How did our student David become Trader of the Year and achieve a stunning +220% return on his capital?

David is no stranger to the world of trading. With nearly 30 years of experience, he has explored various strategies, transitioning from stocks to derivatives. However, something was missing—a solid method to make his trading more stable and repeatable over time.

That’s when he discovered the Unger Method, which became a game-changer. It wasn’t just about improving his technique; it was about learning a structured, systematic approach based on research, analysis, and risk management.

By adopting this method, David transformed his approach, refined his portfolio, and achieved outstanding results.

In today’s interview, you’ll discover:
•How David achieved his impressive results
•Why the Unger Method made the difference in his journey
•The tools and strategies that helped him optimize risk management

Enjoy the interview!

Transcription

Introduction

Chelsi
Hello everyone, welcome back! Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing our 2024 Trader of the Year, David, who secured his victory with earnings of over €108,000—an impressive return of +220% on his initial capital. Wow, David, congratulations!

David
Hi! Thank you very much!

Chelsi
Now, this isn't the first time we've spoken with David. We actually did an interview a few months ago because, in addition to winning Trader of the Year, David also won Trader of the Month in August 2024 and Strategy of the Month in October 2024, proving the consistency of his results using the Unger Method. So, David, I’d like to start by asking you to introduce yourself again for our audience. Tell us a little bit about what you do and your daily life.

David’s profession and background

David
I’m 52 years old, I’m a computer engineer, and I work for a telecommunications company. I have a young son, a partner, and a few hobbies—one of them, of course, is trading.

His journey since joining the program

Chelsi
Great, thank you! And how long have you been a part of Unger Academy?

David
I joined in 2023—it was May of 2023. At that time, I had some extra free time at work, so I took the opportunity to sign up.

His experience trading live in the markets

Chelsi
Nice, thanks! And how long have you been trading live in the markets?

David
It's been many years because this goes back to the late '90s, so I guess it's been almost 30 years. Initially, I worked with stocks, then I started investing in derivatives, beginning with options before moving on to futures and then other instruments. So, let's say it's been a long journey, considering my age.

David’s portfolio

Chelsi
Yes. Now, let's talk about your victory as Trader of the Year. This is your statement. Looking at this performance, I imagine you operate with a rather extensive portfolio. How many strategies are you using at the moment? Are you working only with strategies you've created yourself, or do you also use the ready-made strategies from our collections, such as the Million Dollar Database?

David
I mainly trade the major US futures, so I don’t trade stocks using the Unger Method, nor do I trade cryptocurrencies. My total portfolio consists of about 200 strategies, of which around 40 were developed by me personally, while the rest were downloaded from the Academy’s databases. This includes both the Million Dollar Database and the database of the best strategies from the Strategy of the Month contest.

Among these 200 strategies, I use Titan to select which ones to run live each month. On average, over the last few months, I’ve had about 25 active strategies. However, when I started, my capital was significantly lower, so I began with just three systems. Also, I jumped straight into trading large contracts—I don’t use mini or micro futures. As a result, handling too many strategies at once was overwhelming, and I ran into margin limitations that caused the strategies to stop.

Chelsi
So now your approach is a bit leaner, let’s say…

David
Yes, exactly. Now, thanks to having more capital, I can run anywhere between 20 and 30 strategies live each month.

Chelsi
Ok.

David
Among those 200 I mentioned earlier.

The most valuable content from the Unger Strategy Club for David

Chelsi
I know you're also a member of the Unger Strategy Club. Which club resources have been the most helpful to you? For example, the Masterclasses or maybe insights from the monthly videos?

David
Yes, all the content has been useful. Initially, I joined when I decided to start using Titan. Since I wanted to build the widest possible portfolio of strategies, and since club membership allows you to download the best strategies that participated in the Strategy of the Month contest, as I mentioned earlier... At first, I signed up for that reason.

Then, after joining, I started taking advantage of the content as well. I think I've watched all the Masterclasses, and I also found the videos on trading insights very useful. The Masterclasses are great because they provide guidance on a specific topic covered in each session.

But beyond that, through the discussions coaches have during the Masterclasses or from the questions asked by students, I've come up with several ideas for things I hadn't considered before. These insights have given me the inspiration to develop new systems or refine existing ones to make them more profitable—in other words, to improve their results.

I think this is one of the biggest benefits of being part of the Academy. By interacting with others, you often exchange ideas that you wouldn’t have come up with if you were working alone. At the same time, you also provide ideas to other participants—sometimes things that seem basic to you but turn out to be useful for someone else.

Chelsi
That’s exactly the point...

David
Another great aspect is participating in the Strategy of the Month contest. Of course, there’s the incentive of winning an Amazon gift card, but beyond that, when all the students developing strategies come together, and the coaches select the best ones, it’s clear that everyone benefits. In the end, it’s helpful for those who use the strategies.

How David managed and overcame his biggest drawdowns

Chelsi
Exactly. Ok, looking at your statement again, we see a 32% drawdown. Would you be open to sharing how you experienced that? Because seeing it as a number on the screen is one thing, but living through it is a whole different story.

David
Yes, that’s right. As you said, when you see a drawdown on a chart, it never has the same emotional impact as experiencing it firsthand. One reason is that, on a chart, you usually see that at some point, the curve reverses its trend and starts climbing again. But seeing it theoretically is very different from living through it in practice.

Actually, I went through two significant drawdowns in 2024. Managing these periods is probably one of the hardest aspects of trading because they can trigger a chain reaction of psychological mechanisms that, if not controlled, can make things even worse.

