Mari Kooi

Mari Kooi (born September 1954) is the former CEO and Founder of Wolf Asset Management International LLC which had a focus on commodity and natural resource investments. Prior to founding Wolf, Kooi spent 18 years at Cargill Inc., working as a trader, trading manager and finally President of Cargill Asset Management. Through her quarterly newsletter, "Sopa Piranha", Kooi is a commentator on quantitative and qualitative financial trends. She serves on the board of the Santa Fe Institute and is an instrument rated private pilot.

Life and education

Ms. Kooi learned her trade in commodities at age 15 from her father, a commodity trader who took her under his wing and taught her the ropes. After taking delivery of the nearby egg futures he said, “Mari, always be careful trading in the nearby contract, you may have to eat it for breakfast.” Thus Mari’s interest in trading extends back 40 years.

Kooi earned a degree in economics from Iowa State University and focused her senior Honors Program project on World Food Distribution reporting to renowned agricultural economist, Neil Harl. During this time, Kooi was awarded the Lucht Scholarship in Economics for outstanding achievement. This was in addition to her award as a State of Iowa Scholar. Ms. Kooi holds a master's degree in finance from the University of Minnesota.

She used her early futures trading experience to land a commodity merchandising position at Cargill Incorporated in 1977. She spent six years as a commodity trader focused on grains, transportation and feed ingredients. During this time, Kooi was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade (now the CME Group) and the COMEX (now the New York Mercantile Exchange). In 1983, she helped found Cargill’s first in-house hedge fund. This small department of 8 people later became a Division and then a Group within Cargill. As President of Cargill Asset Management, Ms. Kooi’s focus was primarily in fixed income during the heyday of high interest rates. This group later spun out as the Black River Fund (Black River Asset Management LLC) and CarVal. Ms. Kooi’s career at Cargill spanned 18 years.

Kooi’s husband, Peter Kooi, has also spent his career in the commodity industry. He was an early pioneer in the grain trading industry joining Cargill in 1965 and later becoming President of Cargill International S.A., Geneva, Switzerland, President of Cargill’s World Grain Trading Group, and President of Cargill Asia Pacific Sector, Singapore.

This led the Koois to live in Switzerland and Singapore where Ms. Kooi launched her first business venture, Wolf Risk Management. Through this international experience, Kooi gained many relationships with international companies and knowledge of jurisdictions. Ms. Kooi now can count 99 countries where she has spent time.

Career

Kooi is the former CEO and Founder of Wolf Asset Management International LLC. Wolf International managed assets for institutional clients in a hedge fund of funds, with a particular focus on commodities. Wolf and its related companies had offices in New York, NY and Santa Fe, NM. Wolf’s clients hailed from around the world including Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and France. Wolf primarily managed money for institutions such as banks, private banks, insurance companies, pensions, public funds, and corporations.

Previously, Kooi had operating experience in commodities, transportation, money market derivatives, currencies, fixed income derivatives, equity derivatives, emerging country markets, distressed credit markets, distressed real estate, mortgage securities, and tax advantaged securities. By training, Ms. Kooi is a trader and trading manager. Kooi has significant experience in risk management having served on Cargill’s Financial Services Financial Risk Committee. Kooi helped to produce the guidelines for financial risk management in Cargill’s proprietary hedge fund. Ms. Kooi is also an expert in launching private and public funds and has served on the board of over 40 funds and fund companies. She has launched many innovative products and arranged financing for them.

Ms. Kooi authors the “Sopa Piranha” publication which she started in 2002. This research- focused financial market commentary reaches more than three thousand subscribers quarterly in the investment industry. Kooi is active with physicists and mathematical wizards, reading the research of the Santa Fe Institute scientists. This contributes to the quality of her writing.

In 2006, Kooi founded and served as Chair of the New Mexico Task Force on Financial Services. This group of financial leaders developed a plan to improve New Mexico’s business environment for financial services companies. As a result, legislation was passed that made it possible for financial services companies to come to New Mexico. Later Kooi was instrumental in ensuring this led to jobs for New Mexico. Fidelity Investments opened its operations in New Mexico in 2008 (see https://www.abq.org/pdfs/FidelityAnnouncement.pdf.

In 2010, Ms. Kooi was named in the Financial Times Top 100 Diverse Board Candidates.

