A new US player in the world of commodity investing has been launched and takes inspiration, founders say, from the "Moneyball" strategies associated with a book and film about baseball.

A new US commodity-focused investment firm by the name of Argon Capital and inspired by a book and Hollywood movie about baseball strategy has been launched by a former senior figure at Graham Capital and a head of fixed income structuring at Barclays. 

The firm seeks to raise $400 million to $500 million with six underlying portfolio managers for its inaugural offering, it said in a statement.

Argon says it “will provide unique institutional access to the commodities markets by employing accomplished portfolio managers in a single fund that deploys a range of strategies in futures, equities, currencies, and credit”. The founders are Aurelia Lamorre-Cargill, previously of Barclays Capital and JP Morgan, and Marcos Bueno, previously of Graham Capital, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Bueno holds the role of chief investment risk officer and all portfolio managers will report to him, according to a statement from the firm. The structure is designed, Argon says, to allow portfolio managers to focus entirely on strategy performance rather than to market funds or manage the business side of operations. Lamorre-Cargill is the firm’s chief executive.

“We’ve created a unique structure for the commodities space, comprising niche, in-house portfolio managers each running separate strategies to generate a differentiated return profile, independent of any one person, market, style or product, and underpinned by a proven risk management framework”, Bueno said. 

“We see this approach as the ‘Moneyball’ of commodities as we strive to unearth different skillsets that complement each other, for the long-term benefit of investors.” (The term refers to a book by Michael Lewis, called Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game, published in 2003, that explains how the Oakland Athletics baseball team and general manager Billy Beane employed analytical, statistical techniques to winning games despite the team’s relatively poor financial position relative to other sides. A film starring Brad Pitt in the lead role was subsequently made.)

This publication is in contact with the firm asking about what sort of returns expectations it has, and may update on this matter later. The commodity market has seen a number of big moves in recent years, with oil and gold prices both coming under pressure in recent months. At the start of 2015, the World Bank said that all nine of the key commodity price indices were likely to fall in 2015.

“Argon isn’t a culture of reckless commodity traders, which is a common misconception of the asset class in general; it’s a risk-managed, process-oriented philosophy focused on steady, long-term investor benefits with a highly scalable business model. Having personally witnessed various cycles and the changes in the commodities landscape, I’m very excited for what the future of our space holds,” Bueno said.

It is understood from a source that the business is aiming at investment returns in the region of 15 to 20 per cent. The firm declined to comment.