With his research bent and a stake by Goldman, David Harding aims for the top
By Barry Cohen
When David Harding and his 145-person staff at Winton Capital Management gathered in October for the firm's 10th anniversary party at London's Natural History Museum, the champagne flowed and the music never stopped. After the jazz wound down, the firm's own in-house band, the Systematics, took the stage, playing a medley of punk classics.
The combination of champagne, jazz, punk and Darwin just might be a clue to the eclectic thinking that has propelled Winton near the top of the commodity trading advisors universe. While many other CTAs have been struggling in recent years, Winton has bucked the trend. With a 19.13% annualized return in its flagship futures fund since inception - and 12.08% for the first nine months of 2007 - Winton has had no trouble attracting investors. Assets have...