DAA Manager Insights: Anonymous

Matej Tomazin
ICONOMI
Published in
4 min readNov 24, 2017

When we were deciding what kinds of DAA managers we wanted to see on our platform, we agreed that we wanted a diverse selection. When we received an application to run a DAA anonymously, the proposal really stood out. No one had considered this idea. This interview will give you a reason to rethink how you evaluate a DAA — whether or not you know who is managing it.

You decided to stay anonymous. What was the logic behind this decision? How do you view the process of building a trusting relationship with users?

It‘s true: if you want to attract investors for the short term, name and recognition are very important. However, I believe that if you are in this game for the long term, the only important thing is that you take good care of investors’ funds and manage them successfully.

I personally do not need the spotlight to shine on me; for me, the most important thing is to do what I love and what I’m good at. In the first few days after getting my degree, I decided that I won’t work for money — the money will work for me. So far this has been true for over 20 years.

I‘m sure that each and every one of you knows that a recognizable name isn‘t a guarantee of great returns. What is needed for a great return is simply a good instinct for selecting assets.

A good fund manager therefore does not need advertising because his work promotes itself. A good example is blockchain technology, which works anonymously and because of its transparency is growing enviously fast.

I’ll do my best to successfully manage funds and make sure that all investors who trust me with their money will at the end be satisfied with their investment decision and become part of ICONOMI’s success story.

Can you share with us your understanding of passive and active management styles and their impact on overall investment performance? Any special reason why you chose a passive strategy for your DAA? And why only five assets and not broader diversification?

I learned quickly that an active investment style can be dangerous. The reason for this is the fact that it’s difficult to have the latest information about the market. In the crypto space, there is a lot of manipulation, which can force you to buy overpriced assets and sell them at a low price. If we take into account transaction costs, we quickly realize that in this way, your returns can end up being questionable.

My goal is to achieve healthy long-term growth by investing in prospective projects and industry leaders that are creating new markets. It’s important that the projects are global and that their ideas improve people’s lives as well as optimize the costs of the user.

Since the DAA doesn’t represent an index and is meant to search for the latest investment gems, I decided on five assets. This makes analyzing and comparing investments much easier.

In one discussion we had, you mentioned that bitcoin is trading higher because of big institutions. Any special thoughts on recent bitcoin developments? CME Group recently announced plans to launch bitcoin futures in the coming weeks. What effect will this have on Bitcoin and on the crypto market as a whole?

Bitcoin is a synonym for blockchain and crypto. The average investor’s understanding of individual projects as well as of blockchain as a whole is still very limited due to the complexity of the technology. Therefore, most investors stick to bitcoin, which has become the most powerful blockchain brand name.

The main benefit of bitcoin used to be cheap peer-to-peer money transfers executed without third parties. With bitcoin’s growth, this has changed a lot. I hope the Bitcoin community finds a way to lower transaction costs, because if this does not happen, it could lose its popularity as well as its usability. Putting all that aside, the main power of Bitcoin is still it’s decentralization and limited supply.

Currently, the main support for bitcoin comes from its growth and recognition from the side of regulators, countries, and financial institutions. It is being adopted by the biggest financial institutions, which are being forced to integrate digital assets into their business because of investors moving funds into the crypto space.

Bitcoin’s growth is definitely a result of institutional money and big financial players coming into the market. You can also imagine what will happen in January, when financial institutions will be preparing yearly reports of different funds and will realize that crypto and bitcoin are the absolute winners. I believe that the beginning of 2018 will be very interesting and fun.

Follow our official channels for more updates and news:

Facebook / Twitter / Reddit / Medium

or log into our platform to explore more DAA strategies.

--

--

Matej Tomazin
ICONOMI

Creating a remarkable experience @iconominet, CFO