It's clear that if someone doesn't have a predefined risk management framework, their risk increases even more. In my case, I was lucky because both of these drawdowns occurred after a period of significant profits, so I was always able to cover them with the profits I had made up to that point. This means I never had to dip into my initial capital.

Psychologically, this is a great advantage because if I had started off with a drawdown right away, meaning I had immediately eaten into my initial capital, it would have been much harder to handle from a psychological standpoint.

And as we mentioned earlier, experience also plays a role. Having a long track record in trading has helped me because I had already encountered similar situations before. Anyone who has been trading for only a few years knows that negative periods are inevitable. The market doesn’t always go in your favor.

Chelsi
Right.

David
Another factor that helps me is that trading is a side activity for me, alongside my primary job. This allows me to handle drawdowns with a bit more detachment.

Chelsi
Unfortunately, drawdowns are part of the trading lifestyle and can be quite intimidating, especially for those who are new to live trading. How do you manage them from a risk management perspective? Do you have specific thresholds that make you reassess your trading approach? What advice would you give to other traders, especially beginners?

David
Well, during my second drawdown—which wasn’t actually the 32% one but had a slightly lower percentage impact—because it came at a time when I had a much larger capital invested, it was heavier in absolute terms than the first one, the 32% drawdown you mentioned earlier. In that situation, I decided to start using Titan, a tool that allows you to manage risk by setting thresholds that help you select strategies. It enables you to pick strategies that are high-performing while ensuring that you don’t exceed a certain risk level.

So, the advice I can give is that since these periods are unavoidable in the course of a trading career, it's best to treat them as opportunities for improvement. That’s what I tried to do when I started using Titan. It was something I knew I would have to incorporate sooner or later, but I had always postponed it.

The reason I hadn’t implemented it earlier was partly because I didn’t have much time to dedicate to it, and things were going well regardless, so I didn’t feel the need. But when that drawdown happened, I finally started using it, and I must say I’m pleased with the results. Now, as described in the Titan course, I review my strategies on a monthly basis, disabling those that are underperforming and activating those that have the potential to perform well based on the output provided by Titan.

The key aspects of the Unger Academy program that benefited him the most

Chelsi
Great, great words of wisdom! Learning and turning these experiences into opportunities for growth is very wise… Listen up, everyone! Excellent. So, in your opinion, what aspects of the training program helped you the most in achieving the results we discussed in this interview?

David
I think the most valuable parts were the content on developing trading systems, the entire section on the Unger Method, and probably the one on strategy evaluation as well. The evaluation and validation of strategies, especially in that initial phase of 2024, were particularly helpful.
I followed the AlgoTrader Fast program, which includes two key sections: one on the Unger Method and another on strategy evaluation and validation.

Chelsi
Oh, yes!

David
Since much of 2024, I dedicated my time primarily to developing strategies—both selecting those from the Million Dollar Database and creating new ones. The results I achieved were thanks to these strategies I had developed, so those two sections were probably particularly useful during that phase. However, I think all the content in the course is valuable, even those things that might seem more basic at first. Eventually, they prove to have very practical applications.

Chelsi
Yes, at first, it might feel like a lot to absorb, but once you start applying things, you begin to see how it all comes together.

David
Exactly, step by step. In my case, I didn’t go through the entire course and immediately start applying 100% of what I had learned. Instead, I began with the fundamentals and gradually added more. For example, in October, I started incorporating Titan into my tools, and now there’s the new software, Zeus, which has just been released, so we’ll see how that plays out.

Even the Tips and Tricks section, which may seem trivial at first, is extremely useful. It helps save a lot of money in slippage costs. Of course, it depends on the trading volume, but these savings can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. And it’s a simple fix—you just need to insert a few lines of code to avoid certain issues.

David’s future trading goals

Chelsi
Great, thank you! So, one last question: Looking ahead, what are your next trading goals? And how do you think the Unger Academy can continue to support you? For instance, would you like to add a specific type of instrument to your portfolio, such as options or cryptocurrencies maybe?

David
Yes, absolutely! I’d like to start working with options. More broadly, I want to reduce the volatility of my returns. Looking at my 2024 statement, things went really well—no complaints—but there was significant volatility. Now that I’ve invested a larger amount of capital, I’d like my portfolio to be less volatile, even if that means sacrificing a portion of my returns.

So, I’d like to diversify, starting with options and possibly exploring other opportunities as well. I’ve noticed there’s a lot of content on this topic in the platform.

As I mentioned earlier, I believe the Unger Academy can really support me in this journey. More generally, it helps me develop new ideas and stay up to date with the latest advancements. For example, I recently encountered an issue with software updates, and the coaches immediately made resources available to assist. I’m confident that the Unger Academy will continue to help and support me in many ways to reach my trading goals.

Chelsi
Yes, and we always strive to do so. We really appreciate all the feedback we receive—it’s extremely valuable to us. Since the market is constantly evolving, we need to evolve with it. Otherwise, staying stagnant means falling behind, right? I imagine that applies to trading as well. Fantastic, David. Congratulations again on your amazing results—truly impressive!

David
Thank you!

Chelsi
We hope you continue to have all the success in your trading journey. Thanks again for your time today, and I look forward to seeing you as the Trader of the Year in 2025!

David
Let’s hope so! It won’t be easy, but I certainly hope so. Thanks again!

Chelsi
Maybe you’ll even win Trader of the Month here and there. Thank you so much, David. Your insights have been incredibly valuable for both traders and other students. Thanks again!

David
Thank you.

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