Arthur Raskin, Cutler Capital Management
Raskin
Arthur Raskin was recently hired on as a trader, general partner and portfolio manager for the Worcester-based Cutler Capital Management. He will help manage the investment firm's new Cutler Absolute Return Fund LP. Raskin has nearly 40 years of experience trading and managing convertible security portfolios, including work for Cantor Fitzgerald.
Here, Raskin talks about how he ended up in the business of trading convertible securities.
Vital Stats
Age: 59
Residence: Port Washington, N.Y.
Family: Married to Martha Raskin; children Lee Esposito, 30; Erik Raskin, 27
Education: Bachelor's in economics, Tulane University
Previous job: Cantor Fitzgerald, Darien, Conn.
How are you settling in at your new office?
I feel like I've reached a home. I'm with people I understand, given Cutler Capital Management's focus on convertible securities. It was a very easy transition.
What challenges do you see in your new position?
One challenge is to maintain learned disciplines in an era of technology that speeds everything up. Technology does many wonderful things, but it also does many bad things. It forces you to make snap decisions. I don't believe in trading in nanoseconds; no investment is so unimportant that you don't have to look at it and analyze it.
Conversely, technology is helping me address the challenge of co-managing the Cutler Absolute Return Fund. I'm in New York and my co-manager Geoff Dancey is in Worcester, but I can literally work through my VPN (virtual private network) as if I were in Massachusetts. It also helps that there is synergy with Geoff. He's a natural trader and is analytical without the brashness of ego and is a willing learner.
The separation between us is good. If you sit too close to someone, your decisions become uniform decisions. I like the fact that we're not together. It makes us think as individuals.
How close is this to what you imagined in high school you'd end up doing?
I don't know if anyone truly has an understanding of what they want to be when they're in high school, but what I'm doing now is something I wanted to do since I graduated from college. When I graduated from Tulane, I went to a small brokerage and the first thing I did was start to trade convertible securities. Convertibles were a natural fit for me, so I've known exactly what I wanted to do for 37 or 38 years.
Is it difficult working virtually from outside the company's offices?
No. It's actually much more efficient. There's no commute. I do not need to get involved in the day-to-day minutiae of the office. My home office is a replica of the office I have had for 37 years; I have the same computer screen, the same data feeds, the same research I used to have, so I can do everything I used to do without the distractions of an office.
What's the best way to keep your energy and motivation up when you're having a long day?
Exercise, so when I sleep, I sleep like a baby. It also provides stress relief. I belong to a community center with a pool that I go to at 6 a.m. and I spend a half hour every day doing water exercises. I'm home in my office at 7 a.m. with a cup of coffee and I'm wide awake. It's a ritual I intend to keep.
Do you have any hobbies outside of work?
There's a batting cage in town I enjoy going to. Batting is fantastic; it's a great way to spend time, you and the machine. It's a great equalizer.
What's on your to-do list for the next couple of days?
I'm about to become a grandfather for the first time. I'm preparing for it. I'm even doing some maternity shopping with my daughter.
In business, I look for continuity; creating a certain rhythm. When you look too far forward and change too much, you find yourself making plans that are unnecessary. I'm a singles hitter. I look to hit ‘em where they ain't. I can stretch a single into a double, but I'm not trying to hit home runs. Fund managers that hit home runs strike out a lot.
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