For External Managers
Partner with Qlumina.Institutional distribution for exceptional systematic managers.
Institutional distribution, operational infrastructure and regulated SMA solutions for exceptional systematic managers. Qlumina partners with emerging quantitative hedge fund managers, portfolio managers and CTAs whose strategies demonstrate durable, independently verifiable alpha—while preserving the focus that created their edge: research, execution and risk-aware portfolio construction.
Who we are looking for
Systematic managers with a verifiable, investable record.
We welcome systematic managers across futures, FX, equities and CFDs, including both high-frequency and mid-frequency strategies. Capacity is not a prerequisite: our allocator network includes both specialist and larger institutional capital providers, allowing us to assess opportunities on their merits rather than against a one-size-fits-all AUM threshold.
We evaluate both established funds and high-quality teams emerging from proprietary trading firms, market makers, hedge funds, family offices and investment banks.
What Qlumina provides
A complete partnership stack for systematic managers.
From allocator access and a regulated umbrella to execution, validation and structuring—the full institutional operating model, coordinated around the manager’s strategy.
Access to a global allocator network
Qlumina has relationships with allocators seeking differentiated emerging-manager exposure, including proprietary trading firms, family offices, hedge funds of funds, multi-strategy hedge funds, first-loss capital providers and other sophisticated institutional investors. Many investors prefer separately managed account structures, while others can consider direct fund, AMC or strategic investment opportunities. We match the structure to the strategy, its capacity profile and the investor’s requirements.
A flexible regulated umbrella
As a BVI-regulated Approved Investment Manager, Qlumina can provide a regulated framework around Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), Actively Managed Certificates (AMCs) and hedge fund structures. We help select the structure that best fits the manager’s investment process, investor base, liquidity terms, capacity and distribution requirements. This lets managers retain their investment focus while accessing an institutional route to market. All activity remains subject to jurisdictional, legal and compliance review.
A practical route to launch
Where the manager, investor base and jurisdiction are ready, Qlumina can coordinate a sensible regulated operating structure on an indicative three-to-six-week timetable. Timing depends on the chosen vehicle, counterparties, KYC/AML, documentation, banking and broker onboarding, and any required approvals. The objective is not merely a legal wrapper: it is a workable institutional operating model that is fit for allocation.
Independent performance validation
We take a forensic, evidence-led approach to diligence. Depending on the manager and structure, our process may include review of audited financials, administrator letters, broker statements, investor and broker references, and timestamped trade data. For promising strategies, Qlumina may facilitate a live pilot allocation—typically 90 to 180 days—to validate live execution, operational readiness and the consistency of performance before wider distribution.
Execution, liquidity and operational expertise
Through relationships with prime brokers, prime-of-primes and liquidity providers, Qlumina can—in selected cases—help managers access execution infrastructure, liquidity management and institutional operating expertise. This is particularly valuable for capacity-constrained HFT and specialised systematic strategies, where market access, transaction-cost control and reliable operational processes are as important as the signal itself.
Strategic research collaboration
In selected cases, Qlumina’s quantitative R&D team collaborates with external managers to develop new strategy portfolios, improve diversification or help institutionalise a promising research programme. Any collaboration is designed around clear intellectual-property boundaries, confidentiality and alignment of incentives.
Fund and platform structuring
Where an SMA is not the appropriate route, Qlumina can leverage its professional network to help assess regulated fund-platform and structuring options in selected jurisdictions, including the DIFC/DFSA ecosystem in Dubai, Luxembourg and other relevant venues. Availability depends on the strategy, investor base, jurisdiction and applicable regulatory approvals.
Choose the structure that fits
The vehicle follows the strategy.
Qlumina’s role is to help determine the most appropriate route to market rather than force every manager into the same vehicle. The comparison below is intended as a commercial guide; the final structure is determined case by case with the relevant legal, regulatory and service providers. All activity remains subject to jurisdictional, legal and compliance review.
Separately Managed Account
SMA
Best suited to
Managers seeking account-level transparency, segregated investor ownership and flexibility across mandates.
Qlumina support
Regulated management framework, manager diligence, investor onboarding, trading authority and oversight, risk monitoring, reporting coordination and operational support.
Actively Managed Certificate
AMC
Best suited to
Systematic strategies suited to a certificate format where investors seek streamlined access to a defined rules-based programme.
Qlumina support
Assessment of certificate suitability, issuer and service-provider coordination, strategy governance, performance and risk reporting, and institutional distribution support.
Pooled vehicle
Hedge fund
Best suited to
Managers requiring pooled capital, a defined fund mandate or a structure for less liquid or capacity-constrained opportunities.
Qlumina support
Fund-platform assessment, service-provider introductions, operating-model design, due diligence, governance and risk oversight, and distribution support where appropriate.
Operating support from launch onward
Focus on research. We coordinate the rest.
Depending on the selected structure and the manager’s existing setup, Qlumina can provide directly or coordinate through its network:
How we assess managers
Not headline returns. Real, repeatable, investable.
We do not select solely on headline returns. Our underwriting focuses on whether results are real, repeatable and investable—assessed in context, not in isolation.
Our underwriting focuses on
Recommended selection metrics
Indicative screening signals, not pass/fail hurdles.
Sharpe 2.0+ and Sortino 3.0+ are indicative screening signals, not absolute pass/fail hurdles. “Top quartile” always means relative to a defined peer universe: comparable strategy type, frequency, asset class and measurement period.
| Measure | Indicative approach | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Live verified record | 24+ months; 36+ preferred | Separates investable performance from an untested backtest; enables review across multiple conditions. |
| Sharpe / Sortino | Net Sharpe 2.0+; Sortino 3.0+ | Useful first screen, provided calculation methodology and peer context are consistent. |
| Maximum drawdown | Preferably <10–15%, context-dependent | Shows realised loss tolerance and recovery burden; do not interpret in isolation. |
| Calmar / MAR | 1.0+; 1.5+ compelling | Relates annualised return to maximum drawdown and discourages return-only selection. |
| Positive months and worst month | Review distribution and concentration | Tests consistency and identifies strategies relying on a small number of outsized periods. |
| Return concentration | By date, instrument, regime and venue | Protects against an apparently strong record driven by one anomaly or crowded exposure. |
| Live / OOS consistency | Reconcile live, OOS and backtest results | Core test for systematic strategies; detects curve-fitting and implementation decay. |
| Capacity / implementation shortfall | Document liquidity, turnover and realistic costs | Essential for HFT/MFT and for scaling without eroding the realised edge. |
| Correlation / beta | Measure against relevant markets and current programmes | Defines the strategy’s diversification value to a multi-manager allocator. |
| Tail-risk diagnostics | Expected shortfall, skew, kurtosis and stress periods | Makes embedded crash risk and nonlinear exposures visible before allocation. |
Begin a confidential conversation
If the record is real, we should talk.
If you manage a systematic strategy with a strong, verifiable record and believe it can benefit from institutional distribution or operating support, Qlumina welcomes a confidential discussion. Availability of introductions, pilots, infrastructure support and fund/platform structuring is case-specific.
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