our philosophy
QUANTITATIVE, RESEARCH-ORIENTED INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Markets have fundamentally changed over the years. Research indicates that fundamental, discretionary investing accounts for less than 10% of all trading volume. Over 90%, then, is the result of systematic, algorithmic and passive trading. It is little wonder that only 17% of equity managers have beat their benchmark over the past 10 years. We believe the solution lies in utilizing quantitative techniques, enhanced with artificial intelligence and machine learning, to participate in rising markets and avoid falling markets.
Larry Pohlman, PhD
Chief Investment Officer
Columbia University: PhD-Finance, MPhil-Finance, MBA-Finance, MS-Operations Research; BS-Nuclear Engineering. Former Chief Investment Officer for BNP Paribas Quantitative Strategies, Director of Research for BMO Asset Management; Head of Research for Wellington Management’s Quantitative Investment Group.
Debashis Guha, PhD
Head of Research
Columbia University: PhD-Operations Research; Texas Christian University: MA-Physics; Indian Inst. of Technology: BS-Electrical Engineering. SP Jain: Professor of Artificial Intelligence Masters Program; former Director of Research for Foundation for International Business and Economic Research; Director Special Projects for ECRI.
Michael Wasson, CFA
Chief Investment Strategist
UCLA Anderson School of Management: MBA-Finance; Stephen F. Austin State University: BA for Select Students-Mathematics and Economics; former Investment Strategist for Pebblewriter Research; Head of Institutional Marketing for Fiduciary Trust; SVP, Regional Director for ABN AMRO, Risk Arbitrage Portfolio Manager for Oppenheimer & Co.
our namesake
The Greek Titan Prometheus, best known for stealing fire from Zeus and returning it to humanity in the form of technology and knowledge, has historically represented the quest for scientific knowledge and innovation by creative people who don’t shy away from challenging conventional wisdom.
Conventional wisdom in asset management unfortunately often results in mediocre returns and excessive risk. We at Prometheus Capital Advisors are dedicated to the continuing quest for knowledge, creativity and innovation.
Lawrence Pohlman, PhD
Chief Investment Officer
Larry has enjoyed a distinguished career of over 30 years in investment management. He previously served as the Director of Research at BMO Global Asset Management, where he and his team managed $6 billion in systematic, multi-asset class investments. He also served as the Chief Investment Officer at BNP Paribas Quantitative Strategies and was Head of Research at Wellington Management for its $26 billion Quantitative Investment Group. Previously, Larry was the Director of Research at PanAgora Asset Management where he cochaired PanAgora’s Investment Committee and oversaw all research, development and enhancements to PanAgora’s quantitative models covering $12 billion. He began his career at Goldman Sachs where he worked in Mortgage Securities Research until joining BlackRock’s Portfolio Engineering Group. Larry holds a Ph.D. in Finance, M.Phil in Finance, MBA in Finance and Management Science, MS in Operations Research, and BS in Nuclear Engineering, all from Columbia University. He has taught Investments, Corporate Finance, Fixed Income Management and Advanced Derivatives at Columbia Business School, Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Pohlman speaks regularly at professional conferences and is widely published in prominent journals. He is member of the American Finance Association, Boston Security Analysts Society, Econometric Society, the Chicago Quantitative Alliance and MENSA.
Debashis Guha, PhD
Head of Research
Debashis has distinguished himself as a leader in both academia and industry over the past 35 years. He is a professor at the S P Jain School of Global Management where he directs a masters degree program in Artificial Intelligence and leads the Technology Research Centre. He has previously taught at Columbia University, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Texas Christian University. 12 Debashi also is Managing Partner at BSQ Research LLP in Bangalore, India, which provides consultancy and research to the hedge fund industry in the US and Asia. He previously served as Head of Risk and Quantitative Research for a California hedge fund, Director of Research for the Foundation for International Business and Economic Research (IBER) and Director of Special Projects for the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI.) Previously, Debashis served as an economist for the Center for International Business Cycle Research at Columbia University where he pioneered the use of leading economic indicators to forecast cycles in growth and inflation for clients such as the Government of Spain, Bank Indonesia, Banco de Mexico, DuPont and Caterpillar. Widely published, Debashis holds a Ph.D in Operations Research from Columbia University, a MA in Physics from Texas Christian University and a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Michael Wasson, CFA
Chief Investment Strategist
Michael has more than 30 years of investment management experience. Since 2011, he has provided research and analysis of equity, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity and crypto markets to investors including hedge funds, mutual funds, registered investment advisors and family offices. He also publishes the investment research website: pebblewriter.com. Michael began his investment career in the Merrill Lynch management program, managing operations and compliance for a large regional office before transitioning into institutional investment management where he was responsible for relationships with large corporate, government, and non-profit investors and their consultants on behalf of Bank of America, Invesco, and ABN AMRO. He previously developed and managed an options-based risk arbitrage strategy at Oppenheimer & Co. Michael took a break from investment management following 9/11, spending 10 years as a writer/producer at Warner Bros. where he developed film and television projects, representing them at Cannes, the American Film Market and the Sundance Film Festival. He was also active in Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investment group in the United States. He holds an MBA in Finance from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts for Select Students with majors in Economics and Math from Stephen F. Austin State University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco and QWAFAFEW Boston.