Sampling of Public Speaking Engagements

• Terrapin Gold Congress, 2010, “Advanced Techniques in Risk Management”
• JetFin Agro Conference 2010, “Commodities Risk”
• Texas Wall Street Women 2010, “Commodities”
• Milken Institute Global Conference Speaker 2009, “Commodities Reflation”
• Altegris Conference Speaker 2009, “Investment Opportunities”
• Burgenstock Conference 1996, “What Topic?”

Publications

Risk Management IS NOT Risk Measurement. December 31, 2009 - Issue #17

Hedge Fund Quantitative Fads and Fallacies. Eurekahedge.com. January 24, 2007, Issue #14

(Measuring Alpha and Beta) – January 2007

Catch a Wavelet. Eurekahedge.com. October 16, 2006

Carbon Credits are a Girl’s Best Friend. The HedgeFund Journal. June 2006

Alternative Investment News. March 6, 2006 (page 3)

What Makes the Monkey Dance? Eurekahedge.com. March 2006

Wolf Keen on Stat Arb. Absolute Return + Alpha. March 3, 2006

Commodities: The Power of Price, Pricing Power and the Price of Power. FullerMoney. May 7, 2005 Issue #6

Near to the Madding Crowd. Eurekahedge.com. December 2005

Commodity Trading 2005

Are Clients Looking for Directional Strategies in this Low Return Environment? Variance Capital Newsletter. November 2004

Analyzing Sumitomo. Case Study, Risk Institute.

If It Ain’t Hard It Ain’t Right. EurekaHedge. December 2003

Evaluating the Three Types of Liquidity in Hedge Funds, 1997 Journal de Geneve

Risk Management IS NOT Risk Measurement, the Seven L’s of Good Risk Management 1997 Journal de Geneve

Les hedge funds: une question de discipline dans les marchés maniaco-depressifs, 1 Jan 15, 1997 Journal de Geneve

How Hedge Funds Make Money, Disciplined Trading in Manic Depressive Markets Jan 15, 1997 Journal de Geneve

Evaluating Derivative Laden Hedge Funds: Art or Science? Jan 29, 1997 Swiss Association of Asset Managers

Sopa Piranha #1 - Four Year Hedge Fund Low - Sept 2002

Sopa Piranha #2 - No Left Tail Negative Alpha - Jan 2003

Sopa Piranha #3 - Commodity & Macro Investing - Apr 2003

Sopa Piranha #4 - Alpha - Oct 2003

Sopa Piranha #5 - Leverage - Jan 2004

Sopa Piranha #6 - Trading Commodities - Apr 2004

Sopa Piranha #7 - Coherence - Oct 2004

Sopa Piranha #8 - Natural Resource Exploration, Wildcatting - Jan 2005

Sopa Piranha #9 - Cdo'S - Apr 2005

Sopa Piranha #10 - The Short Side - Oct 2005

Sopa Piranha #11 - Systematic Trading - Jan 2006

Sopa Piranha #12 - Carbon Credits - May 2006

Sopa Piranha #13 - Wavelets - Oct 2006

Sopa Piranha #14 - Measuring Alpha And Beta - Jan 2007

Sopa Piranha #15 - Ethanol Industry - Apr 2007

Sopa Piranha #16 - The Road To Profit In 2008 - Jan 2008

Sopa Piranha #17 - Risk Management - Dec 2009

Sopa Piranha #18 - May 2010

Sopa Piranha #19 - Commodity Risk Management - Sep 2010

Sopa Piranha #20 – Platinum (Pgm) Missing Catalyst - Jun 2011

Sopa Piranha #21- Having It Backwards Term Structures - Jul 2011

Boards

• Minnesota Museum of American Art – Twice named Trustee of the Year in a three-year term.
• New Mexico Financial Services Task Force
• Santa Fe Institute
• SITE Santa Fe
• University of Minnesota Asset Management and Debt Advisory Committee
• Minneapolis American Indian Center
• Texas Employee Retirement System Investment Advisory Committee
• Hangar Technology

Philanthropy

• Kooi founded and presided over New Mexico State Financial Services Task Force, a not-for-profit group, dedicated to improving New Mexico State's Financial Services Industry.
• Kooi is a trustee of the Santa Fe Institute.
• Kooi is a supporter of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women through Texas Wall Street Women.
• Kooi was one of 16 supporters of the New York University Cancer Institute through “100 Women in Hedge Funds” (Winter 2007 ).
• She participated on the University of Minnesota Asset Management and Debt Advisory Committee.
• Several Art organizations have benefited from Ms. Kooi’s governance including the Minnesota Museum of American Art, which twice named her Trustee of the Year. Kooi served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009 at SITE Santa Fe Museum.

References

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