Roy Gary Niederhoffer (born 1966) is an American hedge fund manager.George Loomis, "NYCO: renaissance for a victim of the financial crisis", The Financial Times, January 29, 2016 He graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude in 1987, with a BA in computational neuroscience.
Bio In 1993 he founded R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, Inc., (RGNCM), a hedge fund known as a managed futures fund or commodity futures trading company, and he serves as its president."Weddings,", The New York Times, October 25, 1993Eric Uhlfelder, "Model Behavior; Talking With Roy G. Niederhoffer, Founder, R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management," Barrons, May 25, 2009 The hedge fund invests in public equity, fixed income, currency, and commodity markets across the globe, as well as in derivatives including spot currencies, futures contracts, forward contracts, swaps, and options."R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, Inc.: Private Company Information", Business Week, October 24, 2016 From its inception in 1993 through May 2009, it had annualized returns of approximately 12%, over twice the average of the market (+60% in 2000, and +51% in 2008—when the S&P 500 was down 37%). From 1999 through March 2009, the firm's annualized gain exceeded 17%. In May 2009 Barrons reported that the fund ranked ninth in its survey of the top 100 hedge funds.Jack Willoughby, "The Hedge Fund 100: Acing a Stress Test; Highlighting the funds that continued to shine through tough times," Barron's, May 11, 2009 His firm was noted for strong performance during the 2008 financial crisis. As of April 2016, the fund had earned an annualized 18.73% since it was started.Julia La Roche, "Hedge fund returns for the first quarter", Business Insider, April 1, 2016 As of June 2016, the firm's assets under management were $900 million.Laurence Fletcher, "Hedge Funds Split Over Prospect of 'Brexit,'", The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2016Julia LaRoche, "Roy Niederhoffer is best performing hedge fund in 2016," Business Insider, February 12, 2016 As of June 2017, the annualized fund returns dropped to 3.58%.Hedge Weekly No 22, Investment Funds Performance Review, HSBC, 2017.
Niederhoffer uses an investment strategy known as short-term trading. He developed his strategy after tracking and analyzing short-term trading patterns. He wrote the original source code to test and run his complicated, high-frequency, automatic-trading strategy in over 50 financial and commodity markets in developed countries.Rob Copeland and Laurence Fletcher, "Computer-Driven, Automatic Trading Strategies Score Big; So-Called Quant Traders Take Advantage of Volatility," The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2015 His company uses quantitative analysis to decide upon its investments, obtaining external research to complement its own in-house research. He is of the view that movements in stock, currency, and commodity prices lead to patterns of short-term investor responses that can be anticipated.
Niederhoffer is a former chairman of the board of the New York City Opera (NYCO), which presents opera at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center and other venues around New York City, and was chairman of NYCO Renaissance, a group that revived the NYCO after a two-year shutdown, in January 2016.Stephanie Gleason, "Judge OKs City Opera's Revival Plan; Will re-launch performances under the control of an organization headed by hedge-fund manager Roy Niederhoffer," The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2016Michael Cooper (December 5, 2014). "Bid for New York City Opera's Assets Wins Board's Support", The New York Times.Jennifer Smith, "Rival Visions to Reboot New York City Opera Detailed,", The Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2015 He created the Niederhoffer Foundation, which is active in music education, Jewish causes, and delivering aid to the needy.Alec Baldwin Honors Alan Gilbert at Tonight's NYYS Benefit Gala, Broadway World, October 13, 2015 Niederhoffer serves as chairman of the board of directors of The Harmony Program, which provides daily music lessons and free musical instruments to over 200 New York City Public School and Long Island students in under-served areas, and the Concert Artists Guild."About Us," Harmony Program"The Musical Beat of Harmony Program With the New York Philharmonic Transforms Children's Lives,", The Huffington Post, April 13, 2015 He has also served on the board of the Kaufman Center (consisting of the Special Music School, Lucy Moses School, and Merkin Concert Hall)."About Us", Concert Artists He delivered relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, saying "We can't rely on the government for all of this."Eduordo Porter, "Charity's Role in America, and Its Limits," The New York Times, November 13, 2012Catherine Rampell, "Volunteers Flock to Disaster Areas, Overwhelming City Relief Centers", The New York Times, November 4, 2012 In October 2015, Niederhoffer was presented with the Johanna and Leslie Garfield Award for Arts Philanthropy at the New York Youth Symphony's 53rd Annual Benefit Gala. Niederhoffer is also a violinist with and founding member of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.Danielle Beurteaux, "A passion for music; Manager--and violinist--Roy Niederhoffer backs the Harmony Program," Institutional Investor, December 9, 2010 He was also the Executive Producer of The Flying Karamazov Brothers, which played Off-Broadway in 2010 and in London's West End in 2011.
