Artificial Intelligence
Systemic Impact and ESG Investing in Smart Cities
Feb 2nd, 2021 | Filed under: Infrastructure, Newly Added, Artificial Intelligence, Operationally Intensive Real Assets, ESG, Other Topics in Alts
What is a smart city? By definition, a smart city is “a city that uses technology and data purposefully to make better decisions and deliver better quality of life.” Technology is intricately embedded into the everyday life of city dwellers through network devices, applications, and widely distributed usage. The combinationRead More
Hedge Fund Battle: Discretionary vs Systematic Investing
Dec 15th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Alpha Strategies, Artificial Intelligence, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in Alts
By Nicolas Rabener, CAIA, Factor Research & Karl Rogers, ACE Capital Investments INTRODUCTION Anyone who has watched the hit TV show “Billions” will have noticed that the hedge fund billionaire Bobby Axelrod and his former lieutenant, and occasional nemesis, Taylor Mason have totally different trading styles. Bobby, although mathematically gifted,Read More
Growing a Green Decision Tree—Machine Learning and ESG
Nov 23rd, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, ESG, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsAssuming that the growth of environmental, social, and governance-based investing is not yet at, but is approaching, a tipping point, and assuming that knowing that tipping point with precision will yield alpha, can machine learning help find it? That is the question posed in a recent paper by the globalRead More
The Kudlow Report(s)
Oct 26th, 2020 | Filed under: Alternative data, What about beta?, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Investments in Context, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association Maybe Howard Marks was right when he wrote about Investing Without People. In that memo he talks about the machine which can largely excel at anything that is quantitative and can be counted: in games like chess and Go, the machine can study andRead More
The Alternative Imperative, Part II
Oct 25th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Alternative data, The Global Economy & Currencies, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in AltsBy Rick Roche, CAIA, Little Harbor Advisors, LLC Part 2 of a two-part series on The Alternative Imperative in the COVID Era. In Part 2, the author tackles notorious technology laggards. This piece transitions to alternative data pioneers (Alt-Venturers) and the 4-1-1 on Alt-Data: Hype or Hope? The author dispelsRead More
The Alternative Imperative, Part 1
Oct 6th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Alternative data, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Investments in Context, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in AltsBy Rick Roche, CAIA, Managing Director of Little Harbor Advisors, LLC Part 1 of a two-part series on Alternative Investment Data (Alt-Data) in the COVID Era. In Part 1, the author makes the case for high-frequency, short-interval Alt-Data while discussing three primary drawbacks of interpreting official economic statistics amid aRead More
CONNECTING THE DOTS WITH AI AND KNOWLEDGE GRAPHS
Sep 20th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Mehrzad Mahdavi, PhD, Executive Director, FDP Institute Imagine if your social media posts or articles were generated automatically by AI as if they were authored by you…well, that day is here! The next generation of NLP called “Generative Pre-trained Transformer, third generation”, or GPT-3, was recently released for betaRead More
AI, What Have You Done for Me Lately?
Sep 10th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, ETFs, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Allocating to Alts, Other Topics in AltsBy Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch (@FactorResearch) INVESTING IN AI VERSUS AI INVESTING “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies.” – Sam Altman If investors are looking for that one great AI company that will also end theRead More
Humans are Not Obsolete: We Bring the Razor
Sep 9th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsArtificial intelligence, understood in a broad sense to include Big Data and machine learning, is a vast as-yet unplumbed disruption for portfolio management and trading as for so much else. People are still trying to get a handle on it. These are fields in which there is a great dealRead More
Seeking to Predict Recessions? Focus on the Forest—Not the Trees
Jul 21st, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Alternative Investments in Context, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Keith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director, CAIA Association The FDP Institute recently spoke with Al Yazdani, the chief data scientist and founder of Calcolo Analytics, regarding his forthcoming article in the Journal of Financial Data Science: “Machine Learning Prediction of Recessions: An Imbalanced Classification Approach.” The authorRead More
Technology: Aiding and Abetting the Democratization of Alternative Investments
Jul 14th, 2020 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Private Equity, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Fintech, Venture capital, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Other Issues in Private Investments, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Private Investments, Other Topics in AltsA recent working paper for the European Corporate Governance Institute maintains that technology has the potential to make hedge funds and private equity more accessible to the retail investor. The paper, by Omololu Bajulaiye of Tilburg University, along with some other scholars begins with the non-controversial proposition that venture capital,Read More
Changes are coming
Jul 12th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Fintech, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsThis article was co-authored by Dr Mehrzad Mahdavi and Hossein Kazemi, Phd, CFA from FDP Institute, and William J. Kelly from CAIA Association Digital transformation, with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies at its core, has created unprecedented challenges and opportunities across all industries. The financial sector will be profoundly affected as demonstrated by numerous use casesRead More
Machine Learning Goes Global
Jul 2nd, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsA recent test of machine learning in pursuit of alpha finds results similar to what established literature already suggests in looking specifically at the value of algorithms in the US market. But this study then goes global, in a way that most of existing literature on this question has not,Read More
SAVING THE WORLD BY ‘TECHNOLOGIZING’ INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT
Jun 21st, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Institutional Investing, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Endowments & Foundations, Climate change, Institutional Asset Management, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Ashby Monk, Executive and Research Director at Global Projects Center, Stanford University & Dane Rook, Research Engineer at Global Projects Center, Stanford University “The world needs institutional investors to save society as we know it.” Say these words to your mother, and she may check your temperature; say them at aRead More
‘HAL, Determine the Fatness of the Tail’
Jun 11th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, Machine Learning, Finance & Economics, Other Topics in AltsThere has been a lot of commentary in the financial press about the idea of “fat tails,” that is, about the idea that disasters are more common than a normal or bell curve view of probability would lead one to expect. Indeed, one might even say that there is someRead More
Has the Corona Virus Helped to Erode the Hype Around Artificial Intelligence?
