In 2018, the idea for a systematic fund started. One of the Affor Analytics founders was working within a proprietary trading desk, which at the time was trading intraday, focussed on commodities. This was primarily done in a fundamental way, based on trader knowledge and experience. Our founder saw an opportunity for a systematic approach and in early 2019, a plan for a systematic trading strategy was pitched to the owner and advisors of the trading desk. After a positive response the plan was further developed.

When setting up a new fund, there is a lot of pressure to develop a good strategy. Time to market is important because a strategy can only be profitable once it is actively traded. With the full support of the existing trading desk, Affor Analytics could develop in-house and face less pressure and risk than other new funds. This allowed us to focus on a robust and efficient infrastructure.

At the end of 2019 the development started within the existing trading desk. Once proven on a small scale, the strategy could scale up. Starting in 2020, the second founder joined to work on Affor Analytics. This year’s focus was on creating a robust data and cloud infrastructure, and implementing the strategy.

In early 2021, the strategy was further optimised and from May 2021 Affor Analytics started trading. From November we were satisfied with the way everything was running and we could start focusing on efficiency and improving the strategy.

2023 is the year that Affor officially launched. We’ve been able to put a lot of time and care into making our strategy and systems as efficient and robust as possible. Our track record supplied us with a lot of data, with which we can make better decisions right from the start. We can’t wait to see what the future brings!