Where did it all begin?
I entered the financial world bright-eyed and bushy-tailed over 30 years ago, when I stepped out of Bank station in the heart of London to begin my career at LME founding member Rudolf Wolff. I worked my way from the back office, to dealing in LME warrants, and then to the main execution desk broking orders for customers across the LME and virtually every major global market.When did you start trading?
While at Wolff, an opportunity to help set up a new LIFFE operation was too good to turn down, and it wasn’t long before the pull of the pits had me hooked and I became a “local” trading my own money. I remember my first day like it was yesterday. I stood in the pit and didn’t have the foggiest idea what to do. My first major trading lesson was realising that even with years of being involved in markets, it does not prepare you for trading with your own money. I had to learn, and learn quickly but I was very fortunate to have some very good trading teachers, and here I am, still trading my own account and managing to win more than I lose. What I really want to do now is pass on the knowledge and experience I gained, to help you realise your potential.What is your most important trading rule?
“Trading is not about learning how to win, it’s about learning how not to lose”.
K-man has 40 years of financial markets experience, the bulk as a spot FX market maker at world leading commercial banks. Started his career in his homeland Belgium as a trainee at the local branch of a US bank. Then gradually moved through the ranks, making markets in mainly G10 currencies through high tides and crises to central banks, biggest corporates and asset managers and most furious at times hedge funds. The last 17 years of his bank career were spent making a market in JPY from Paris, London and finally Tokyo, considered his second home country, as head of FX and having a trading book in FX cash and options. He is trading his own account since 2016, focussing on how to marry fundamentals with KISS (keep it simple, stupid) techs, likes a nicely coloured fib chart and still trading some actively managed options.
"Embrace change, adapt" is his trading motto.
Stelios Kontogoulas was fascinated by computers from a very young age and went on to study Computer Science at Imperial College. Following a 5-year IT consulting career (having worked for Accenture among others), he felt unfulfilled and wanted to make a change. He completed an MBA and during that time – via a summer internship – he was exposed to the world of trading. He instantly knew that this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his career. Stelios spent the next 10 busy years working for two major global banks in the City of London as an interest rates market-maker.
In 2012 Stelios Kontogoulas decided to start a family with his wife and they both moved back home to Greece. Since then Stelios has been trading his family portfolio – mainly FX but also most other asset classes. His trading decisions are mostly driven by fundamentals and are very rarely short-term. He uses technicals for entry/exit points and is a loyal follower of basic technical analysis and Fibonacci.
Aside from trading and economics, Stelios spends most of his time with his wife, his two young daughters and his dogs. He is a devoted pool & snooker player and also loves to windsurf and play poker.