Jun 4th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Dr. Mehrzad Mahdavi, Executive Director, CEO Financial Data Professionals Institute According to a recent WSJ article, (subscription required) many companies have just discovered that AI is not some kind of magic sauce that could be poured over any business process to transform it into a moneymaking machin. The article also points outRead More
Stat Arb, Algos and the Difference Between Cats and Dogs
Jun 1st, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, The Alts Industry, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in AltsA co-founder of Quantigic Solutions has presented what he calls “the freshmanlevel” answer to the question: why did dollar-neutral quant trading strategies, such as equities stat arb, fail so markedly during the COVID-19 market sell-off? Zura Kakushadze, a professor at the Free University of Tblisi, is on reasonably solid groundRead More
Diving Deeper into the Deep Learning Pool
May 17th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsDmitry Borisenko, an independent scholar and a former quantitative analyst at Krauspartner Investment Solutions, posted a complicated article last year with the deceptively simple title, Dissecting Momentum: We Need to Go Deeper. As the title suggests, Borisenko begins with the momentum strategy as a means of reaching alpha. Variables basedRead More
Data Scientists Should Do Drugs!
May 14th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Alternative Investments in Context, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Keith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP Now that this attention-grabbing headline has drawn you in, let me clarify. Data scientists should not partake in illegal drugs. Data scientists should participate in pharmacological research, as artificial intelligence and machine learning can add value, even when the data scientist does notRead More
Model Risk Management as Algo Trading Expands
May 10th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, The Alts Industry, Machine Learning, Risk Management & Operations, Other Topics in AltsThe FICC Market Standards Board Ltd. (FMSB) is a London-based standards body for participants in the wholesale fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) markets. It has been looking into the root causes of market misconduct, and pursuant to that research it recently published a report on the “themes and challenges”Read More
Major PE/VC Firms Back New Approaches to Quantum Computing
Apr 23rd, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Newly Added, Venture capital, Equity Types of Private Equity, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, The Alts Industry, Private Investments, Other Topics in AltsIn October 2019, Google announced quantum supremacy: the creation of a special-purpose computer using quantum processors that could perform a calculation impossible for a digital computer. A computer Google named Sycamore resolved in just three minutes a computational challenge that would have required a digital computer 10,000 years. Remarkable asRead More
The Algorithms that will Find the ESG Tipping Point
Apr 16th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, ESG, The Alts Industry, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsA recent literature review conveys the state of scholarly understanding of ESG alpha.It also discusses how machine learning may help alternatives managers to track, and at the right time to pounce upon, a critical tipping point. Joachim Erhardt, a managing director at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) and an independent scholar, startsRead More
Machine Learning, Quant Models, and ESG factors: Who Uses Them and What Data Do They Mine?
Apr 9th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, ESG, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsKeith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy, CAIA Association CAIA Association and FDP Institute recently had a conversation with Mike Chen and George Mussalli. Dr. Chen is the director of equity investments and Mr. Mussalli is the managing director and CIO of equity investments at PanAgora.Read More
Using Alternative Data and Machine Learning in Alternative Asset Classes
Mar 30th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Newly Added, Alternative data, Fintech, Risk management, Technology, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Machine Learning, Risk Management & Operations, Other Topics in AltsKeith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy, CAIA Association Michael Oliver Weinberg and Peter Strikwerda work at the Dutch pension fund APG and serve as the head of hedge funds and alternative alpha and the global head of digital and innovation, respectively. CAIA Association and FDPRead More
Machine learning is not magic—It is just a tool!
