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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Big Bond Bust

In his editorial in the latest edition of the FAJ, Richard Ennis calls into question the role of advanced, aggressive fixed-income strategies, questioning the suitability of such techniques in the part of the investor’s portfolio that bears the brunt of providing downside protection.mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

CalPERS on path to improving risk intelligence

The CalPERS governance risk management initiative (GRMI) project team, led by Allen Goldstein of The Results Group, has reported to the board on phase II of the project, concluding with 17 preliminary observations of areas of improvement. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

DNB approves Shell recovery plan

The 10.6 billion ($15 billion) Shell Pension Fund’s recovery plan has been approved by De Nederlandsche Bank and includes a provision to increase employer contributions to 32 per cent, up from 5 per cent last year, on the back of a whopping -43.3 per cent return for 2008. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

TRS invests in PE, eyes opportunistic real estate

The $30 billion Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) will commit up to $1.2 billion to private equity, and will focus on opportunistic investments in real estate including emerging manager initiatives, as it aims to reach its new long-term allocations in those sectors by year end. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Canadian funds delve into performance drivers

Four of Canada’s pension funds have established a professorship in pension management at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto with initial research to focus on a better understanding of the drivers of pension fund performance using the global databases of CEM Benchmarking. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

Counterparty risk prompts changes in sec lending

More than two thirds of the institutions that made changes to their securities lending programmes on the back of the global financial crisis cited less confidence in counterparty stability as the driver, research has revealed, however less than 20 per cent suspended participation following the market volatility. mrec4inarticleinline Sponsored Content scnative1 scnative2 scnative3

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