Thomas Kochanek is CEO and Principal of 1512 St. Gallen Capital Management, an alternative investment advisor based in Switzerland. Thomas' professional career began at an investment bank in Germany, where he serviced institutional clients in Alternative Investments and Structured Products. He then became Co-CEO of a Zurich-based quantitative hedge fund and Director of a Malta-based Alternative Investment platform. Today, Thomas is CRO/COO at an USD $800m investment boutique in Switzerland and CEO/ founder of his own Commodity Trading Advisor. During his career, he served high net worth individuals, professional and institutional clients with regards to portfolio optimisation and developing investment strategies. Thomas holds a PhD from the University of St.Gallen, a MBA from Western Illinois University, a business diploma (Diplom-Kaufmann) from University of Mannheim and he is Research Professor for Financial Services at Hankou University.