Druce Vertes
Verified Expert in Engineering
Machine Learning Developer
Druce has a career that spans decades, and during that time he's worn many hats. Recently, he's been consulting on projects involving machine learning, alternative data, predictive analytics (Python, Sklearn, Keras, and TensorFlow). He's also worked as a quantitative analyst, IT manager, and developer with leading hedge funds and Wall Street firms and even served for three years a the CTO of a $2 billion long/short-equity hedge fund.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Scikit-learn, Jupyter, GitHub, PyCharm, Windows, Ubuntu
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on was a retirement investment allocation and spending glide path to maximize certainty-equivalent spending.
Work Experience
Machine Learning Developer and Consultant
Independent Consultant (StreetEYE, LLC)
- Developed a web news aggregator/algorithmic news feed for financial market news using machine learning (Keras, Sklearn. NLTK) for StreetEYE.com.
- Consulted on the development of machine learning and alternative data projects for a top-tier hedge fund (using Sklearn, Keras, and DataRobot).
- Wrote on financial market topics for the following publications: Alpha Architect, AAII Journal, CFA Inside Investing, ValueWalk, Seeking Alpha, Huffington Post, Benzinga, and Steadfast Capital.
- Consulted on the development of machine learning and alternative data projects using Sklearn, Keras, and DataRobot.
Chief Technology Officer
Hoplite Capital Management
- Implemented the IT infrastructure including the network, Bloomberg, disaster recovery, remote access via Citrix and VPN, mobile device management, and telecoms (Avaya).
- Brought workflows and policies up to industry best practice—emphasizing efficient workflows, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity.
- Developed real-time P&L spreadsheet, attribution, portfolio analytics, ETL workflows.
- Managed Eze Castle order management system, security, master/reference data, FIX electronic trading, compliance, Oasys posttrade matching, internal workflows, and interfaces with external service providers.
- Supported third-party software for research content management (Tamale), accounting (SS&C Advisorware), investor relations (PerTrac CMS), and Microsoft Office.
Implementation Manager
Charles River Development
- Led the implementations of Charles River IMS for major hedge funds. Conducted requirements analysis and workflow designs, implemented trading system, unit, and parallel testing, trained traders and staff, and provided support and troubleshooting.
- Successfully brought multiple leading hedge funds online using CRIMS.
- Re-engineered various workflows, including trading desk (blotter and FIX electronic trading), portfolio analytics, performance measurement/attribution, and compliance.
Independent Software Development Consultant Focused on Financial Markets, Trading, and Hedge Funds
Consulting Work
- Acted as the interim CTO for CF Global Trading.
- Managed the development of the web presence for the leading multidealer FX trading startup, FX Alliance, LLC.
- Oversaw the development of the web presence/CMS for FX research sales and trading for Goldman Sachs.
- Generated analytics and reporting for hedge fund clients on behalf of Morgan Stanley.
Analyst
Caxton Corporation
- Worked as a developer and quantitative analyst for a leading macro hedge fund.
- Implemented databases of economic timeseries and corporate fundamentals in major global markets in FAME.
- Developed portfolio analytics in FAME, Perl, and Excel.
- Identified country and sector trading ideas using proprietary analytical tools.
Developer and Analyst
Tiger Management Corporation
- Developed a trading system for equities, fixed income, derivatives trades using C++, UIM/X, and Informix DB.
- Built Tiger's first real-time P&L spreadsheet.
Quantitative Research Analyst
Salomon Brothers, Inc.
- Developed software to construct optimized equity portfolios using Salomon’s proprietary multifactor risk attribute model.
- Implemented analytics to estimate stock portfolio volatility, tracking error vs. market indexes, and correlation to fundamental factors including inflation and interest rates.
- Performed portfolio optimization using linear and quadratic programming.
- Worked with institutional clients to structure optimized portfolios.
- Worked initially as an economics analyst and created statistical models and forecasts of economic indicators (CPI, PPI, leading indicators) using FAME and spreadsheets.
- Wrote internal and external research reports; gave real-time analysis to traders and clients on economic releases.
Experience
Optimal Retirement Planning Using Certainty-equivalent Spending
https://druce.ai/swr-react/Historically, what would have been the optimal allocation and spending plan for retirement?
If you are maximally risk-averse, the Bengen 4% rule holds up: start by spending 4% of your portfolio and increase annually for inflation. If you are less risk-averse, a more flexible rule like a fixed spending amount plus a percentage of assets might make more sense.
Longer writeup: https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2021/03/22/beyond-the-4-rule-flexible-withdrawal-strategies-using-certainty-equivalent-spending
Portfolio optimization with cvxpy
https://druce.ai/2020/12/portfolio-opimizationStreetEYE Financial News Aggregator
Alpha Architect Post: Factor Investing with Machine Learning
https://alphaarchitect.com/2018/12/21/machine-learning-classification-methods-and-factor-investing/Risk Arbitrage: Investing and Poker
http://blog.streeteye.com/blog/2013/08/risk-arbitrage-investing-and-poker/Active vs. Passive Investing and the “Suckers at the Poker Table” Fallacy
https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2016/02/02/active-investing-really-the-losers-game/Alpha Architect Post: Deep Reinforcement Learning for Trading
https://alphaarchitect.com/2020/02/26/reinforcement-learning-for-trading/Quantitative Fun with Fund Names
The Mathematics of Bluffing
https://druce.ai/2015/08/the-mathematics-of-bluffing/Pizza Pizza Pizza
http://www.streeteye.com/static/Pizza/Back-end stack: Python, Flask, deployed as a Docker microservice in Amazon ECS.
Front-end stack: Bootstrap, jQuery, Leaflet.js.
Skills
Languages
Python, Python 2, Python 3, Excel VBA, R, JavaScript, SQL, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Java, C++, C, HTML5, CSS3, Perl, Snowflake
Other
Markets, Predictive Modeling, Data Modeling, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Predictive Analytics, Data Visualization, IT Project Management, Reinforcement Learning, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Data Reporting, Content Management Systems (CMS), Microsoft 365, MDM, Investments & Risk Management, Web Development, Finance, Computer Science, Logistic Regression, Neural Networks, Linear Regression, Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Clustering, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Optimization, Equity Index Quantitative Analysis, Indexing, Portfolio Analysis, Statistical Methods, Mathematical Modeling, Statistics, Image Processing, GPT, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), OpenAI GPT-3 API, Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3)
Frameworks
Django, Bootstrap
Libraries/APIs
Scikit-learn, Keras, TensorFlow, XGBoost, jQuery, NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, Plotly.js, Matplotlib, React
Tools
Seaborn, GitHub, Jupyter, Bloomberg, Adobe ColdFusion, Microsoft Excel, Amazon SageMaker, MATLAB, Mathematica, PyCharm, OpenAI Gym
Paradigms
Data Science, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Functional Programming, ETL
Storage
Relational Databases, IBM Informix, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server 2008
Platforms
Ubuntu, Windows, Citrix, BlackBerry, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Jupyter Notebook, Amazon EC2
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Columbia College - New York, NY, USA
Certifications
Snowflake Hands On Essentials - Data Warehouse
Snowflake
CFA Charter
CFA Institute
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