Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Universa Investments
The Miami-based tail-hedging fund founded in January 2007 by the former Chicago pit trader Mark Spitznagel, with the Black Swan author Nassim Nicholas Taleb as scientific adviser, which buys far out-of-the-money equity-index puts so that a small allocation pays off hugely in a crash. Its reported results are the most famous convex payoffs in modern markets — returns "over 100%" in 2008 (Wikipedia, citing the Wall Street Journal), about 20% and a ~$1bn gain in August 2015 (WSJ, reported), and 3,612% in March 2020 and 4,144% for the year to the end of March on its Black Swan Protection Protocol (investor letter as reported by Bloomberg, 8 Apr 2020; Shared facts) — but they are unaudited letter figures measured on the capital the strategy needs, not on a portfolio, and the firm's own case is that the hedge should be judged by what it does to the compound growth of a whole portfolio. For a trading book Universa is the cleanest case of the long side of the variance risk premium: it pays a small, steady premium in most months for a payoff that arrives rarely, and the evidence problem is that its record is told mostly by itself. Its story turns on survival bought as insurance — and on how to judge a convex payoff when the only full record is the manager's.
At a glance
- Founded
- January 2007 by Mark Spitznagel, with Nassim Nicholas Taleb as adviser; launched with ~$300m from an office in Santa Monica, California (Wikipedia, citing WSJ, 3 Nov 2008 and 18 Jun 2009)
- Predecessor
- Empirica Capital (1999–2004), Greenwich, Connecticut, run by Taleb with Spitznagel; closed after weak returns in a low-volatility period (Wikipedia; WSJ as cited) (1999 move)
- Founder
- Mark Spitznagel (born 1971, Ann Arbor), apprenticed at 16 to the Chicago Board of Trade grain trader Everett Klipp; independent pit trader at the CBOT, then a proprietary trader at Morgan Stanley; graduate mathematics degree from NYU's Courant Institute (Wikipedia, citing WSJ and others). Author of The Dao of Capital (Wiley, Sep 2013) and Safe Haven: Investing for Financial Storms (Wiley, Aug 2021)
- Headquarters
- Miami, Florida, since 1 Mar 2014 (moved from Santa Monica; Wikipedia, citing the Miami Herald, 19 Feb 2014)
- Ownership / structure
- Private; an investment adviser running separately managed tail-hedge mandates and funds; 18 employees in 2022 (Wikipedia infobox)
- Funds / mandates
- Black Swan Protection Protocol (the tail hedge); a reported macro fund raise of ~$1bn (Sep 2011, Bloomberg via Wikipedia, verify outcome); institutional tail-hedge mandates (CalPERS 2017–20)
- Scale (dated, reported)
- ~$300m at launch (Jan 2007); ~$6bn in 2009; $19.1bn at 30 Jun 2022 (Pensions & Investments, 13 Sep 2022, via Wikipedia); ~$20bn (Hedgeweek, May 2025). The firm's AUM is usually the notional of portfolios it protects, not the premium spent — the basis is not disclosed (verify)
- Signature record (all reported, unaudited — rule 4(c))
- 2008: "over 100%" (Wikipedia/WSJ) or ~120% for the Black Swan Protection Protocol funds (Institutional Investor, search summary — verify); Aug 2015: ~20%, ~$1bn gain (WSJ, 28 Aug 2015, via Wikipedia); Mar 2020: 3,612%, YTD 4,144% (Bloomberg, 8 Apr 2020); Apr 2025: ~100% on capital (Reuters citing an investor, via Hedgeweek 13 May 2025; Spitznagel declined to confirm)
- Regulators
- SEC (registered investment adviser — verify registration details on Form ADV); its options trade on Cboe and CME
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Empirica Capital (1999–2004, a failure of carry); founding Universa (2007); the 2008 payoff; the Flash Crash allegation (2010); the August 2015 gain; the CalPERS mandate and its termination (2017–20); March 2020; Safe Haven and the "portfolio effect" claim (2018–21); the April 2025 tariff sell-off
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1999
Empirica Capital the First Tail Fund
Founding or fund launch; later closing a fund or strategy (failure of carry)
2007
Founding Universa With Taleb as Adviser
Founding or fund launch
2008
Financial Crisis Payoff
Large trade or position (the tail hedge pays off)
2010
Flash Crash Put Purchase Allegation
Large trade or position; reputational and regulatory controversy (no finding)
2015
August Sell Off Gain
Large trade or position (the tail hedge pays off)
2017
CalPERS Mandate and Its Termination
Client mandate won, then lost (capital raise and loss of outside capital)
2020
March Covid Crash Payoff
Large trade or position (the tail hedge pays off)
2021
Safe Haven and the Portfolio Effect Claim
Distribution and evidence claim (publishing the framework the firm wants to be judged by)
2025
April Tariff Sell Off
Large trade or position (the tail hedge pays off — reported, not confirmed by the firm)