Highmoon Capital’s founder, Lumine Lin, is anything but a typical hedge fund manager. He has an educational background in art and is not afraid to use it for market analysis. He started his own business right out of college, a game design studio. He’s a self-taught trader who worked on developing the Skyline trading platform. While he operates in the world of digits and percentages, one of his main interests is where human emotion and technology meet.
“While they may not have state-of-the-art AI tools for data analysis, many traders are actively involved in emotional management,” he explains. “We apply scientific methods to this practice, leveraging it to gain an advantage over other firms. In simpler terms, it’s about recognizing the impact of emotions on investments and using science to navigate them effectively.”
Lumine Lin’s unique approach is rooted in his education and early business experiences in game design. While it might not have taught him the basics of trading, his time at college and running a game design studio did help him develop three skills he utilized readily in his trading — pattern recognition, emotional intelligence, and creative intuition.
Coupled with what he learned over eight years of successful stock trading, his creative side gave him a clear direction in which he would develop Highmoon Capital.
“Our firm takes into account the human factor, understanding when to exit or add positions during investments based on sentiment and fundamental analysis,” Lin explains. “We assess the real emotions underlying the market through psychoanalysis, considering the financial climate and economic movements.”
A perfect example of how influential emotions are on the markets came with the surge of retail traders, propelled by the Fed’s quantitative easing initiatives. The emotional charge on the markets was almost palpable, and those who wanted to look for them could see many biases play out in real time and decimate people’s investments.
“Emotions play a crucial role in investment decisions, particularly the fear of missing out. Buying or selling at the wrong time can result in minimal profit margins or losses. That’s why understanding and managing emotions is crucial,” says Lin.
When sentiment-driven trading is high, Lin’s behavioral analysis approach is at its most valuable. When stocks are decoupled from their actual value, which happens when emotions run high, traditional models lose their power.
“The field of quantitative investing is saturated with data-driven and rational approaches to research and investment decisions,” Lin explains. “While we also value and employ these methods, what sets us apart is our qualitative approach rooted in behavioral investing.”
While AI might not be the company’s unique proposition, it does play an essential role in what differentiates Highmoon Capital in the hedge fund sphere. The company has integrated AI with its behavioral analysis, creating a tool capable of analyzing text for emotional content like people would. With the results of that analysis, Highmoon Capital can develop models that can outperform traditional ones.
Lumine Lin and his team at Highmoon Capital are dedicated to breaking the surface of market trends and harnessing a deep understanding of what makes the market move. They are always looking for new opportunities, mindful of the integrity, transparency, and respectfulness that form the company’s ethos.
