 (three times if you count the 15.4% drop in 2015, a bigger drop than any annual gain ever enjoyed by the CTA), is on its way to its second double-digit year in three (albeit wrapped around a 3.7% decline last year).

Quantica Capital AG’s flagship fund is up 26% in 2019, compared with a 9% gain for an index of commodity trading advisors, a breed of quant that uses futures contracts and typically surfs market momentum. In September the firm attracted about $100 million of new money, taking assets under management to $550 million.

I mean, we’ve heard that Zürich’s a pretty nice place to live, but that’s an impressive amount of big-city spring in one’s step. (Also, we’ve heard that Frankfurt’s a pretty nice place to live, too, and beg to differ; also, that doesn’t seem to be helping some prominent Frankfurters.) Tell us more about the inspirational power of Switzerland’s largest city.