Ex-Fed trader Coffey on macro risks and VAR

Myopic models are creating feedback loops, warns founder of new macro firm Avoca

Niall Coffey: “Many investors have not learned the lessons of the global financial crisis”

Asset prices are at an all-time high. Volatility is at historic lows. And Niall Coffey is uneasy.

The founder of Avoca Global Advisors, a global macro investment and research firm, sees rising macroeconomic and systemic risks on the horizon. Yet investors seem confident in central banks’ ability to maintain financial stability.

“Many investors have not learned the lessons of the global financial crisis, which stemmed directly from the inability of the major central banks to properly assess and