The Science of
Predictive Engineering

We build trading engines that compete on precision, quality and speed.

Scroll

Dutch Quantitative Investment Firm

SysCat

We design, build and operate systematic quantitative strategies across global equity and derivative markets.

We operate in the minutes-to-hours trading spectrum, between high-frequency market specialists and large quantitative platforms, where short-lived opportunities emerge continuously.

SysCat Alpha Fund

We manage a multi-strategy investment fund combining a complementary mix of market-neutral and directional alpha-driven strategies.

Our fund is purpose-built to deliver absolute returns across a broad range of market environments with low correlation to traditional and alternative asset classes.

The SysCat Code

01
Predictive Engineering

While we operate in the realm of quantitative investment, we view ourselves as builders of predictive machines.

Our days are not spent watching tickers, but researching, coding, and refining the models that power our trading engines. We build our engines to anticipate, not react. Markets change their own rules and habits. For us, anticipating means modelling which rules or habits are starting to shift, instead of reacting based on what they have been.

02
Radical Cohesion

At SysCat, we believe a small, elite unit outperforms a disconnected army.

Why? Because to build effective predictive machines, the distance between the code and execution must be zero. We operate without silos, minimizing the lag between exploring a new idea and live trading. That kind of intellectual synergy only happens in focused, small-scale environments.

03
Patient Urgency

We build and operate with the relentless focus of a start-up, always hunting for the next improvement in our ability to harvest returns. Yet, we are experienced enough to know that progress is rarely linear. We have the discipline to stay the course, and the confidence to adapt, evolve, and shift direction when the data demands it.

Interviews and Articles

THE HEDGE FUND JOURNAL - JUNE 2026

Best Performing Fund over 5 years

CTA and Discretionary Trader Awards

We are pleased to announce that our fund has been awarded by The Hedge Fund Journal as the Best Performing Fund over 5 years in the category Short Term Trader. This award is especially meaningful to us, as it highlights not only the returns of our strategy but particularly its distinctive profile and quality.

THE HEDGE FUND JOURNAL - APRIL 2026

The Sweet Spot in Equities and Futures Trading

SysCat's short-term strategy celebrates 5 years

Five years in, SysCat's short-term strategy has delivered 18% annual returns through 2025 with a Sharpe ratio above one, earning consecutive Hedge Fund Journal awards. The article explores the resilience of the strategy between HFT and longer-horizon quants.

THE HEDGE FUND JOURNAL - JUNE 2023

SysCat Capital: A Positively Skewed Short-Term Trader

Seeking convex return profiles

How SysCat designed a positively skewed short-term strategy - and why disciplined Dutch research, testing and quantification underpin a return profile uncorrelated to equities, bonds and commodities.

We are a growing team, united by conviction and a shared belief.

The Team
Mahbod Elmi

Mahbod Elmi

CIO

Mahbod is the architect of our trading logic. With over 20 years in the field, he moved from Robeco to Transtrend, where he built a subsidiary focused on niche markets. It was there he brought the founding team together — the partnership that became SysCat.

M.Sc. Chemistry & Molecular Genetics, Leiden University
Max Waaijers

Max Waaijers

CTO

Max turns quantitative theory into low-latency reality. A former enterprise cloud CTO, he brings deep expertise in distributed systems and infrastructure. His 15-year collaboration with the team means research and execution are built as one.

M.Sc. Applied Computing Science, Utrecht University
Arjaan Ringeling

Arjaan Ringeling

CRO

Arjaan turns risk management into an integrated science. A 25-year veteran, he evolved from options market maker to Head of Volatility Arbitrage before leading operations at the Transtrend subsidiary. His operational discipline gives the team the room to build freely.

M.Sc. Organic Chemistry, Leiden University
Arie Schoordijk

Arie Schoordijk

COO

Arie brings over 20 years of experience in delivering operational services. Throughout his career, he has held key roles at TMF Group, Custom House Fund Services, Apex Fund Services Netherlands, and Trustmoore.

Bc. Business Administration, HES Rotterdam
Piotr Jarmołowicz

Piotr Jarmołowicz

Software Engineer

Piotr has over 15 years of experience in programming and software engineering. He served as a Lead C++ Developer at Bots Capital and as a Software Engineer at Simteq, where he developed software for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 full-flight simulators.

M.Sc. Automation and Robotics, AGH University of Krakow
 Daros Nakai

Daros Nakai

DATA ANALYST

Daros is currently pursuing a BSc. (Honours) degree in Business Analytics at the University of Amsterdam and previously earned a BSc. degree in Software Engineering. He co-founded the UvA Quant Finance Club, and will be working on data-driven investment models.

B.Sc. Software Engineering, UE Germany
Advisory Board

Jaap Pannevis

Founder of Centillion Investment Partners, which manages a global Small & Midcap fund focusing on high-quality, niche market leaders. Before founding Centillion, Jaap worked at Goldman Sachs in London, Lucerne Capital and Kempen & Co in the Netherlands.

François Mulkens

Founder of Brickstone and an active investor in real estate, growth ventures, and social initiatives. Focused on long-term value creation, he combines strategic investing with hands-on operational involvement.

Duncan Valentine

CEO of Varick Capital. Previously, as a Managing Director at Capstone Investment Advisors in New York, he played a key role in expanding the firm's hedge fund and served on the Management Committee.

We value innovators, passionate builders and free thinkers.

Software Engineers

If you have a solid software engineering background, enjoy complex challenges and collaboration, get in touch. Here, your code doesn't wait in a backlog. It powers trading engines that run live against global markets. We're a small team, which means what you build today can be deployed tomorrow.

Java Python Low-latency Engineering ML
Show us what you've built.

Researchers

If you excel in science and technology and enjoy seeing your research and analysis come to life, let's talk. With us, nothing remains hypothetical. Here, we work on real-world complex challenges, not to publish a paper, but to outperform.

Nonlinear Dynamics Complex Adaptive Systems Turbulence Modeling Signal Processing
Contact Research
For professional investors

We value discretion and long-term partnerships with professional investors. Access to more information is available upon request to verified parties.

Request introduction
General inquiries
info@syscatcapital.com
SysCat Capital, Mendelweg 32, 2333CS Leiden, The Netherlands