Larry Hite

Larry Hite co-founded Mint Investment Management Company with Peter Matthews in 1981, building one of the earliest and most successful systematic commodity trading advisors. Before entering finance, Hite had careers as an actor, screenwriter, and horse breeder — an unusual background that perhaps contributed to his ability to think probabilistically and manage risk empirically. At Mint, Hite and his team developed purely systematic trend-following strategies applied across global futures markets in commodities, currencies, and financial instruments. The approach was strictly rules-based with no discretionary intervention, relying on price data alone without fundamental analysis. This methodology proved highly effective: Mint grew to become the world's largest CTA by 1990, managing over $1 billion in assets — a landmark milestone for the managed futures industry. The fund profited significantly during the 1987 stock market crash due to short equity index positions. Mint was featured prominently in Jack Schwager's "Market Wizards" (1989), which brought Hite's philosophies to a broad audience. Mint was acquired by Man Group in 1994 and became part of what would eventually evolve into the Man AHL franchise. Hite continues to be active in the investment industry through Hite Capital Management.