The Curious Quant

The Curious Quant series, hosted by Michael Kollo, is a discussion between technically-minded professionals in the financial services, technology and data science fields. It carefully examines the application of new data and new methodologies to common problems in financial markets. The aim is to promote better discussions about these emerging areas, and a better understanding of new technologies.

 

 

Michael Kollo is a seasoned investment professional with a deep passion for the pragmatic discussion and application of quantitative models to solve problems. His PhD in Finance is from the London School of Economics where he lectured in quantitative finance in addition to Imperial College and at the University of New South Wales. He has created models and led quantitative research teams at Blackrock, Fidelity and Axa Rosenberg in the UK before more recently moving to Australia where he established the quantitative team for the $50 billion industry superannuation fund, HESTA. Kollo is an experienced speaker, author, mentor, a keen student of philosophy and more recently, a podcaster. The Curious Quant is a series of conversations with market leaders, deep thinkers and practitioners who deal with the wonder and frustrations of these models and who are on the front line of AI innovation.

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CalPERS urged to pull back commodities risk

CalPERS’ internal commodities team should enforce a tracking error limit for the portfolio it manages, and prepare to boost headcount and resources as investment opportunities evolve and funds under management grow, the fund’s primary asset consultant, Wilshire Associates, found in a review. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Corporate US plans expect too much

US corporate defined-benefit plans are still severely underfunded, with an artificially high return expectation contributing to the situation, according to a report of the funding status of 308 US corporate defined benefit plans by Wilshire Consulting. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Global instos collaborate on measuring water risks

Norges Bank Investment Management is leading a consortium of more than 130 institutions globally in a disclosure project aimed at providing investors with a comprehensive assessment of the water risks of the companies they invest in. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Wilshire survives and retains CalPERS consulting tender

Wilshire Associates has survived another competitive tender, trumping RogersCasey in the interview scoring process to retain the position of CalPERS’ lead general investment consultant, a position it has held since 1983. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Pension funds unite: you can double returns

Paul Woolley insists that he is pro market forces; he is not some sort of Trotskyite. A cursory glance at some of the research work he is either doing or financing might prompt scepticism. But this urbane Londoner who established the top-shelf GMO quant shop in Europe is mainly concerned about inefficiencies and mispricing. And

What investors really want

While the models of expected returns are evolving, they still do not recognise the role of expressive and emotional characteristics. In this guest editorial in the Financial Analysts Journal, Meir Statman, Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University, California, proposes including characteristics such as affect, social responsibility, status and patriotism in models of

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