$10,000 NAAIM 2011 Wagner Award Prize Goes to German Quantitative Trader and Software Programmer, Thomas Krawinkel, for an Innovative White Paper Entitled, “Buying Power – The Overlooked Success Factor”

LITTLETON, Colo. –Thomas Krawinkel of Ruesselsheim, Germany, is the 2011 winner of $10,000 Wagner Award for Advancements in Active Investment Management (https://www.naaim.org/wagneraward.aspx). Presented by the National Association of Active Investment Managers (NAAIM), the Wagner Award is designed to promote the visibility and credibility of active investment management strategies.

“Once again, an impressive set of papers from an international set of authors vying for NAAIM’s prestigious Wagner Award. Their willingness to share is in perfect keeping with the pervasive, networking spirit that exists amongst NAAIM members. Congratulations to the winners.”

“Mr. Krawinkel’s paper raises the issue of how limits on buying power in executing trades can have a significant impact on the active trader’s testing results or expectations,” said Jerry Wagner, President of Flexible Plan Investments and Co-Chair of the 2011 NAAIM Wagner Awards committee. “Krawinkel sheds light on the fact that parallel trades and the skipped trades that result from a lack of adequate capital, or incorrect stop loss or position sizing can substantially affect outcome. Too frequently, traders focus solely on entry and exit strategies, yet money management is often the most critical ingredient of long term success. This paper provides traders with tools to address this important concern.”

Krawinkel has a significant financial and technical background, including a Masters of Engineering and Business Administration from the Technical University of Berlin. He served as a financial controller in a number of corporations before devoting himself full time to private trading in 2010. An investor since the 1980s, his primary interest was in developing systems and using game theory to create trading strategies based on historical daily data. Krawinkel is currently developing his first intraday trading system. A devotee of scientific trading, Krawinkel is focused on building automated, mechanical trading systems.

The significance of Krawinkel’s paper is that it explores the compounding effect buying power can have on missed trades over time and how buying power plays a significant role in overall trading outcomes. As Bill Barack, current NAAIM Vice-President said, “Once again, an impressive set of papers from an international set of authors vying for NAAIM’s prestigious Wagner Award. Their willingness to share is in perfect keeping with the pervasive, networking spirit that exists amongst NAAIM members. Congratulations to the winners.”

The 2011 Wagner Awards attracted entries from across the U.S., Europe, Canada, India and New Zealand. Receiving second place in the competition was Gary Antonacci, Principal, Portfolio Management Associates of Sarasota, Florida with his paper on Optimal Momentum Investing. New Zealand native Tony Cooper, last year’s grand prize winner, was awarded the third place prize for his paper on Optimal Rotational Strategies. The second and third place winners received $3,000 and $1,000, respectively.

Top papers will be published on the NAAIM website at www.NAAIM.org, following the association’s May 2-4, 2011 annual conference in San Diego, California at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina. Mr. Krawinkel will be presenting his paper at the conference.To speak to Thomas Krawinkel about his paper, or to arrange an interview, please call Karen Andrews at 800-347-3539 ext. 116 , or send her an e-mail request at kandrews@flexibleplan.com.