Writing
Peer-reviewed papers, books, and essays by VS Asset Management's principals. Hand-curated.
Peer-reviewed papers
- Samir Varma, The False Promise of Drawdown Rules: New Evidence and a Better Framework, Journal of Portfolio Management 52(1), 2025, pp. 145–161.
Books and chapters
- Samir Varma, Quantum Theory meets Gravity, IntechOpen (2025). Co-editor and chapter contributor. An edited volume on the semiclassical frontier — where quantum field theory meets curved spacetime.
- Samir Varma, The Science of Free Will, Iff Books (Collective Ink) (2025). Determinism, agency, and what 'free will' could coherently mean. Foreword by Tyler Cowen. ISBN 978-1-80341-731-8.
- Samir Varma, Investor Behavior and Investment Strategies (editor and chapter contributor), IntechOpen (2026). Forthcoming.
Essays
- The Conservation Law of Tax Alpha, Substack (2026). On the structural limits of tax-alpha strategies.
- The Simplicity Tax, Substack (2026). Why retail investors pay more for simpler products, and what that reveals about behavioral finance.
- The Emperor Has No Alpha, Substack (2026). Why specific trades depreciate and the firm-building implications.
- The Stop-Loss That Stops Gains, Substack (2026). Plain-language version of the JPM drawdown-rules paper.
- So You Want to Be a Quant, Substack (2026). Source of the Risk Manager koan adapted on /principles/.
- The $50 Trillion Question, Substack (2025). On whether Wall Street's favorite recession predictor still works.
- A Perfectly Efficient Market, Substack (2025). Why a perfectly efficient market is incompatible with meritocracy.