About
Mathew Verdouw, CMT, CFTe
CEO and Founder of Optuma. Building technical-analysis software since 1996. Teaching all three CMT levels since 2016.
Within a year of graduating from University, I started Optuma (back then it was ‘Market Analyst’), a financial analysis platform for analysts and traders of financial markets. Over the years, with the team alongside me, we have built tools that real practitioners depend on, and we keep pushing on what the software can do.
Optuma started in June 1996. Thirty years on, the business has grown entirely on its own cashflow (no debt, no outside equity) into a premium platform for professional analysts and fund managers worldwide. The team works across Brisbane, the US, and London.
My focus is building tools that help our clients find investment opportunities through technical analysis, and measure the merit of those opportunities with quantitative analysis. The two disciplines belong in the same workflow.
I have the privilege of learning from, and teaching, private traders, RIAs, Wall Street desks, and some of the largest hedge funds in the world.
Building technical analysis tools since 1996 has given me a deep working knowledge of the field. I have been speaking at technical analysis events since 2011, and in 2016 I started teaching the full CMT curriculum to the professionals preparing to sit the exams.
More recently, my work has turned to the quantification of Technical Analysis, and to building tools that let any technical analyst put quantitative models into their workflow. I am applying that same thinking to professional funds management, bringing quantitative process to portfolio managers and advisors who already have a real investment process, while leaving the manager firmly in charge of the decision. The quant ranks and reasons. The manager decides.
My greatest skill has always been seeing solutions others cannot see. I am always questioning why things are the way they are. If there is a better way, I will find it.
Credentials
Education and certifications.
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B.Eng (Hons)
Computer Systems Engineering, RMIT, 1991–1994
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CMT
Chartered Market Technician, 2014, MTA NY
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CFTe
Certified Financial Technician, Mar 2015, IFTA
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CAIA candidate
In progress
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CMT curriculum author
RRG chapters + 4 quant/risk units (2024)
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Teaches all three CMT levels
The only person in the world currently doing so
Testimonials
What people say.
“I've had the privilege of knowing Mathew for 10 years now, and not just as the CEO of my favorite technical analysis software, but as a visionary, a teacher, and one of the most dynamic speakers I've ever seen take the stage. He's one of those rare minds who doesn't just understand technical analysis... he sees the architecture behind it.”
“I've known Mathew through my work with the Market Technician Association and by recently inviting him to speak at the Orlando MTA Regional Chapter Speaker series on the topic of Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG). His presentation skill reflects this character trait with an engaging yet humble delivery approach that steers clear from any marketing tendency.”
“Bennett and I have known Mathew for many years, since 2006. We can sincerely say that he is a technological genius as well as being a pleasure to partner with.”
“Mathew is a true pioneer in the industry, dedicated to creating the best trading tools and applications for the most demanding multi-level user.”
“On a professional level it is rare in business to find someone with high values and integrity and Mathew is certainly one of those people. I've been dealing with Mathew now for more than a decade and always found him genuinely open, honest and interested in my business and its success.”