Nelson Saiers

Nelson Saiers is an American artist and math Ph.D.[1][2][3] He earned his doctorate in 1 year at age 23. Before becoming an artist, he was previously Chief Investment Officer of Saiers Capital, LLC (formerly Alphabet Management, LLC). Earlier in his career he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank AG.

Education

In 1998, Nelson Saiers earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23,[4] only one year after completing his undergraduate studies.[5] He studied algebraic topology.[6]

Financial career

Nelson began his trading career at Susquehanna Investment Group. He also later worked at UBS and Deutsche Bank.[7] At Deutsche Bank, Nelson was a Managing Director and ran a proprietary trading business focused on derivatives.[7]

In July 2010, Nelson left Deutsche Bank to join Alphabet Management, a New York hedge fund specializing in options.[7] He was promoted to Chief Investment Officer in March 2011, just eight months after joining the firm.[8][9] Saiers' younger brother Scott also joined Alphabet in February 2012 as Head Trader.[10] In 2011, Alphabet Management won the HFMWeek award for the top Relative Value Hedge Fund. [11]

In December 2012 Alphabet announced that the firm would be changing its name to Saiers Capital, LLC.[12] Barron's described Saiers as a star quantitative investor.[13]

Art career

Nelson is currently a professional artist based in New York City.[14][15] Mathematics, finance, physics, history, and braille play a significant role in his art.[16] His art has been featured in solo shows at Harvard University's Leverett House, Alcatraz, the Plaza Hotel's Edwardian Room, and several NY galleries.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Saiers also installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with bitcoin references and code in front of the Federal Reserve as a homage to Satoshi Nakamoto and NYC union street protests.[23][24] The New York Observer referred to Saiers as "The Warhol of Wall Street", [25] and Artnet asked if he is a modern-day Kandinsky.[26]

While math dominates much of his art, its role, and how it is utilized vary (metaphor, analogy, play on words, etc). The topics incorporated are also diverse ranging from famous classic results to fundamental 20th-century concepts and theorems.[27] [28][29]

Alcatraz

From July 2016 to February 2017, Saiers exhibited a large scale installation at Alcatraz Prison titled "Shortening: Making the Irrational Rational". [30] Combining properties of π, prison vernacular, and literary references, the work addressed the irrationally long prison sentences too often given for minor, nonviolent drug violations. It featured the first several hundred digits of π on football jerseys. Saiers explained, "In prison, long sentences are often referred to as 'football numbers' because the duration in years resembles numbers on a football jersey."[31] He told KQED, "Pi is what's called an irrational number, which means it never ends nor repeats...Now the way to turn it into a rational number is to shorten it. So that's a very good metaphor for what needs to be done to these irrational prison sentences" to make them rational.[32] The jerseys were "hung out to dry" on hemp rope to describe what society does to these inmates (and their families). The choice of hemp pointed to marijuana (and, more generally, minor drug violations). [33][34]

Wall St

The exhibits Inside (2016) and Unusual and Exigent (2018) provided a social and historical discourse on Saiers' experience as a proprietary trader and hedge fund manager.[35] One striking feature of Saiers' financial paintings are the tiny shapes that litter their backgrounds.[36][37] These form a visual representation of the actual C# code from his hedge fund's core algorithm. A process based on Braille and mathematics determines each shape's position and color. As each work focused on a particular aspect of finance, Saiers added relevant writing, paint (typically squeegeed with cardboard pieces), and found objects (fishing pole, cell phone chords, etc.) to convey the works' message.

Saiers also displayed large scale sculptures, including one with gold helicopter rotor blades and another with a graffitied VW car and an apple with each on a scale (referencing Helicopter Ben Bernanke and the October 2008 VW short squeeze, respectively).[38][39]

Life and personality

Saiers was born in Denver, Colorado but raised in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Swaziland, Ghana and Virginia while his father, Larry, worked for the USAID.[40][41] As a child Saiers lived through several violent conflicts overseas. During his time in Afghanistan, the events (Saur Revolution and others) that led to the full-blown Soviet invasion were underway and included the assassinations of the Afghan President Daud Khan and US ambassador Adolph Dubs.[42] Saiers' experiences included hiding in his family's closet and under their stairs as tanks fired on the road in front of his house and having Su-7 or MiG fighter planes fly near his home as they bombed Kabul. His family moved to Swaziland in late April 1979 (as aid to Afghanistan was cut in response to Dubs' assassination[43]). [44]

In Ethiopia, the infant Saiers and his mother were held up at gunpoint during the ongoing coups post the death of Haile Selassie.

Press quotes

Nelson has been quoted in Bloomberg,[45] The Wall Street Journal,[46] Barron's,[47] and The Financial Post on topics such as China,[48] India, European Sovereign Debt,[49] Facebook,[50] Dell,[51] and the price of gold as well as overall market trends.

Philanthropy

Nelson has an affiliation with charity: water, which attempts to provide clean water to those in developing countries. Nelson is a Founding Member of The Well, a core group of donors who support charity: water.[52]

In October 2013, during the graffiti artist Banksy's month-long New York project "Better Out Than In," Nelson made a public offer to donate $100,000 to the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding effort if Banksy created a legal mural in New York to raise awareness for people still affected by the storm.[53] An anonymous donor "RD" has also joined this effort, and has pledged an additional $100,000. Nelson has created a website for the effort: http://www.heybanksy.com. Whether the piece was created or not is unknown, but on October 28, Nelson decided to go forward with the $100,000 donation regardless.[54]

