(Sept. 15, 2015) Dallas‐based Coquest Inc., one of the largest independent brokers in the U.S. derivatives markets, announced the launch of Coquest Advisors, an independent research and advisory firm that will provide due diligence on commodity trading advisors and hedge funds and target the most talented investment managers for its clients. The group will be headed up by Coquest Managing Director Maxwell Eagye, and Ryan Hart, Coquest Director of Research and Co‐Portfolio Manager, who worked with Mr. Eagye at Altegris, will lead the team that performs the investment due diligence and portfolio management.
“For 25 years, Coquest has been in the business of alternative investments and risk management,” said John Vassallo, Coquest Inc. co‐founder. “Now we have in place the right team and seasoned investment committee to formalize our analysis of managers and develop customized investment products for our clients that include family offices, endowments and qualified high net worth individuals.”
Mr. Eagye and team will utilize multiple lead sources to identify potential investment managers, which will be narrowed down through a rigorous and repeatable process. Promising managers will be presented to the Coquest Investment Committee made up of Mr. Vassello, Dennis Weinmann, co‐founder and fund manager, TJ Marquez, chief risk officer, formerly with the Perot Family Office, and Mr. Eagye and Mr. Hart, all who bring years of experience in alternative investment research, trading, risk management, and portfolio management.
“Opportunities will be thoroughly researched and analyzed to assess manager skill, sources of alpha and potential risks,” Mr. Eagye explained. “Due diligence will include strategy assessment, risk review, onsite visits to manager offices, reference checks, and document review. Once our initial due diligence is complete, we will present a detailed report to the investment committee to review and discuss. While not every manager will be approved, we will be covering much of the industry to create a library of non‐biased manager reviews for referencing and sourcing.”
The Coquest Investment Committee also will consider how the manager fits into the firm’s overall portfolio, which is designed to meet a variety of client needs.
Coquest Advisors also will manage the CTA Challenge, a yearlong competition for commodity trading advisors, as well as organize the firm’s semiannual Golf Tournament that pairs up managers with potential asset allocators.
About Coquest Inc.: Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Coquest Inc. was founded by John Vassallo and Dennis T. Weinmann in 1990 to leverage their energy trading and brokering expertise from working on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Today the company is a full service brokerage and consulting firm based in Dallas, with offices in Chicago. It provides multi‐national corporations, institutional banks, individual traders, oil companies, utilities and energy marketers with a single comprehensive source for market liquidity, price discovery, and intelligence. Coquest Inc. is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are members of the National Futures Association (NFA). Mr. Vassallo served on the NFA board from 2002‐2012. Coquest also is a member of the National Introducing Brokers Association. (www.coquest.com).
About Coquest Advisors: A division of Coquest Inc., Coquest Advisors is dedicated to identifying the most talented investment managers for the firm’s clients using a rigorous due diligence and analysis process that combines quantitative and qualitative techniques. This robust process presents select manager talent to an in‐house investment committee that reviews the managers and strategies to find the best in class. Unanimous approval is needed for any trading manager to join the stable of top managers, which then are used to develop customized portfolios for Coquest clients. Coquest Advisors also hosts and manages the CTA Challenge, a yearlong competition for commodity trading advisors.
For more information, contact:
G. Maxwell Eagye, Managing Director: 214.580.4210,
Ryan Hart, Director of Research and Co‐Portfolio Manager: 469.844.1611,