Our Team

Mahindra Choudhary is a Quantitative Analyst at Monarq Asset Management, where he builds systematic trading strategies and infrastructure across digital assets and derivatives. With over six years of experience, he has developed full-scale quant systems ranging from backend research engines and scalable code architecture to production-ready execution platforms and trader-facing tools.

His expertise includes structuring and index methodologies, volatility modeling, portfolio optimization, and automated analytics platforms that directly support trading teams. With a background that blends quantitative research and advanced engineering, Mahindra specializes in translating complex models into practical, high-performance systems for systematic trading.

He holds an M.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.

George Lam is a seasoned equity derivatives strategist with over 15 years of experience analyzing volatility, options flow, and cross-asset risk across both buy-side and sell-side institutions. His work bridges macro and micro drivers of market structure, delivering research that connects index and single-stock options dynamics with institutional portfolio construction and hedging decisions.

He has held senior research and trading roles at Piper Sandler, Cornerstone Macro, Point72, Macro Risk Advisors, and Marathon Asset Management. Throughout his career, George has specialized in derivatives strategy, volatility forecasting, and the translation of options market signals into actionable investment frameworks. He began his career at UBS in market risk, where he developed his foundation in risk modeling and capital markets analytics. George holds degrees in Physics and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Sam Gaer is the Chief Investment Officer of the Directional Strategy at Monarq Asset Management, where he leads both discretionary and systematic trading strategies across digital assets.
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Prior to joining Monarq, Sam was Co-Portfolio Manager at BlockTower Capital, where he oversaw the firm’s flagship directional and systematic strategies. He also served as Chief Information Officer at both NYMEX and FINRA—driving NYMEX’s $9B sale to CME and authoring FINRA’s long-term technology roadmap.
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Sam is the founder of Katana Financial, a quantitative hedge fund that was among the top VIX traders globally and one of the first market makers for CME crypto products. He brings over 25 years of experience building high-performance trading systems and market infrastructure across both traditional and digital markets.
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Sam holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in Corporate Finance.

Shreyas Chari is the Director of Trading and Head of Derivatives at Monarq Asset Management, where he oversees the firm’s global derivatives trading with a primary focus on options and volatility strategies.
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Before joining Monarq, Shreyas was Chief Investment Officer of Karma Innovation Return, where he directed digital asset risk management and derivatives strategies, and Chief Risk & Product Officer at Qume, building out the firm’s crypto derivatives business. He previously managed global volatility portfolios at Arrowhawk Capital Partners, serving as the firm’s derivatives specialist across multi-strategy hedge funds. Earlier in his career, he was Executive Director of Equity Derivatives at Nomura, managed North America single-stock variance products at Deutsche Bank through the financial crisis, headed volatility arbitrage at Natixis, and spent six years at CIBC structuring and risk-managing exotic and vanilla derivatives across global markets.
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Shreyas holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology.

Shiliang Tang is the Managing Partner of Monarq Asset Management. He previously founded LedgerPrime in 2017, which scaled to $400M AUM by 2022 and was ultimately acquired. He also co-founded Arbelos Markets, a principal trading firm specializing in digital asset derivatives, which FalconX acquired at the end of 2024. Prior to LedgerPrime and Arbelos Markets, Shiliang co-founded WorldCover, a fintech firm backed by Y Combinator and other prestigious VC firms. Shiliang started his career on the proprietary trading desks of Merrill Lynch and UBS, where he focused on volatility trading and high frequency strategies.  Shiliang received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT and holds CFA and CAIA designations.

Sanat Rao is the Chief Investment Officer of BTC Fund at Monarq Asset Management, where he leads strategy for the firm’s BTC-denominated market-neutral strategy. Sanat co-founded Gamma Point Capital, a market-neutral digital asset hedge fund that was later acquired by BlockTower Capital. Following the acquisition, he led BlockTower’s market-neutral strategy, scaling it to over $200M in AUM through both performance and capital formation. Sanat is also an active venture investor, with over 20 investments across blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, real-world assets, fintech, and AI. Earlier in his career, Sanat was an engineer at Intel, where he led chip design teams for the Pentium IV and Core2 Duo processors.

William Purdy is the Director of Business Development at Monarq Asset Management, where he leads capital formation, investor relations, and strategic growth initiatives across the firm’s delta-neutral and directional digital asset funds.

Prior to joining Monarq Asset Management, William was Head of Investor Relations at Van Markl, a Luxembourg-regulated crypto options fund, where he raised over $45M from family offices, private banks, and institutional allocators. He also co-founded Sun Labs AG, a platform focused on white-label investment infrastructure and the incubation of early-stage trading strategies.
William began his career as a registered representative at Maxim Group, raising venture capital for early-stage biotech firms. He holds an NFA Series 3 license and previously held the FINRA Series 7 and 63.

Artem Zadorozhnyi is the Head of Engineering at Monarq Asset Management, where he oversees the design and implementation of the firm’s technical infrastructure, execution systems, and data architecture. Artem brings over 12 years of experience building production-grade systems at scale, with prior leadership roles at Microsoft and GitHub. Artem specializes in execution infrastructure, security, and data engineering, and has built and led high-performing engineering teams across a range of technical domains. His work is focused on delivering reliability, performance, and security across all facets of Monarq Asset Management’s technical operations.

Ayesha Kiani is the Chief Operating Officer at Monarq Asset Management, where she oversees firm operations, legal and regulatory strategy, and institutional onboarding. Before joining Monarq Asset Management, Ayesha was Chief Operating Officer at LedgerPrime, where she helped scale the firm’s operational infrastructure during the firm’s growth phase. She was also part of the early team at Republic Crypto, managing regulated token sales and security token presales. Ayesha began her career as a lawyer at Skadden Arps and holds a J.D. from NYU Law. She also serves as a faculty member at NYU Tandon, where she teaches a course on blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

Dr. Johannes van Zeijts is the Chief Technology Officer at Monarq Asset Management, where he leads the development of the firm’s trading infrastructure, execution systems, and quantitative research platform. He brings over 15 years of experience in quantitative trading and systematic strategy development. Prior to joining Monarq Asset Management, Johannes helped build LedgerPrime’s execution and risk engine, playing a key role in scaling its systematic strategies across digital asset markets.. His earlier roles include positions at Quantbot Technologies and Merrill Lynch, where he focused on alpha research, execution modeling, and market microstructure. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Twente University.

Dr. Boris Iyutin is the Chief Investment Officer of Market Neutral Fund at Monarq Asset Management, where he leads strategy design, portfolio construction, and risk management for the firm’s multi-strategy trading mandates. Boris brings over 15 years of experience in algorithmic trading, with senior roles at Tower Research, Teza Technologies, and Bank of America. His expertise spans full-stack quantitative research, model development, and volatility trading, with a focus on factor-based strategies in digital asset markets. He holds a Ph.D. in Particle Physics from MIT.