Learning is a continuous process that keeps you on your toes, helps you achieve and grow. Would it stop if you established your own fintech organisation?
Would it stop after you have trading experience of 12 years?
Agustin’s story mirrors these situations and answers them with grace. An EPAT alumnus, Agustin is an entrepreneur and a serial learner. We caught up with him over a chat that unravelled his story and his journey into Algorithmic Trading.
Here’s how the discussion went.
Hi Agustin, tell us about yourself
I am Agustin Ramello de la Vega, I currently live in Córdoba, Argentina. I am the CEO and co-founder at Invera, a fintech that provides robo-advisory for financial institutions in order to automate investments.
I love what I do, as an entrepreneur, but besides work, I also enjoy picking up new skills (nowadays I am learning Data Science). I’ve got a B.A. in Economics at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in 2013, and a Masters degree in Finance at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in 2015.
I joined QuantInsti after founding Invera in 2019 since I perceived the necessity of getting a systematic way of acquiring coding skills around algorithmic trading. In 2020, I have joined a year-long course track in Data Science.
You’ve worked across countless roles in various domains, have a vast experience of 12 years and have your own firm. How did Algorithmic Trading come into your life?
As an economist and M.S. in Finance, I’ve got plenty of theoretical knowledge about investments, but when it comes down to applying all that to algorithms, there was still a long way to go. When working with developers, I like to have a first-hand understanding of everything that is going on at the core of the system. That’s why to set the bar properly, I decided to get the required skills.
I have personally been investing since I was 19. I come from a Frontier market with no financial inclusion. So, I always thought of it as a personal mission to help people invest in the capital markets in a simple way. That’s the reason Invera was born.
Invera automatizes much of the investment process, allowing institutions to create economies of scales when it comes to providing investment services to its customers. This, in turn, allows to greatly diminish the capital requirements for initial investments.
I wanted to improve the executions on the orders derived from Modern Portfolio Theory, especially in a market like the Argentinean with very low volume. That was when I came across Algorithmic Trading. EPAT was recommended to me by Marco Dibo, a friend of mine.
You attribute your success to learning. Why?
The ability to learn is of paramount importance in order to keep up with everyday new challenges that may arise. When it comes to coding, there is a lot of information out there, but if you need a system that puts it all together in a logical and scaling way, that is what EPAT did for me.
EPAT is a great hands-on programme to develop coding, trading, and strategies skills. And I was thrilled to learn from Dr. Ernest Chan, Yves Hilpisch and other remarkable personalities.
I also admire the community of EPATians that share their points of view and knowledge. It adds great value to the course.
What is your favourite feature of EPAT?
I think that the best part of EPAT is when you get to test your first strategy. It is then that you realize that everything that you have been working on in theory, and maybe Excel, can come to life with a few clever lines of code and it can scale as much as needed.
What message would you give to the aspiring Algo Traders out there?
Working in a Fintech with financial institutions has made me realise that technology is enhancing human capital as never before. Therefore, not being able to keep up with the industry in technological terms will cut your results until you will be better off investing in an index.
Thank you for taking out the time and sharing your story with us, Agustin. It is very encouraging to see how receptive you are to learning and building your skillset. It is a rare quality.
Congratulations on Invera! We wish you the best for your journey ahead.
In the quest to learn Algorithmic Trading, you need the right knowledge and necessary skills, the Executive Programme in Algorithmic Trading (EPAT®), helps you achieve your learning goals. EPAT is a comprehensive course covering a wide range of topics.
Disclaimer: In order to assist individuals who are considering pursuing a career in algorithmic and quantitative trading, this case study has been collated based on the personal experiences of a student or alumni from QuantInsti’s EPAT® programme. Case studies are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be used for investment purposes. The results achieved post completion of the EPAT® programme may not be uniform for all individuals.