References
  1. Daniel, Daria. "artnet Asks: Nelson Saiers, Artist-Mathematician". Artnet.com. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  2. O'Shaughnessy, Tracey. "Connecting the Dots". uvamagazine.org. UVA Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  3. "085. Nelson Saiers". Traction Magazine.
  4. Creswell, Julie (March 17, 2011). "Funds Find Opportunities in Volatility". New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  5. "UVA News". Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  6. Saiers, Nelson (19 May 2000). "The cobordism classification of projective space bundles". Topology and Its Applications. 103 (2): 179–186. doi:10.1016/S0166-8641(99)00002-4.
  7. Kearns, Jeff (15 July 2010). "Deutsche Bank Loses Option Trader Saiers to Hedge Fund Alphabet Management". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  8. Kearns, Jeff (March 15, 2011). "Alphabet Promotes Saiers to Investment Chief of Volatility Fund". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  9. "Saiers Rising, Becomes CIO of Hedge Fund Alphabet". FINAlternatives. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  10. Hiralal, Baz (23 February 2012). "Movers and Shakers". The Deal Pipeline. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  11. "HFM Awards 2011".
  12. Gammeltoft, Nikolaj (December 7, 2012). "Saiers Made Partner at Alphabet Management After 27% Gain". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  13. dietrich, chris. "A Hedge Funder's Merger of Aesthetics and Math". barrons.com. dow jones.
  14. "Perfect equation Nelson Saiers combines math and art".
  15. "Math and art visual pro".
  16. Palermo, Elizabeth. "Math Meets Art in NYC Exhibition". livescience.
  17. Vioien, Guelda (2016-04-21). "The Warhol of Wall Street". New York Observer.
  18. Dietrich, Chris. "A Hedge Funders Merger of Aesthetics and Math". Barrons.com. Barrons.
  19. "Harvard". nelsonsaiers.com.
  20. Voien, Guelda (2016-04-21). "The Warhol of Wall Street". Observer.
  21. "New art installation on Alcatraz challenges prison sentencing". Time Out San Francisco.
  22. Shea, Nicole. "Managed Futures". Eiropenojournal.com. Europenow.
  23. Kelleher, Kevin. "Why Someone Put a Giant, Inflatable Bitcoin Rat on Wall Street, Facing the Federal Reserve Bank". Fortune. Fortune Magazine.
  24. Noto, Anthony (October 12, 2018). "Bitcoin review: Crypto hacking gets worse, UAE plans new ICO rules". New York Business Journal.
  25. Voien, Guelda (2016-04-21). "The Warhol of Wall Street". Observer.
  26. Daniel, Daria (2015-03-31). "artnet Asks: Nelson Saiers, Artist-Mathematician". Artnet.
  27. saiers, nelson. "Napoleon would approve but Alexander was far greater". nelsonsaiers.com.
  28. saiers, nelson. "Original art basel". nelsonsaiers.com.
  29. saiers, nelson. "1936". nelsonsaiers.com.
  30. Antonick, Gary. "Four Fractions". NY Times.
  31. Parksconservancy.org. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy https://www.parksconservancy.org/our-work/shortening-alcatraz-nelson-saiers. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. LEVI, RYAN. "Alcatraz Displays Irrational Numbers & Irrationally Long Prison Sentences". KQED.
  33. Graver, David. "NELSON SAIERS' "SHORTENING: MAKING IRRATIONAL RATIONAL" AT ALCATRAZ". Coolhunting.com.
  34. Andrew, david. "Unnecessary Roughness: Alcatraz Exhibit Challenges Prison System—With Football Jerseys". Hoodline.
  35. hgcontemporary.com http://www.hgcontemporary.com/exhibitions/nelson-saiers-inside-wall-street. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  36. wojcik, natalie. "This former Wall Street tycoon gave up his paycheck for a paintbrush". cnbc.com.
  37. voien, guelda. "warhol of wall st". ny observer.
  38. Saiers, Nelson. "Ben Couldn't Make An Appearance But Left These Instead". nelsonsaiers.com.
  39. Saiers, Nelson. "Arbitrage". nelsonsaiers.com.
  40. "Afghanistan 1" (PDF). Adst.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  41. "Lester Roberts" (PDF). Adst.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  42. Carner, George (May 2018). The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Foreign Assistance Series (PDF). ADST. pp. 24–27.
  43. bezhun, frud. "40 Years On, Mystery Still Surrounds Shooting Death Of U.S. Ambassador To Afghanistan". Radiofreeeuroperadioliberty.
  44. O'SHAUGHNESSY, tracy. "connecting the dots". uva magazine.
  45. Gammeltoft, Nikolaj, Liz Capo McCormick & Cecile Vannucci (2 April 2012). "Volatility Lowest Since '07 in Stocks, Bonds, Currencies". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  46. Nayak, Debiprasad and Tatyana Shumsky (24 December 2011). "India Slows Rush for Gold: Rupee's Fall Hits World's Biggest Consumer of Gold, and Possibly Global Prices". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  47. Conway, Brendan (30 June 2012). "How to Profit from High Correlation". Barrons. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  48. Cao, Belinda and Leon Lazaroff (2 July 2012). "Internet Stocks Lead Retreat on Manufacturing: China Overnight". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  49. Newcomb, Peter (27 July 2012). "World's Richest Gain $15.2 Billion as Global Markets Rise". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  50. Vannucci, Cecile and Nikolaj Gammeltoft (30 May 2012). "Facebook Contracts Top 365,000 in Fastest Start for IPO". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  51. Gammeltoft, Nikolaj and Cecile Vannucci (18 January 2013). "Dell Options Show Traders Betting on Buyout About $14". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  52. "2010 Financial Report".
  53. Gammeltoft, Nikolaj (7 October 2013). "Hedge-Fund Manager Saiers Offers Banksy $100,000 for Sandy Help". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  54. STONE, MADELINE. "Hedge Fund Manager Donates $100,000 To Hurricane Sandy Relief Without Banksy's Help". Business Insider.
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