Gontran de Quillacq, an authority in options, trading and financial markets
Gontran de Quillacq, expert witness and legal consultant, is a recognized authority in options, trading, derivatives, structured products, portfolio management, hedge funds, mathematical finance, quantitative investment, strategy research and financial markets in general.
Options, derivatives and structured products are highly complex securities. Academia and books can lead to basic understanding and competency, but mastery and subject matter expertise can only come from deep industry experience.
His industry expertise is current and ground in 25 years of practice, not just academia. He has worked with top-tier broker-dealers/banks (‘sell-side’) and hedge funds (‘buy-side’) in both London and New York.
He is a recognized securities expert with deep and current industry know-how, as well as an exceptional background. He has the unique ability to be able to explain difficult and complex securities issues; communicate them with clarity and authority; and, present them in a convincing manner. This makes him a much sought after expert witness and a leading authority in the field.
Gontran is a member of the Securities Expert Roundtable and an IMS EliteXpert.
Gontran de Quillacq is recognized as highly credible and uniquely qualified for high-stakes complex securities litigation. He is a much sought-after speaker and a recognized financial instruments and securities litigation thought leader among both attorneys and investment/trading professionals.
Academia
- HEC, MS. Management, alumnus (“diplomé d’HEC”), 1995
- UC Berkeley, Visiting scholar, differential algebra, 1993
- CentraleSupélec, DEA (doctoral degree / ABD), 1993
- Stanford Research Institute, International fellow, atomic physics, 1992
- Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, BS./MS. Theoretical Physics, alumnus (“ancien élève”), 1992
- Ecole du Train et de la Logistique Opérationnelle, Military Academy, Lieutenant, 1991
- Lycée Faidherbe, Classes préparatoires scientifiques, 1989
Registrations / memberships
- FINRA: Series 7, Series 55, Series 63, 2006 (lapsed), non-public arbitrator, 2018
- NFA: Arbitrator, 2018
- NYCLA Part 137: Arbitrator
- FCA (ex-SFA): Trader, 1997, General Representative, 2001
- DTB, Eurex, Xetra, EuroNext, Nasdaq OMX (Saxess, StocholmBorsen, HEX), SIX (SWX), Registered Trader, 1997-2002
- Securities Expert Roundtable: Member
- IAQF, QWAFAxNEW, SQA, PRMIA, GARP, FENG, MENSA: Member.
Areas of expertise
- Options, trading, financial markets: stock options, index options, futures, securities, derivatives (swaps, exotics…), structured products, complex securities, benchmark manipulations (Libor, FX, indices, VIX), liquidity management, statistical arbitrage, dividend arbitrage, structure arbitrage, algorithmic trading, portfolio construction and risks, management fees, broker dealers, hedge funds.
- Due diligence and selection: reviews of investment strategies, selection and employment of front-office personnel: portfolio managers, traders, quants, analysts, chief investment officers (CIO), chief risk officers (CRO), broker-dealers, compensation.
- Supported practice areas: losses, post-mortems, financial frauds, commodities & securities manipulation, white-collar crime, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investigations, enforcement, whistleblowing, alternative dispute resolution, FINRA.
Background experience
After his US and European education, Mr. de Quillacq traded derivatives, from vanillas options to exotics, both proprietary and client-facing, at top-tier banks in the square mile and on Wall Street, for over two decades.
As a portfolio manager, he researched and managed investment strategies, delivered in both fund and structured note formats. He initiated the distribution of investment strategies through derivatives, an activity now called ‘portable alpha’, ‘risk premia’ or ‘smart beta’.
For the following three years, Mr. de Quillacq ran due diligence on investments strategies and selected senior investment personnel for some of the world’s most famous and most demanding hedge funds and asset managers.
In recent years, he co-founded a quantitative activity deploying the latest machine learning techniques in global long/short equities. Mr. de Quillacq has been the Chief Operating Officer and a researcher in quantitative strategies at an asset management firm deploying volatility arbitrage strategies for institutional investors.
Litigation support
Mr. de Quillacq’s own investment experience and his cross-sectional review of other professionals give him unique experience on what can be done, what should be done, what should not be done, and the grey areas in-between. Following a personal case in 2012-15, his activity as an expert witness and consultant has progresssively moved from peripheral to center stage.
Mr. de Quillacq is now a FINRA/NFA arbitrator, a member of the Securities Expert Roundtable and an IMS Elite Expert. He has consulting affiliations with Ankura, Barrington Financial Consulting Group, The Bates Group, Global Economics Group and Moskalev Consulting.
Mr. de Quillacq’s services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include written reports, deposition, arbitration, and trial testimony as needed.