“It was a tough existence,” he said.
By 2007, Raazi was selling products called credit-default swaps to hedge funds. A client asked him how to create a short position on the mortgage market, Raazi said.
‘Recognize Cactus’
The ensuing experience landed Raazi a mention at a post-crisis congressional hearing. The subject line for a March 14, 2007, email from Tom Montag, Goldman’s trading boss at the time, to then-Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, read “Cactus Delivers,” and described how Raazi “covered another 1.2 billion in shorts in mortgages.”
“Please recognize Cactus when you get a chance,” another Goldman executive said in the email thread, according to a submission to Senate investigators.
Raazi said that every email he sent during that time has been examined and nothing out of order was found, he said.
“I’m proud of that,” he said.
After failing to be named partner in 2010, Raazi left Goldman. A trip to a Thai elephant sanctuary that year eventually inspired the name of his new firm.
“I was just deeply affected by spending time with them,” he said.
Banks are now approaching Elefant, where coders outnumber traders four to one, to inquire about using its prices, he said. Far from skidding his old Toyota in the rare Southern California rain, Raazi sees a clear path where Wall Street and investors will buy the software-derived prices he’s offering.
“Asset managers want to see this type of transaction,” he said. “They ask for it every time I visit them.”