Vivian Xu is so young that it feels odd to ask her about her biography, it has hardly begun! But her clear and precise answers are bold and seasoned giving a glimpse of the depth and strength of her mind. A recent graduate, with a master in Mathematical Finance from the University of Toronto, Vivian did her undergraduate studies in Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo which has a reputation for engineering and cultivating innovation and entrepreneurship. At Waterloo, she learned how to develop complicated mathematical models for financial products, calculating risks and returns especially for insurance companies to optimize their profits.

Before entering graduate school, Vivian realized that she wasn’t only interested in risk assessment towards which Actuarial studies heavily tilted, but would rather work and apply her skills in a field where generating real returns went hand in hand with risk calculation. That is why she decided to study mathematical finance further and enter the field of hedge funds.

Upon graduating from the University of Toronto, she considered two job offers. One from a traditional hedge fund and one from SwissBorg. She decided on the latter because she believed that the path to the top of the traditional market was already a well-trodden one, she liked the idea of walking a road that was freshly paved, one where she could leave her own footprints. There are little opportunities to really make your mark in the field of hedge funds. Two more reasons finalized Vivian’s decision to join SwissBorg. She inherited an entrepreneurial DNA from Waterloo and more importantly wanted to see whether established mathematical models for the traditional financial market were viable for this new space of blockchain and crypto assets.

As a young financial engineer, Vivian would love to explore more opportunities, that a pioneering wealth management fund can offer to a self-starter, to forge a new path, she adds without much hesitation, “with the hope to be the next Warren Buffett in the crypto market.”

A young foodie, who loves to travel and explore the cities of the world by tasting their flavors rather than visiting their tourist sites, Vivian brings much vivacity to the team. At SwissBorg she will be assisting Marco Guerreiro, our CRO heading SwissBorg’s Toronto office, with the investment aspect of crypto assets and is working on developing quantitative models to exploit and test SwissBorg’s investment strategies. “I just think the exciting days and change-the-world dynamism at SwissBorg is not something a big paycheck at a hedge fund can give me. It’s not about money. It’s about the market. This is the newest playground for us the young generation to exploit alpha.”

SwissBorg is Hiring! Find out if one of our promising positions is meant for you: https://jobs.lever.co/swissborg