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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US public pensions take to social media

US public pension funds, under fire for the sustainability of their defined-benefit plans, are increasingly opening a new social-media front line in the battle to influence public opinion. The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System is the latest to step up its social media presence, posting its first You Tube video, which outlines the positive

Pimco advocates emerging markets

The flight to quality was not limited to certain developed-country debt during the volatility in the second half of 2011. Indeed, Pimco’s global co-head of emerging-markets portfolio management Ramin Toloui says that some emerging-market government bonds are potential safe havens during times of market stress. He says that the bond giant’s Global Advantage Government Bond

The spectre of defined-benefit plans

The recent sharp growth in US corporate defined-benefit-plan liabilities, coupled with concerns that interest rates will start to rise from current historical lows, is slowing the push to de-risk plans, Wilshire Consulting’s head of investment research, Steven Foresti says. The latest Wilshire Consulting research into defined-benefit (DB) plans at S&P 500 companies reveals that aggregate

Swedish Ethical Council
goes proactive

Moving from reactive engagement to proactively working with companies and regulators to avoid major environmental, social or corporate governance (ESG) events has become a key focus of the Swedish Ethical Council, its new head says. Newly appointed chairwoman Ulrika Danielson says that the council, which is a collaborative engagement effort for the AP 1 to

SWFs in real estate

The 800-pound gorilla of the real estate market, sovereign wealth funds, is increasingly exercising its muscle by investing directly in property as a way of cutting fees and potentially achieving better returns, new research finds. The latest snapshot of sovereign wealth funds’ interest in property by alternative-asset researcher Preqin shows that 85 per cent of

Real estate sustainability

The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), which will launch its third annual sustainability survey today, has announced a partnership with the Global Reporting Initiative to enhance sustainability reporting. The survey allows participating fund managers to benchmark their portfolio on environmental and social performance against their peers. The GRESB Foundation is backed by 30 institutional

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