Early life and family Niederhoffer was born and raised in Great Neck, New York.Kathrine M. Peterson, "Two Freshman Entrepreneurs Put Computer Careers on Hold," The Harvard Crimson, October 29, 1983 His paternal great-grandparents had moved from Austria to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the late 1800s. His paternal grandfather Martin (Martie), an accountant and court interpreter, married Birdie (née Kuminsky) in 1916.John Cassidy, "The Blow-Up Artist," The New Yorker, October 15, 2007Jack Raymond Greene (2006), Encyclopedia of Police Science, Routledge, pp. 846-52.Larry Karp (2009). The King of Ragtime, p. 497. His maternal grandparents were Sam and Gertrude Eisenberg.Victor Niederhoffer (1997). The Education of a Speculator, John Wiley & Sons
His father, Dr. Arthur "Artie" Niederhoffer (1917–1981), graduated from Brooklyn College in 1937, and then from Brooklyn Law School, and finally with a Ph.D. from New York University (1963). His father served in the New York City Police Department for 21 years (retiring as a lieutenant), and then taught as a professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice for 14 years.Roy Niederhoffer, "In Memory of Elaine Niederhoffer; Eulogy for My Mom", Daily Speculations, April 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2010. His father also taught at Hofstra University, Brooklyn College, New York University, Queens College, and the New York City Police Academy, authored several books on the police and criminology including Behind the Shield, The Ambivalent Force, The Gang, and The Police Family: From Station House to Ranch House (co-authored with his wife), and was awarded the President's Medal of John Jay College for his achievements in criminal justice."Dr. Arthur Niederhoffer, A Professor at John Jay," The New York Times, January 16, 1981William G. Bailey (1995). The Encyclopedia of Police Science, Taylor & Francis. His mother, Elaine (née Eisenberg) Niederhoffer (1925–2006), was an English teacher, author, and editor who had descended from a long line of rabbis."Elaine Eisenberg Niederhoffer Obituary," The New York Times, April 25, 2006
He had a brother, Victor Niederhoffer (1943–2026), a hedge fund manager and former five-time United States squash singles champion. He also has a sister, Dr. Diane Niederhoffer Klein, a clinical psychologist."John Jay Supporters are Champions of Justice," John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni News, March 2014 Niederhoffer grew up without a television in his home.Niels Kaastrup-Larsen, "Q&A: Roy Niederhoffer; Veteran hedge fund manager and Top Traders Unplugged host Niels Kaastrup-Larsen talks to the founder of RG Niederhoffer Capital Management," CTA Intelligence, December 16, 2014 He is the uncle of director and author Galt Niederhoffer. He is married to Jenny Niederhoffer, and the family lives on the Upper West Side in Manhattan."Hedge funder willing to take Bitcoin for $16M UWS townhousem", The Real Deal, October 19, 2018."Marvin Lebowitz Obituary - Manalapan, NJ," Home News Tribune, November 23, 2014Richard Jay Alexander, "Parlor Night Debuts in Manhattan with Michael McElroy, The Broadway Inspirational Voices and Plenty of Broadway Royalty!", Broadway World, June 23, 2015
Education and early entrepreneurship Niederhoffer attended Great Neck South High School, where he was co-editor of the school paper, The Southerner.Andy Newman, "Long Island High School Alumni Recall Connection to the Confederate Flag,", The New York Times, June 26, 2015 He graduated in 1983."Great Neck Public Schools Showcase of Achievement,", Great Neck Record, April 24, 2015
Microvations
At age 13, when he was a high school sophomore, Niederhoffer (as president) and classmate Evan Grossman founded a company called Software Innovations, which sold computer games such as Alien Invasion that operated on the Radio Shack TRS-80 microcomputer. They created a mailing list of over 3,000 computer owners, sold shares in the company to their teachers and friends, borrowed money from their families, and printed a six-page mail order catalog listing their programs for sale, along with programs created by friends and other companies. SoftSide Magazine named the 13-year-old Niederhoffer their Programmer of the Month in November 1979.
In March 1982, Money Magazine wrote about them. The owner of a large record company then contacted them, and suggested that the then-high-school-juniors form a joint venture with his company. They struck a deal in which they agreed to supply the record company with computer games, in return for an initial fee and a per-game commission. They hired lawyers, and that year while Niederhoffer was 16 they changed the company's name to Microvations, Inc. It soon thereafter employed over 30 people, mostly his classmates and friends whom they subcontracted to program games and keep books, and produced over 450 individual titles by 1983, which were sold at stores such as Sears, K-Mart, and Woolworth's. Because they were too young to drive a car, they hired a driver to pick up finished programs and run errands. They dissolved the company when Niederhoffer and Grossman left to attend college at Harvard, though Niederhoffer's interest in computers continued.
College Niederhoffer then attended Harvard College, where as a freshman he was interested in biology, psychology, and social relations. He graduated magna cum laude in 1987, with a BA in computational neuroscience, the study of how the brain processes information and makes decisions.
Career
R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management Following university, Niederhoffer worked for his brother Victor Niederhoffer and his hedge fund from 1987 to 1992, trading fixed income securities. Hedge fund manager Monroe Trout and commodities trader Toby Crabel worked at the hedge fund at the same time.
He then opened R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, Inc. (RGNCM), a hedge fund known as a managed futures fund or commodity futures trading company. He began trading in July 1993, investing as a contrarian in major financial and commodity markets. The fund is a registered Commodity Trading Advisor, Commodity Pool Operator, and a member of the National Futures Association. It is based in New York City, and he serves as its president.