London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel) writes that it has stepped up its role as an allocator to globally located trading teams (‘pods’) to further enhance risk-adjusted returns for its investors.
The multi-manager portfolio consists of pods (usually a team of one to two portfolio managers supported by research analysts) running separate investment strategies within a larger platform, while Nickel’s investment team oversees manager selection, continuous portfolio risk management, and dynamic capital allocations across individual pods. The model aims to create a diversified portfolio of uncorrelated, risk-adjusted returns by identifying and funding unique sources of alpha while maintaining highly granular control over portfolio risks.
Nickel Digital has allocated a cumulative USD510 million in capital to trading pods across 23 countries and 37 cities as part of its global expansion strategy. The number of pods has exceeded 74 by September 1, 2025, an increase of 110 per cent since the beginning of the year.
As Nickel’s pods are focused on high-to-mid frequency strategies with high velocity of capital, the total trading volume of Nickel’s pods exceeded USD100 billion over the last 12 months.
Nickel’ writes that its ability to consolidate bright quant traders under a single fund umbrella with tight risk management framework allowed its Diversified Alpha Fund to deliver record net returns of 34.9 per cent last year with volatility of just 5 per cent, according to data from BarclayHedge. Following a significant inflow of capital, the fund got soft closed earlier this year.
Diversification features of a multi-manager fund are designed to deliver consistent, low volatility returns regardless of broader market moves, making it attractive to institutional investors seeking exposure to digital assets with downside protection, the firm says.
The largest single allocation of Diversified Alpha is USD50 million, highlighting Nickel’s ability to provide funding to well performing managers, the firm writes.
Nickel writes that it is also focused on efficiency of capital allocation. “While none of the pods is getting full allocation from day one, the timing to test allocation (a mandatory stage to gain statistical confidence in pods’ investment thesis) is measured in days, not months.”
Strategies include HF Market Making, Arbitrage, Funding Rate/ Future Basis, Relative Value and Statistical Arbitrage, as well as Short-Term Trend Following.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO and Founding Partner at Nickel Digital, says: “At Nickel, we are building a truly global marketplace for digital asset alpha. By bringing together exceptional quant traders from 23 countries under a single risk-controlled platform, we give them the capital and infrastructure to scale their ideas rapidly—while giving our investors institutional-grade access to uncorrelated returns generated by hard-to-access trading teams.”
Michael Hall co-CIO and Founding Partner at Nickel Digital, adds: “The proprietary risk management module is a central piece of our infrastructure, allowing for 24/7/365 high-definition risk monitoring. This is enhanced by fast and efficient review and onboarding of new strategies. The combination of agility and discipline allowed us to deliver returns with low volatility and controlled downside, and it remains the core of our commitment to investors.”
