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BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION NOW >>In 2022, our student Massimo earned over €142,300, with a return of +54% and a drawdown of less than 4%. The key to his success lies in his passion, commitment, perseverance, and the desire to develop and improve constantly.
After starting discretionary trading in 2015, Massimo switched to a systematic approach in 2017. Despite a long drawdown period between 2018 and 2019, he never gave up and learned from his mistakes to recover and end 2019 positively.
In the following years, he continued to study and improve his portfolio until he reached the outstanding performance of 2022.
In the interview, Massimo talks about:
-his trading journey
-his approach to the markets
-how he managed the 2018-19 drawdown
-his experience with our trading program.
Enjoy the video! 😉
Introduction
Chelsi
Hello everyone, I'm Chelsi from the Unger Academy.
And today I'm with Massimo, who made a gain of over €140.000 and a return of 54% in 2022, with an incredible drawdown of only 3.7%.
And that’s why we are so proud to name him our "Trader of the Year 2022."
Hi Massimo, how are you?
Massimo
Very well! Thank you, Chelsi.
Chelsi
Good, good. Congratulations on winning Trader of the Year 2022! I'm glad you’re here to share a little bit about your experience with our training program, and with systematic trading in general, and how it went in 2022.
Who is Massimo and how did he become a systematic trader
First of all, I'd like you to tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do, and what’s your job.
Massimo
Okay, thank you for the compliments. I don't think they are well deserved, but thank you. So, my name is Massimo, I live in Italy and in life my job is.... Well I have a betting agency. So, I deal mainly with that.
I started trading almost by accident, let's say. But then this passion was born, and I'm still trading.
I started basically in 2015, around 2016, with the first contacts. I didn't even know what it was.
Then I started with, let's say, discretionary trading. I had contacts with some schools, I did some discretionary trading, and in those years, my brother and , we made trading plans together, so it was discretionary trading, although a little bit mechanical. We would sit down in front of the platforms, we would draw lines on charts, and look at how far the market swung based on a signal, the classic signals (inside bar, outside bar, the lows and highs of the day). We would make packs and packs and packs of papers. I mean really...
Chelsi
So, everything on paper?
Massimo
Yes, yes, everything on paper.
Chelsi
Wow!
Massimo
It used to take weeks to make a trading plan – and 9 times out of 10, you’d just discard it – and then you would put it on Excel and look at the swings, etc., etc.
Until 2017, 2016-2017 when... when I wondered if mankind, after sending a spaceship to Mars, would have been able to develop software that would do all this work for us.
So I went on the Internet, and I searched, and searched, and searched. And then I came across, if you can call it that, Andrea Angiolini, who was working with Francesco Placci of Algoritmica at the time, and so I bought courses from them and learned about systematic trading.
I started with them. I went all the way with them, and then in the following years, I also looked for other situations to learn different things, also to compare, you know, to see if there were other systems, and so on and so forth.
I also came across Unger Academy. By the way, that was a decision that was almost a bit "influenced", you would say, because my coach, Francesco Placci, told me about Andrea Unger, the world trading champion.
I said, well, whatever, let me see what he offers, and I went in.
If I remember correctly, it was called Skilled Academy at that time.
Chelsi
Yes.
Massimo
Or something like that, yeah. And I started training also with you. Then with others as well. Unfortunately, I also encountered, and I still encounter crooks who make you spend money but give you nothing substantial. Anyway, I took several courses, including yours, which have substance instead.
Most of the courses where I found substance end up offering more or less the same thing, with various facets, but in the end they propose the same thing, let's say, a systematic approach to trading.
Benefits of the Unger Academy training program
Chelsi
Okay. For those who may not know, Andrea Angiolini and Francesco Placci are now part of Unger Academy. Okay, aside from having a mountain of paper to deal with, what problem did you have before joining our program?
Massimo
Look, I have to tell you honestly that I didn’t have any particular problems before I joined your program. However, it's true that in your program I found a systematic way to deal with specific problems.
This is something that gives you advantages at the working level, let's say. It gives you huge advantages because you already know what steps you have to follow to get to the end of a trading system or a trading system portfolio, you follow them, and you slowly get there.
So let's say that the systematics, the mechanics of the process, is something that I found in your program and that I was very, very pleased with.
Comparison with other training programs
Chelsi
Okay. So, just as you said earlier, I mean, compared to other programs out there, I mean, you found our...
Massimo
Definitely comprehensive, definitely very, very serious, and professional. Compared to many others that I’ve done, many others that I've attended, I've seen, and I've studied. I have to say that you have a similar approach compared to others that I still think are serious.
Chelsi
Okay. Is there anything in particular in our program that really helped you? I mean, why was it so effective?
Massimo
Well, a lot of things. As I said before, the systematic approach to the programs. I'll give you an example: when I develop trading systems, I stand there, I have my ideas, and then I start to build them according to your methodology. So, you study the underlying assets, come up with the idea, and then start applying patterns, et cetera, et cetera.
I'm a big fan of simplicity. Certainly, Unger and his coaches will hate me, but, for example, of your patterns that you use lately in teaching, fast, neutral, upper, lower, I don't use anything.
I just use the old basic patterns that Andrea came up at the beginning. In fact, I even took some of them out. I like things that are very simple, very basic, without.... You know, if I have to invent something, I do something very fancy, and then it's a different approach.
