The LSE Directory / Trading influencers
Jim Carroll is a Senior Wealth Advisor and Portfolio Manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth in Charleston, South Carolina, best known online as the author of the X account Vixologist and the Vixology Substack, where he analyzes the VIX complex, volatility ETPs, futures term structure and the effects of 0DTE options on the volatility landscape. His career spans four years as a U.S. Army officer, sixteen years in investment banking at Smith Barney, Kidder Peabody and Bear Stearns, a stint as CFO of a Nasdaq-listed company, founding LongRun Capital Management in 2003, and a portfolio manager role at Toroso Advisors/Tidal Financial Group before joining Ballast Rock in September 2023. He publishes a composite volatility gauge he calls the "VIX Mix," is a frequent podcast guest (The Acquirers Podcast, Value After Hours, Stansberry Investor Hour, Volatility Views), and was part of Ballast Rock's finalist nomination for the Wealth Management 2025 Industry Awards Thought Leader of the Year. His X profile showed roughly 29.3K followers in mid-2026, and Substack describes his Vixology publication as having thousands of subscribers.
