Addicted to trade

Gerry Black and Jeff Dean are used to people calling them crazy. They've heard it from friends and from brokers on the golf course. But they don't let it faze them — they chalk it up to people not understanding options.

Perhaps appropriately, their company's name is ITB Capital Management. ITB stands for “In the Black.” The company specializes in alternative investments, trading derivatives on the S&P 500.
It's difficult for many to understand the firm's strategy, for it relies on the volatility of the market rather than directional moves. For most investments, “if the market is up, you're doing well. If the market is down, it sucks,” Black says. “With this strategy, it doesn't have to go down when the market goes down.”

Black and Dean started trading together in 1995, but started their first fund in 2006. They projected to start with around $20 million to $25 million under management, but they ended up with more than $60 million in the first year. They now have more than $200 million in assets under management.