Live trading results
Chelsi
Okay, so tell us a little about your successes over the last few years, both last year and this year.
Massimo
So, I started late in 2016, let's say early 2017 to make it easier. I started slowly in 2017 because I just came out of the first months of programming with Andrea Angiolini, who I'll thank forever and ever. I wasn't that capable, so I took a few systems kindly provided by Andrea, some other systems I had just bought from Algoritmica, and I started.
And things went slowly but well in 2017, I ended a year with +5% or something like that. Then came 2018, a little bit because of 2018, because it was a terrible year, and mainly because it was my fault because I was conceited…
And from March 2018, I went into continuous drawdown until the middle of 2019, so I had a year and a half of complete drawdown. I wiped out almost 50% of my account, and that's simply because – well, nothing, basically, I’ll repeat myself, I mean, I was conceited. "I figured it all out, I'm in, I’m doing it", and then I blew it.
In the middle of 2019, I stopped and I slowly started to put back the systems that were running better.
I discarded everything that didn't work, although I had thought it should have work. And I re-optimized my portfolio because I was very heavily exposed to the indexes, and I had left out everything else. So gradually, things started to go again.
In 2019, I managed to finish the year even in positive territory, recovered all the drawdown, and closed slightly in positive territory. And then, from then on, all of the following years, 2020-2021-2022, were 20%, 30%, 40%, and this year even 50%. I’m over the moon.
Chelsi
Indeed.
Massimo
I didn't think I could achieve such results.
The importance of a difficult period
Chelsi
Impressive, and what about that period of drawdown?
Massimo
Well, that was the best thing that happened to me, in my opinion, anyway, Because it made me pause, because I realized what I had done wrong. And I'll tell you even more. Once I stopped the systems in June 2019, I would have had a stellar month if I hadn't stopped them. But if that month had been the month before, I probably wouldn't have stopped the systems. I would have continued to think that I was unsurpassable, and probably wouldn't be here now.
Instead, I took the beating right to the end. I stopped, and there I said, wait, something isn’t working, and so I started redoing things according to more correct methods, including yours, because, again, it's undoubtedly very very valid.
How trading is changing his life
Chelsi
Okay, great. How has your life changed since you recovered from the drawdown? Now you know more or less how to go forward. So how has it changed?
Massimo
Well, Chelsi, I come from a period when... excuse me... I came from a period where I was working so much, really day and night, because I had 2 companies, one of which I sold.
When I started trading, I started because I liked it. It was my passion... Maybe that is what everyone starts for. I must tell you that I never had particular expectations because I'm always afraid. I like to keep my feet on the ground. I'm always afraid that maybe I’ve got too big expectations. Then you get disappointed, and so on, and that’s why I never had any extraordinary expectations.
But I won't deny that now I kind of gave up, on the work level I mean, and I'm seriously thinking about making this my main profession, so a little bit out of passion and a little bit because it's a profession anyway that gives you a certain level of freedom that other jobs just don't give you.
Although the idea that you have all this freedom is almost a fairy tale because, in the end, there is a lot to do, there is a lot of work, you need to strive because otherwise you wouldn't make anything out of it. Anyway, I like it, I like to do it, and so that's the change that's coming, let's say, in my life.
As to giving up, I have two brothers, so I’d leave to my brothers the other part of what I still have, and I’d take care only and exclusively of trading. But for the time being, I’ll continue going on like this.
Advice for aspiring traders
Chelsi
Alright. Finally, I’d like to ask you what you would say to people who are watching this interview and may still be undecided about whether they should join the program?
Massimo
As general advice, I’d say that the job of a trader isn’t easy, and you really have to work hard and do your part. You have to do your part, just like any other job you learn. It takes time, it takes patience, you have to take the slaps in the face because they are all part of the journey. Then, slowly, slowly, slowly, you start to understand where and how you have to work.
As far as the training path is concerned, Unger Academy’s training, wow, definitely A+, absolutely nothing else to say. And it’s a very very comprehensive training program. It is a program that gives you what you need to be able to deal with this profession.
Chelsi
Excellent. Massimo, thank you so much for your time and congratulations again for a successful 2022. Also, best wishes for an even more satisfying 2023!
Massimo
See you again in 2023 then!
Chelsi
Thank you very much Massimo.
Massimo
All right. Thanks to you, thanks to you.
Chelsi
Bye-bye!
Massimo
Bye-bye!
We'll help you map out a plan to fix the problems in your trading and get you to the next level. Answer a few questions on our application and then choose a time that works for you.
BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION NOW >>Andrea Unger here and I help retail traders to improve their trading, scientifically. I went from being a cog in the machine in a multinational company to the only 4-Time World Trading Champion in a little more than 10 years.
I've been a professional trader since 2001 and in 2008 I became World Champion using just 4 automated trading systems.
In 2015 I founded Unger Academy, where I teach my method of developing effecting trading strategies: a scientific, replicable and universal method, based on numbers and statistics, not hunches, which led me and my students to become Champions again and again.
Now I'm here to help you learn how to develop your own strategies, autonomously. This channel will help you improve your trading, know the markets better, and apply the scientific method to financial markets.
Becoming a trader is harder than you think, but if you have passion, will, and sufficient capital, you'll learn how to code and develop effective strategies, manage risk, and diversify a portfolio of trading systems to greatly improve your chances of becoming successful.
