Vineer Bhansali, Ph.D., Founder and CIO
Vineer Bhansali is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of LongTail Alpha. His 30-year investment career started at Citibank, where he founded and managed the Exotic and Hybrid Options Trading Desk. He later joined Salomon Brothers in its Fixed Income Arbitrage Group, followed by the CSFB Proprietary Trading Group. Dr. Bhansali was at PIMCO for 16 years, serving the last eight years as MD and Head of the Quantitative Portfolios Team, which he founded in 2008. Dr. Bhansali also managed all of PIMCO’s analytics from 2000 to 2010. Among other responsibilities, he was the lead PM for the PIMCO TRENDS Managed Futures Strategy Fund, the PIMCO Tail Risk Hedging Funds, PIMCO RealRetirement and RealPath Funds, and PIMCO’s indexed ETFS. He was also co-PM of the PIMCO Global Multi-Asset Fund, PIMCO Global Relative Value Fund and PIMCO Distressed Senior Credit Opportunities Fund. He has written five books on finance: “Pricing and Managing Exotic and Hybrid Options”; “Fixed Income Finance: A Quantitative Approach”; “Bond Portfolio Investing and Risk Management”, “Tail Risk Hedging”, and his most recent: “The Incredible Upside-Down Fixed-Income Market: Negative Interest Rates and Their Implications” and authored over 30 refereed papers on topics as varied as option pricing, fixed income, tail hedging, asset allocation and economics in leading Journals that include the Journal of Finance, Financial Analysts’ Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, and Journal of Risk. He has received numerous awards, including the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award and TIME magazine’s college achievement award. Under his leadership, PIMCO received the Risk Manager of the Year Award in the asset-management category in 2002 from Risk Magazine. In its announcement of the award, PIMCO cited “a proprietary system developed in-house by PIMCO’s Vineer Bhansali, Ph.D. and his team.” Dr. Bhansali received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Harvard University in 1992 and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Physics from Caltech in 1987. Vineer is an ultra-marathon runner and has finished the Western States Endurance Run numerous times, including earning the silver buckle in 2014, and also the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, Angeles Crest 100 and Leadville 100. He has over 4000 hours of flight time in all types of aircraft, including jets and helicopters, and holds the Airline Transport Pilot Rating. He has served on the Investment Committee of the American Physical Society, and currently serves on the Investment Committee of the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and on the Boards of the Q Group and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
Jeremie Holdom, Economic Research Strategist
Jeremie Holdom is a Research Strategist working on investment ideas and quantitative trading strategies. Jeremie has worked on the Firm’s systematic trading system, co-developed the Firm’s option back testing and analytics package, and systematized the Firm’s risk system. Prior to joining LongTail Alpha full-time, Jeremie was LongTail Alpha’s first intern. Previously, Jeremie interned at OMERS Capital Markets as well as at Blackheath, a boutique hedge fund in Toronto. Jeremie obtained a Master in Finance degree from Princeton University in 2017, where his master’s thesis focused on econometric modelling and studying carry across various asset classes. During his time as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, Jeremie was a competitive swimmer and became a national champion in the 400m I.M. at the 2012 Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) Championships.
Mohan Phansalkar, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
Mohan Phansalkar is the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of LongTail Alpha. Previously he served in a similar capacity at Armored Wolf, LLC, a commodity hedge fund that he co-founded in 2008. Prior to that he was the Chief Legal Officer of PIMCO for close to eight years, where he built out PIMCO’s legal and compliance departments. Mr. Phansalkar has also previously been associated with The TCW Group, as Associate General Counsel and began his career in private practice at Sullivan & Cromwell. Mr. Phansalkar received his Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia Law School and his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Phansalkar serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Capo Valley.
Linda Chang, Trade Execution Leader and Director of Business Infrastructure
Linda Chang is a member of the investment team, focused on research and trade execution. She also serves as the Director of Infrastructure focused on the firm’s technology infrastructure. She previously worked at PIMCO as part of the Middle Office and Cash Desk, and State Street where she focused on trade management and operational process improvements. Linda obtained a Master of Business Administration from The University of Southern California in 2014. She enjoys working out and running in her free time.
Colin Suvak, CFA, Senior Portfolio Management Associate
Colin Suvak is a Senior Portfolio Management Associate focused on quantitative research, implementation, execution, and client service. Prior to joining LongTail Alpha, Colin was a Senior Analyst on the Portfolio Management Team at Investure, LLC, where he contributed to all aspects of the firm’s asset allocation functions and was responsible for strategic and tactical idea generation and manager selection for systematic and diversifying strategies. Previously, he interned at Verdad Advisers, the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, and Eunoia Financial LLC. Colin earned a Master of Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute. Along with his wife, Colin is an avid sailor and has competed in multiple team racing national championships in the U.S. and Australia.
Matthew Johnson, Portfolio Management Associate
Matthew Johnson is a Portfolio Management Associate working on quantitative research, implementation, and execution. In 2021, he interned at LongTail Alpha focusing his time on quantitative research. Previous internships include working as a software engineer at a start-up firm and at PIMCO working in product strategy. Matt graduated from Stanford University in 2022 with a Master of Science in Computational and Mathematical Engineering, where he focused on machine learning, neural networks/deep learning, computational math, and statistics. Mr. Johnson graduated cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with an honors B.A. in physics and a B.A. in economics. In his free time, Matt loves to play beach volleyball, and he is an avid mountain biker and skier.
Jay Maliye, Operations and Portfolio Management Analyst
Jayaditya (Jay) Maliye is a Portfolio Management Analyst focused on portfolio operations, client servicing, and research. In 2023, he served as a data science consultant at NBCUniversal. In 2022, Jay interned at Capital Group, working as a data analyst for the business management and operations team. He holds a B.A. degree in Economics and Data Science from Claremont McKenna College, graduating Magna Cum Laude. During his time at Claremont McKenna College, Jay conducted econometric research on the condition of banks during the Great Depression. In his free time, Jay enjoys watching and playing soccer, traveling, sailing, and listening to house music.
Dennis Blyashov, Client Services Associate
Dennis Blyashov, Client Service Associate, utilizes his background in sales and consulting, honed at various tech startups and Simon Kucher Partners, to enrich our investment team. He earned his M.S. in Applied Finance at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. A graduate of Harvard College with a major in Economics and a minor in Neuroscience, Dennis brings a unique perspective to managing client relationships and providing strategic support to the team. Beyond his professional pursuits, Dennis, an All-American water polo athlete, enjoys surfing, exploring the outdoors, music, human performance, and is committed to lifelong learning.