Always Up For A Challenge

Quantedge Capital's co-founder Leow Kah Shin has conquered the highest peaks, the longest distances, and the harshest terrains. And he's not done yet.

- GRACE MA

The word “impossible” does not exist in Leow Kah Shin’s vocabulary.

In 2006, the co-founder of macro hedge fund Quantedge Capital started out by managing US$3 million (S$3.9 million) in funds from his bedroom. By the end of 2022, Quantedge had over 70 employees working in its Singapore and New York offices. With over US$2 billion in managed assets and a track record of over 20 per cent annualised return since inception, it was ranked among the top 10 global hedge funds in the world. Not bad for someone who started investing his own money at a young age and had family members and friends wanting him to do the same for them.

Conquering financial peaks is not Leow’s only passion. While living in the US, Leow was an avid mountaineer and hiker, but switched to running ultramarathons after moving back to Singapore in 2006 “because there are no mountains to climb in Singapore!”

Since then, Leow has completed endurance races such as the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon series, a four-race series of 250km across deserts around the world, self-supported races across the Namib, Gobi and Atacama deserts, and The Last Desert in Antarctica. In addition, he completed the 171-km Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, which has an elevation gain of 9,963m.