ASD Helped Me Build a $150mm Fund - Because Markets Reward Atypical Thinking

I have always been socially awkward growing up - distant, removed, aloof. I was told I was "weird." Truth was, I just saw things others didn’t and that upset my peers.

I did well in school and went on to work at JPMAM as an analyst on the LDI team covering pensions. After that, I transition to equities at Capital Group as an, then junior pm, and full pm managing ~$500mm in growth equity mandates. I left CG a few years ago and have been managing my own money and 2 years ago launched my own event-driven fund focused on merger arb, earnings, and index rebalancing.

We’ve built a lean but institutional-grade ops and research team - a former analyst from Elliott plus a quant researcher from Jane Street who had discretion over ~$200mm for a VIX strategy. Our fund has delivered 75% net of fees since inception - we take very concentrated positions using both quantitative and a fundamental approach, but also leveraging AI-driven insights.

Here's why I think ASD has helped me become a better investor.

1. Laser focus - if I'm interested in an idea, I won't stop exploring it until I can invalidate it.
2. Attention to detail - I have a compulsive need to decode every detail of a narrative. This has been especially helpful in downside / risk analysis.
3. Weird communication pattern - my communication pattern strangely enough resembles a ChatGPT. I have barely any affect and will just analyze a scenario from a->b->c.
4. Repetitive behaviors - folks on the spectrum tend to repeat words or phrases. I've trained myself to leverage this "gift" to repeat my investment process to a tee for every idea - no exceptions. This discipline has served our investors well.
5. Hyper sensory perception - extreme sensory filtering has honed my attention allocation and threat detection - useful during high-volatility scenarios where noise overwhelms most managers (we did well during liberation day).

If you manage capital and suspect your atypical wiring gives you an edge - reply or DM. Curious how others are weaponizing difference.