He Got Tired Of Prop Firms... So He Built an AI Hedge Fund

<p>Dylan Maltman of Apex Capital Management (Cape Town) joins the show to break down how he went from a banned retail prop trader to running an AI-native futures hedge fund. </p><p>He details Apex&#39;s origin story, the difference between proprietary trading and challenge-based prop firms, and how Apex structures capital raising through SMAs vs. LPGP vehicles. </p><p><br></p><p>🎯 Sponsor: Prop Firm Match — Compare 40+ prop firms side-by-side. </p><p>Code MATCH</p><p>🔗 <a href="https://www.propfirmmatch.com/?a_aid=asfx " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.propfirmmatch.com/?a_aid=asfx </a></p><p><br></p><p>🔄 TradeSyncer — 30% off w/ code ASFX</p><p>🔗 <a href="https://www.asfx.biz/ts " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.asfx.biz/ts </a></p><p><br></p><p>🎥 Trade Live With Me — Free 30-day trial</p><p>🔗 <a href="https://www.asfx.biz/first " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.asfx.biz/first </a></p><p><br></p><p>🧠 TradeZella — 20% off w/ code ASFX</p><p>🔗 <a href="https://www.asfx.biz/tz" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.asfx.biz/tz</a> </p><p><br></p><p>He dives deep into daily operations — fully automated order-flow strategies run on the Sierra platform with Chicago colocation for millisecond latency — and explains why Apex doesn&#39;t do manual or discretionary trades, instead selling investors on a consistent risk/return distribution. </p><p>He also unpacks how AI now touches every part of the fund&#39;s research and execution pipeline, and closes with a technical breakdown of the order book square root law and why speed matters in delta/order-flow trading.</p><p><br></p><p>Connect with Dylan -<a href=" https://za.linkedin.com/in/dylan-maltman-8b575b1b1 " target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> https://za.linkedin.com/in/dylan-maltman-8b575b1b1 </a></p><p><br></p><p>00:01:22 – Dylan joins from Cape Town; intro and backstory with Austin</p><p>00:03:53 – What Apex Capital actually is: proprietary trading firm, not a challenge-based prop firm</p><p>00:05:09 – Dylan&#39;s background: crypto prop shop, sell-side derivatives, then going independent</p><p>00:06:01 – Getting banned from retail challenges, the Luxembourg hedge fund offer, and founding Apex in 2024</p><p>00:08:16 – Entrepreneurial mindset: separating the fantasy of trading from the reality</p><p>00:10:00 – Designing Apex&#39;s capital structure around survivability, not high-growth VC style</p><p>00:12:31 – Day-to-day life as a fund manager: strategy design, P&amp;L checks, watching latency</p><p>00:17:17 – Why Apex uses Sierra platform and Chicago colocation instead of building custom tech yet</p><p>00:18:01 – What it was like raising capital in the early days vs. now</p><p>00:23:01 – Apex&#39;s niche: asymmetric strategies for hedge funds and prop groups focused on drawdown</p><p>00:26:35 – How scaling client allocations works, from starting ticket to max cap</p><p>00:29:00 – SMA structure explained: how client money never touches Dylan directly</p><p>00:33:00 – Latency and risk engine allocation across sub-accounts explained</p><p>00:36:34 – Why Apex is fully automated with no manual/discretionary trades</p><p>00:44:19 – Biggest mistake: a risk-sizing error on a new order management system import</p><p>00:50:59 – Order book square root law explained — why speed matters in delta/order-flow trading</p><p>00:56:09 – Closing thoughts and where to find Dylan and Apex Capital</p>