EST. 2024 HONG KONG · SINGAPORE · LONDON DESK COVERAGE · ASIA & NY
VOL. II — ISSUE 02
An Account of First Principles
FILED 29.04.2026 · 06:14:00 UTC
A QUESTION, FIRST.

Can the market,
as a single object, be charted?

OUR VOCATION

We translate the market's infinite chaos
into finite, deterministic alpha.

A research-led systematic trading firm. We treat the market as a single object — and devote our craft to charting it.

§ 00 PROLEGOMENON
Below is the working order of the firm — neither a manifesto nor a marketing brochure. Read it as you would a research note.
— H. K. · APR 2026
§ 01The Response

We do not answer. We discharge the question across three mandates.

An honest practice cannot promise an answer to so wide a question. It can, however, structure its labour around it. Below are the three mandates that organise our work.

i.

Exploration of fundamental structure

We investigate liquidity, reflexivity, and information flow with the patience of a research institute. Findings advance the canon, not the next trade.

DOMAIN · MICROSTRUCTURE
ii.

Alchemy of insight into engine

Hypotheses become production systems through formal modeling, statistical adjudication, and software engineering held to research standards.

DOMAIN · MODELING
iii.

Guardianship of capital and reputation

Risk is treated as a first-class research object. We engineer redundancy, enforce drawdown discipline, and decline mandates outside our edge.

DOMAIN · RISK
§ 02First Principles

Six axioms. Every model we ship is a corollary of them.

First principles are not slogans. They are pre-conditions of inquiry — the ground on which our methodology stands. We publish them so our work can be challenged on its terms.

P.01

The market is a finite object in an infinite space.

At any instant, prices, flows, and beliefs occupy a single bounded geometry. Alpha is the projection of that geometry onto a tradable plane.

P.02

Falsifiability precedes profit.

A hypothesis that cannot fail in backtest, in forward, or in attribution does not earn capital. Beauty is not a defense.

P.03

Liquidity is the medium, not the message.

We model the cost of presence — slippage, impact, queue position — before we estimate signal. Most edges die in execution, not in theory.

P.04

Drawdown is a physical quantity.

It is bounded, attributable, and forecast-able. We size positions to survive the worst plausible regime, not the average one.

P.05

Code is the final form of research.

An idea that cannot be executed cleanly does not exist for us. Reproducibility, modularity, and audit trails are non-negotiable.

P.06

Time compounds the disciplined.

Edge is not extracted in heroic days; it is accrued by surviving ordinary ones. Our horizon is decades, our frequency is daily.

Begin with principles, end with performance. Be loyal to logic, reverent to the unknown.
— Maxim of the Guild
§ 03Methodology

Alpha Alchemy — a four-phase closed loop.

Every strategy traverses the same cycle, in the same order. The cycle is enforced; nothing reaches production by exception.

P / 01

Insight — from chaos, a question

We isolate anomalies in the data manifold and translate them into falsifiable problems. Most candidates die here, by design.
anomaly-logactive
research-briefv2
literature-traceopen
DURATION
2 — 6 wk
PASS-THROUGH
≈ 18%
P / 02

Modeling — hypothesis as machine

Hypotheses are translated into mathematical objects: estimators, distributions, optimization programs. Specification precedes simulation.
spec-docsigned
estimatorv1.2
baselinelocked
DURATION
3 — 5 wk
PASS-THROUGH
≈ 41%
P / 03

Refinement — the forge

Strategies are tempered against historical data with risk, costs, and capacity embedded in the same loss function. Beauty is forbidden.
backtest-rigv9
capacity-curvefitted
risk-budgetbound
DURATION
2 — 4 wk
PASS-THROUGH
≈ 62%
P / 04

Verification — the live court

Live capital, strict attribution. Alpha and luck are separated by pre-registered tests; failures are deconstructed and returned to insight.
attributionweekly
kill-triggerarmed
postmortemopen
DURATION
∞ (in production)
RETIREMENT
on falsification
§ 04The Ecosystem

Two specialised entities, one philosophical core.

Each operating company inherits the Guild's mandate and methodology, and extends it into a distinct domain — one of insight, one of execution.

ENTITY · 01
● OPERATING

Alchymia Labs

QUANTITATIVE ALCHEMY LABORATORY

The Guild's research arm. Converts market chaos into deployable strategy through mathematical modeling and statistical adjudication.

DOMAIN
Insight
DELIVERABLE
Models · papers · methodology
CADENCE
Continuous · quarterly review
alchymia.alephain.com ↗
ENTITY · 02
● OPERATING

Tesseract Trading

HIGH-DIMENSIONAL EXECUTION

The Guild's execution arm. Trades the geometry that ordinary participants cannot see — operating in dimensions of liquidity invisible to surface-level price.

DOMAIN
Execution
DELIVERABLE
Live PnL · attribution · capacity
CADENCE
24/5 · daily settle
tesseract.alephain.com ↗
§ 05Capacity & Engagement

What we manage, how we engage, and where we will not.

For institutional counterparties: the shape of our mandate, the terms on which we operate, and the boundaries we hold. Capacity is finite by construction.

A. COVERAGE

Asset classes and venues we trade in production today.

Cash Equities
HK · US · JP — listed primary venues
Index Futures
CME · EUREX · OSE · HKFE
Commodities
Energy & metals — selective
Digital Assets
Spot & perpetuals · regulated venues only
Out of scope
Single-name credit · OTC structured · private markets
B. CAPACITY

Edge erodes with size. We size accordingly.

i. CAPITAL · INTERNAL
Partner & staff co-investment
Aligned with all external mandates. Quantum disclosed under NDA.
ii. CAPACITY · EXTERNAL
By mandate · NDA
Hard cap by construction. Current vintage status disclosed to qualifying counterparties.
iii. LIQUIDITY · TYPICAL
redemptionT+30
Monthly redemption with 30-day notice; no gates beyond legal.
C. TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT

Five commitments we make to every counterparty — and five things we decline.

WE DO
  • Publish the methodology that produces every strategy.
  • Disclose retired strategies in the quarterly letter.
  • Co-invest at material levels alongside external capital.
  • Hold a hard capacity cap — and close to new capital at it.
  • Provide attribution at strategy and factor level monthly.
WE DECLINE
  • Discretionary overrides of the systematic book.
  • Bespoke vehicles below scale that compromise focus.
  • Side-letters that re-shape risk for individual investors.
  • Mandates outside published coverage and edge.
  • Performance fees without a high-water mark.
FOR ALLOCATORS · FAMILY OFFICES · INSTITUTIONAL DESKS

Initial conversations are conducted under NDA. Materials are provided only to qualifying professional investors.

§ 06Research Letter

Selected writing — from the Guild's quarterly letter.

We publish a quarterly letter for our institutional counterparties — working notes from active research, retired strategies, and unresolved questions. Below are recent excerpts.