14 Years on the Equities Desk: The Truth About Big Money Trading | Luis d'Amato

Most advice on wealth is written by people who've never traded through hyperinflation, been on a trading floor on 9/11, or built a firm after being legally barred from their industry for eight years. This conversation is different.Luis D'Amato spent 20 years inside Hedging Griffo — Brazil's legendary trading house acquired by Credit Suisse — then walked away with an eight-year non-compete to build Aston Capital Management from zero in Miami. He now manages $700M across US taxpayers and international families.The Aston 7-Asset Endowment Allocation:→ 25% equities (low end of range — valuations stretched after three strong years)→ 5% hedge funds (discretionary macro for negative correlation)→ 10% cash (tight credit spreads don't pay you to take risk)→ 25% public credit→ 10% private equity / venture→ 10% private real estate (tax-advantaged for US payers)→ 15% private credit — never sponsor-backed direct lendingOn 9/11, Luis was on the phone with his Bear Stearns counterpart when the second plane hit. A director on his desk said it was impossible — it couldn't be a second plane. Brazil's exchange closed within the hour. The lesson wasn't about markets. It was that the people closest to the information are often the last to believe what's actually happening.Three red flags when hiring a wealth advisor:→ They work at a bank (not a fiduciary — shareholders come first)→ They earn on trading commissions (incentive to churn your account)→ You can't see the fees (rebates and spreads buried in products)Why this matters past $10M: The real alpha isn't in stock picking. It's rebalancing discipline, tax-aware allocation across liquid and illiquid buckets, and access to niche managers too small for the big bank platforms. Luis runs the same allocation for a $100K Aston Fund investor that he runs for $10M+ wealth clients. That's what fiduciary actually looks like.Books Mentioned:Do Nothing! Discover the Power of Hands-Off Leadership (Keith Murnighan)Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life (Bill Perkins)The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness (Morgan Housel)The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness (Robert Waldinger & Marc Schulz)Que Bobagem! (Natalia Pasternak & Carlos Orsi) — Portuguese onlyScientific American — MagazineThe Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative (Glenn C. Loury)For founders post-exit, family office principals, and anyone whose private banker has never said the word "rebalance."Subscribe for more insights from leaders redefining what it means to be truly wealthy. Interested in becoming a member of R360 Global? Visit our website: https://www.r360global.com/ Charlie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlespgarcia/Charlie’s Substack: https://substack.com/@cpgarcia? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortunatefishes/ X: https://x.com/R360FISHES#UltraHighNetWorth #FamilyOffice #WealthManagement #PrivateCredit #PortfolioAllocation #Endowment #HedgeFunds #PrivateEquity #FiduciaryAdvisor #AssetAllocation #PostExitPlanning #FortunateFISHES #CharlieGarcia #LuisDAmato #AstonCapital #HedgingGriffo #CreditSuisse #EmergingMarkets #BrazilInvesting #MiamiWealth #IronmanMindset #DieWithZero #MorganHousel #KelloggMBA #CFA #AlternativeInvestments #RIA #OffshoreInvesting #WealthTransfer #LegacyPlanning"Message us"