Noam Gottesman: Founder of a Successful Trading Business

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MASTER TRADERS – PART 16

“Traditional risk management simply fails to account for the fact that the most dangerous risks are those which occur infrequently and don’t show up in track-records.” - Jack Schwager

Name: Noam Gottesman
Year of birth: May 1961
Nationality: American, British
Occupation: hedge fund manager, businessman

HE APPROACHES TRADING AS A BUSINESS
Noam is of Jewish ethnicity. He also has dual citizenship (the US and UK); and based in New York.  He got his B.A. from Columbia University.

He first worked at Goldman Sachs, in a London branch, and rose up the executive ladder, becoming a manager of one of their private client funds. After leaving Goldman Sachs in 1995, he co-founded GLG Partners.

As of year 2014, Noam was worth $2 billion, which made Forbes list him among 400 richest people in that year. This means that his trading activities were hugely profitable.

In 2007, GLG Partners grew up to the point of managing $24.6 billion; and becoming a publicly traded company on New York Stock Exchange.

Noam has other business and activities of interest like, TOMS Capital (investment Company), Eleven Madison Park (restaurants), the Tate Gallery Foundation (trusteeship), etc. He was blessed with 4 children.

What You Need to Know:
1.   Contrary to what certain people believe, trading is no gambling. Well, it’s gambling for those who see it as such. For those who see it as a serious business, like Noam, it’s just what it is: a business. Treat your trading career as a business and you’d have higher chances of being successful.

2.   You track record is important. It shows how you controlled risk in the past and profited from uncertainties. Noam has his track records, making him an undisputed super trader.

3.   Your trading system(s) must be able to survive all market conditions, and you must be able to follow your rules flawlessly. By this, I mean winning rules. Adhering to losing rules would only make you lose your money.

4.   Yes, when you become successful in trading, you can also try other businesses, just like Noam. Breakthrough in a very tough but highly rewarding business like trading might encourage you to venture into other fields. Peter Thiel is another good example.

5.   As you become richer, then enjoy your money. Forbes revealed that Noam got married in May 2015 (second marriage) to the sales director of fashion label Reed Krakoff in Italy, an elaborate event attended by such celebrities as Beyonce and Jay Z.

This article is ended by the quote below:

“A mistake occurs when you don’t follow your written trading rules, and if you don’t have written rules then everything you do is a mistake. An efficiency level of 80% (two mistakes in ten trades) can ruin your trading system and your profits.” – Dr. Van Tharp