Octagon Capital Managment

Octagon Capital is one of the largest quantitative boutique investment firm and one of the oldest indigenous hedge funds in Singapore. Founded in Apr 2004, it is majority owned by the partners of the firm – Nelson Chia and Lam Poh Min, both of whom previously worked for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

Octagon currently manages two Cayman domiciled funds namely the Octagon Pan Asia Fund and the Octagon Tactical Short Fund. The Octagon Pan Asia Fund was awarded the "Best Local Hedge Fund (Singapore)" at Asian Masters of Hedge Fund Awards 2007.

Octagon’s global clientele comprises largely institutions such as government agency, endowment, family offices, fund of funds and financial institutions. The company adopts a quantitative and systematic approach to investing, believing that investment discipline is the key to consistently superior risk-adjusted returns. Its investment philosophy centers on the following 4 principles:

Poh Min has 17 years of portfolio management experience. Prior to founding Octagon in April 04, he spent 9 years in New York and Singapore with GIC - one of Asia's largest institutional investors with assets under management exceeding US$100 billion. He was a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Quantitative Investment Unit (QIU) and was instrumental in pioneering and developing Quant Equities, Quant Fixed Income, as well as Convertibles Investing in GIC. As the quantitative arm of the firm, QIU has a multi-billion dollar portfolio mandate while acting as the quantitative advisory to the Asset Departments. Poh Min has extensive modeling experience, having implemented systems ranging from Equities Momentum Model, Equity-Based Credit Trading Model to Interest Rate Valuation Model. He was also responsible for conceiving and developing the GIC Fixed Income and Convertible Risk Management Systems. This was complemented by one of the most extensive portfolio experiences in the firm. He was responsible for managing portfolios ranging from Enhanced Equities, Global Convertibles, Multi-Strategy Absolute Return, Long/Short Credit to Global Fixed Income. He graduated as the top student in Computer Science, with a BSc (1^st Class Honors) from the National University of Singapore. His major was in computer algorithms.

Nelson has 17 years of trading experience. Prior to founding Octagon in April 04, he spent 9 years in New York, London and Singapore with GIC. He was one of the firm's most experienced Equity Trader and has traded in all of the major global equity markets, including Pan-Asia, Australia, US, Canada as well as Europe. His product experience is also equally diverse, spanning both equities and equity derivatives. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics & Finance) from the Curtin University of Technology in Australia.

Jee Ngee has 22 years of portfolio management experience. Prior to joining Octagon in Jul 08, he spent 15 years in New York, London and Singapore with the GIC and subsequently 3 years at OCBC Bank, one of Asia's leading financial services groups. At GIC, Jee Ngee was the Head of QIU and was instrumental in pioneering and developing Quantitative Investing within the firm from its beginnings in the mid 1990s till his departure in 2004. Jee Ngee has extensive modeling experience, having developed trading models, risk management systems as well an investment framework for Multi-Strategy Absolute Return investing. This was complemented by one of the most extensive portfolio experiences in the firm. Specializing in macro strategies, he was responsible for managing portfolios ranging from Multi Strategy Absolute Return, Global Fixed Income to Enhanced Equities. He was also a Founding Member of the Alternative Investment Unit at GIC, actively involved in developing the process and platform for GIC’s investment into global hedge funds. At OCBC, Jee Ngee was the Head of Proprietary Investment Unit (PIU), a new unit he set up to help the bank invest its capital through macro strategies within a disciplined quantitative framework. He graduated with an MBA from NYU and with a BSc (Honors) in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore

David has 5 years of portfolio management / research experience and 11 years of systems development experience. He has extensive knowledge and experience in computer algorithms design/analysis as well as implementation of software systems/solutions. Prior to joining Octagon in March 07, he was Chief Technology Officer at Converscient Pte Ltd, a software development company that he co-founded since 2002 where he spearheaded the development of IT infrastructure projects for corporations. He also spent four years in academia as a Teaching Assistant/Researcher in the School of Computing in the National University of Singapore (NUS) as well as two years as a Senior Software Engineer at ReasonEdge Technologies Pte Ltd, a spin off company of NUS Technology Holdings. He graduated with a MSc (Financial Engineering), a MSc (by research in computer algorithms) and a BSc (2^nd Upper Honors) in Computer Science from NUS.

SOH PEI SONG, CFA - PARTNER & TRADER

Pei Song has 5 years of trading experience. Prior to joining Octagon in April 07, he spent 2 ½ years with Deloitte & Touche. He was an Audit Senior in the Global Financial Services Industry department where he performed audit for securities and insurance firms. He graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honors).

Yin Ling has 14 years of investment operations experience. Prior to joining Octagon in August 04, she spent 5 years with GIC. She was an Investment Assistant in QIU, providing middle office and research support to the portfolio managers dealing in both global equity and fixed income instruments. Prior to GIC, she was a Settlement Assistant with Kookmin Bank Singapore (Merchant Bank) Ltd for 2 years, providing back office support to the traders of the bank. She graduated with a Bachelor of Business and Electronic Commerce from Monash University, Australia.

Eva has 13 years of experience in the fund management industry. Prior to joining Octagon in April 10, she was with Schroder Investment Management for 3 years with her last role as a Business Development Manager within the Institutional Business team supporting a wide spectrum of institutional clients within the Southeast Asia region. Before joining Schroder, she spent 6 years in New York and Singapore with GIC. She was an Investment Manager in the External Fund Management Department, co-managing a Fund-of-Funds portfolio. She also spent 2 years at Goldman Sachs wealth management division in the client servicing role supporting the private client business within the Southeast Asia region. She graduated with a Bachelor of Business (1^st Class Honors) from the Nanyang Technological University. Her major was in Financial Analysis

Jolene has 9 ½ years of audit experience. Prior to joining Octagon in February 10, she worked in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s financial sector regulator, as a bank supervisor for 5 years. She was responsible for licensing and supervising a portfolio of financial institutions through on-site inspections and continuous off-site surveillance so as to asses the robustness of the internal controls, financial position and soundness of these financial institutions. Before she joined the MAS, Jolene was a Senior Auditor with Deloitte and Touche for 2 ½ years where she managed and audited a diverse portfolio of public listed and multi national corporations. She graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Accountancy (2^nd Class Honors) and is a provisional certified public accountant.

Michelle has 12 years of back office experience in the securities broking industry. Prior to joining Octagon in April 10, she was a Bank Officer at OCBC Bank in the Group Audit department. Before she joined OCBC Bank, she worked in McGraw-Hill Inc. Co. as an Accounts Administrator. Before that, she spent 10 years in AmFraser Securities Pte Ltd as a Senior Accounts Assistant in the settlement and back office role. She graduated from PSB Academy Singapore.