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.

Sponsored Content

Leave a Comment

Sort content by

No discount for alpha

Just because the BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors merger will create a global funds management behemoth – with $3 trillion under management and 9,000 employees in 24 countries – does not mean alpha will come more cheaply. Amanda White spoke to vice chair of BlackRock, Robert Fairbairn, about what the merger means for products, clients and the

Pension funds need to show leadership on manager fees

It’s time for pension funds to show some leadership on funds management fees, to demonstrate that they are at the top of the food chain – they have the check book. Roger Urwin, global head of investment content for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, believes pension funds have, to a large extent, been captive to the fee

In defence of optimisation

Sebastien Page, senior managing director of the portfolio and risk management group at State Street Associates is excited about his upcoming paper “In Defense of Optimization: The Fallacy of 1/N”, which responds to the increasingly popular notion that equal weighted portfolios outperform. He spoke with Amanda White about the “1/N paper”, and how he advises

Norway SWF posts booming quarter

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the $456.4 billion (NOK 2,549 billion) Government Pension Fund – Global, returned 13.5 per cent for the quarter due to improved liquidity in fixed income instrument and climbing equity markets, as the fund continued diversification within emerging markets. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Asia-Pacific’s first life settlement swap

The $15.2 billion ($11 billion) New Zealand Superannuation Fund has ploughed $80 million into the Asia-Pacific region’s first life settlements swap, in a deal organised by Credit Suisse’s Sydney-based fixed interest investment banking team. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Hedge funds still a manager selection game: Callan’s Jim McKee

Jim McKee, director of hedge fund research at Callan Associates, believes the underperformance of hedge funds due to the one-off loss caused by the short selling ban should not be underestimated. He spoke with Amanda White about what investors should expect from hedge funds, why it’s still a manager selection game, and whether LIBOR is

Previous