Mar 20th, 2020 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Business News, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsKeith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy, CAIA Association “Building your dream has to start now There’s no other road to take You won’t make a mistake I’ll be guiding you You have to believe we are magic Nothin’ can stand in our way” – OliviaRead More
Are the Robots Really Taking Over?
Mar 5th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Fintech, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Asset Allocation Models, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Allocating to Alts, Other Topics in AltsBy Aaron Filbeck, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Associate Director, Content Development at CAIA Association Excerpted from the Alternative Investment Analyst Review, Volume 8, Issue 3 The Alternative Investment Analyst Review is the official publication of the CAIA Association. Access to the most current issue is an exclusive benefit of CAIA Membership whileRead More
A Walk Through the Forest with Joe Simonian
Mar 4th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsWhat Does Machine Learning Have to do with Fama and French? By Keith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director, CAIA Association “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what itRead More
In the room where it happens: An investigation of the potential of regulatory technology
Feb 26th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Machine LearningKeith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy at CAIA Association Do you want to be in the room where it happens, when “The Smartest Guys in the Room”* are plotting their fraud and trying to prevent the demise of Enron? Look around at how lucky weRead More
Lessons from CAIS 2020
Feb 11th, 2020 | Filed under: Debt Types of Private Equity, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Socially responsible investing, Equity Types of Private Equity, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Economics, Climate change, Institutional Asset Management, Hedge Funds, Macroeconomics, Private Investments, Personalities in AI, SRI and Clean Energy, Allocating to Alts, Other Topics in AltsJohn Bowman, CFA, Senior Managing Director at CAIA Association “You’re a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond.” (Mr. White to 007, Spectre) Despite the crystal blue island water, softly rolling Caribbean tide, and perfect skies outside the hotel all week, I opened my conference wrap-up panel reminding delegates forRead More
Alternative Data: A Road to Alpha
Feb 2nd, 2020 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Real Estate, Private Equity, Newly Added, Fintech, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, The Alts Industry, Real Estate Equity Investments, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Private Investments, Allocating to Alts, Other Topics in AltsInvestment management firms are increasingly hard-pressed to hedge away risks, increase alpha, and lower costs: a daunting agenda. One way of going about that is by knowing what is going on in the underlying markets more quickly than the competitors and counterparties do. To that end: alternative data. Investment firms,Read More
A Conversation with the Institute of Business Ethics
Jan 30th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, The Alts Industry, Machine Learning, Other Topics in AltsBy Keith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP | Managing Director, Content Strategy at CAIA Association Recently, CAIA Association sat down for a conversation with Guen Donde, the Head of Research for the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). Life moves pretty fast in the world of GDPR, big data, and artificialRead More
False Positives and Machine Learning
Jan 23rd, 2020 | Filed under: CTA, Newly Added, Alternative data, Fintech, Risk management, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Investments in Context, The Alts Industry, Risk Management Strategies & Processes, Machine Learning, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in AltsThere is a high rate of failure among quant funds. These include smart beta, factor investing, statistical arbitrage, and CTAs. Such false positive strategies are a widespread industry problem. Since psychiatrists have long traded on the ability of the human mind to find an elaborate narrative in a random inkRead More
Start Your Algorithms: Speed is Good Again, or is it?
Dec 30th, 2019 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, Fintech, Alpha Strategies, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, The Alts Industry, Hedge FundsUntil the final days of 2019, it has been a quiet year for high-frequency trading-related news. The whole concept of a trade executed in nanoseconds, and the related concept of a trading program managed with only sporadic human intervention or oversight, have all faded into background assumptions. What remains isRead More
Machine Learning: Beyond the Fear of Unknown Unknowns
Nov 17th, 2019 | Filed under: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading, Equity Hedge Funds, Newly Added, Alpha Strategies, Event-Driven Hedge Funds, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Business News, The Alts Industry, Macro and Managed Futures Funds, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in AltsMachine learning as a way of managing a portfolio is a “wave of the future” with a lot of sea to cover before it breaks on the shore. Meson Capital Partners has sent its investors an update and summary for 2019 Q3 regarding its managed market neutral fund, and thisRead More
Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence as Investment Mega-Trends
Sep 24th, 2019 | Filed under: Private Equity, Newly Added, Alpha Strategies, Venture capital, The Global Economy & Currencies, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Other Issues in Private Investments, The Alts Industry, Frontier markets, Emerging Alternative Investments, Private Investments, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in AltsA report from CREATE in collaboration with BNY Mellon looks at two related megatrends in investing—climate change and artificial intelligence. It asks in each case: how is this trend perceived in terms of opportunities and risks? What are the specific investment issues involved or solutions likely to be adopted? AndRead More