Faheem Osman – Commodity QIS: An Under-Appreciated Source of Systematic Returns? (S7E29)

In this episode I speak with Faheem Osman, Managing Director and Global Head of QIS Structuring at Macquarie Group.

Faheem has spent nearly two decades inside major investment banks — first at Citi, where he spent about ten years on the commodities trading and structuring side, and now at Macquarie, where he's built out their cross-asset QIS business. Commodities, though, remain firmly in the DNA of what Macquarie does, and it's where Faheem cuts his teeth.

We spend the bulk of our conversation exploring commodity QIS as a distinct and, in Faheem's view, underappreciated source of systematic returns. Faheem walks us through strategies like curve carry and index congestion, explains why commodities have historically delivered some of the highest risk-adjusted returns of any asset class in QIS, and makes the case for why these premiums haven't simply been arbitraged away. We also dig into commodity volatility selling, the shift toward weekly options, and close with a timely discussion on what the explosion of 0DTE options means for the vol risk premium more broadly.

Please enjoy my conversation with Faheem Osman.