Our client is a Private Investment firm with a global focus – they are looking for a Senior Discretionary Trader to focus on the following.

US Equities & Indices  |  Directional Long/Short  |  Options-Based  |  Discretionary

Private investment firm  |  Remote (international)  |  Core US market hours  |  Reports to the CIO

This is a brief description of the person we are looking for – A discretionary US equity and index risk-taker with a genuine personal P&L track record, exceptional directional investment judgment, demonstrated excellence within at least one investment horizon, the adaptability to operate across tactical and medium-term opportunities, and sufficient options expertise to express those views with clearly defined downside.

Our client, a private investment firm, is looking for a senior discretionary risk-taker to run a directional long/short book in US equities and indices. This is an idea-generation, investment-judgment and risk-taking seat — not an execution, research or advisory role.

The opportunity set is broadly balanced between US indices, major ETFs and sectors, and an agreed universe of liquid US equities. Allocation between the two is driven by the quality of available opportunities rather than a fixed split.

The successful candidate will independently originate ideas, form directional long and short views, determine the appropriate holding period, select the instrument, define maximum loss at inception and actively manage positions through their full lifecycle. Options will frequently be used to express views with asymmetric, clearly defined risk — but investment judgment is the source of alpha; options are the implementation layer.

Experience & Candidate Profile

• Experience level: approximately 7–12 years of relevant markets experience. Exceptional candidates outside this range will be considered where investment judgment and track record warrant it.
• Seniority: must have held genuine, personally attributable risk authority — Sub-PM, Junior PM, senior discretionary trader with a book, or equivalent.
• Background: hedge funds, family offices, proprietary trading firms, buy-side discretionary trading. Former bank traders considered where they can evidence genuine directional idea generation and risk ownership beyond client flow or execution.
• Style: fundamentally discretionary. Not systematic, not quantitative, not a traditional bottom-up equity analyst — though single-stock positions require the ability to incorporate earnings, valuation and catalysts where they materially affect the thesis.
• Governance fit: independent judgment combined with the ability to operate effectively within a CIO-led framework.

Core Market Experience Required

• US indices, major ETFs and sector instruments
• Liquid large-cap US equities
• Directional long and short risk-taking
• Options used as directional and risk-management instruments

Identical depth across every area is not required. What matters is demonstrated ability to generate ideas, take accountable risk, manage positions and produce attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Investment Judgment

The candidate must show a rigorous process for identifying and synthesising the information that matters to each decision — macro and market developments, positioning and flows, sentiment, catalysts and events, sector rotation, technicals and price action, earnings and company-specific developments, valuation, and cross-asset signals. Specialism in every discipline is not expected; the requirement is knowing which factors matter for a given opportunity and translating that into profitable decisions.

Investment Horizons

Tactical (intraday to c. one week). Delegated authority to initiate, manage and close positions independently within predefined risk, premium, position-size and instrument limits. Requires fast reaction to changing conditions, dynamic risk management, scaling, profit-taking and rapid exit when the thesis is invalidated.

Strategic (c. one to six months). Originate the thesis, recommend structure and size, define expected return, downside, catalysts and invalidation criteria, then actively own the position. Material initial risk decisions above predefined thresholds require CIO approval; ongoing management sits with the trader.

We do not expect equal specialisation across both. Proven excellence in one horizon plus credible adaptability across the other is preferred to superficial experience in both.

Options Competence

Strong practical competence is required: long puts and calls, put and call spreads, strike and expiry selection, the Greeks, implied versus realised volatility, skew, event volatility, liquidity and spreads, and when outrights versus spreads offer superior risk/reward. This is not a volatility-arbitrage, exotics or derivatives-structuring role — complex derivatives expertise is neither required nor a selection criterion.

Track Record — Essential

A genuine personal risk-taking track record is a hard requirement. Subject to prior-employer confidentiality, the process will examine: capital and risk personally managed; attributable P&L; consistency; typical and maximum drawdowns; position sizes and risk limits; hit rate; holding periods; sources of return and degree of beta exposure; examples of successful and unsuccessful theses; how losses were managed and profits harvested; instances where the view was changed as evidence evolved; and decision-making during periods of market stress.

Where precise historical P&L cannot be disclosed, credible personal attribution can be established through book responsibility, risk limits, detailed trade examples and evidence of decision ownership. Please prepare candidates to speak to this in specifics.

Our clients expectations include.

• Investment performance — risk-adjusted P&L, consistency, frequency and quality of profitable ideas, capital and premium efficiency, returns across varied market environments
• Risk management — drawdown control, position sizing, adherence to risk parameters, discipline around thesis invalidation, capital preservation when opportunities are unattractive
• Process and judgment — originality of ideas, quality of position management, profit-taking discipline, separating noise from genuine thesis deterioration, willingness to change view, learning from losses

Location & Working Arrangement

International work-from-home. Candidates may be based anywhere provided they can consistently cover core US market hours and satisfy applicable employment, compliance and regulatory requirements. Regular in-person meetings in London. The remote structure is deliberate — the priority is exceptional investment talent, not relocation to a particular financial centre.

If you are interested in this role please email ian@asearch.co.za or phone 083 6599659 for a confidential discussion