Quantbot Celebrates End of Financial Year!
On April 2nd, Quantbot wrapped up their financial year with a bang! The company decided to host dinner and drinks in the office to celebrate the success of the firm over the last year. Everyone gathered together to toast to the hard-working employees before enjoying a delicious catered meal. The group had a wonderful time together, acknowledging the achievements made within the company. Here’s to another great year at Quantbot!
Carnegie Mellon MSCF Datathon Is Back!
On March 29th, Quantbot employees had the exciting opportunity to participate in the annual Carnegie Mellon Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) Datathon, an event that brings together some of the brightest minds in finance and technology. This year, the same datathon took place simultaneously in two locations – New York and Pittsburgh – offering students a dynamic and competitive environment to showcase their quantitative and programming skills.
Quantbot mentors, including Zihao, Richard, Shrinath, Zexiang, Aditya, and Aneesh, joined a mix of undergraduate and master’s students in Pittsburgh, while Ian represented teams in New York. Their role was to guide participants through the rigorous competition, providing valuable insights and expertise in quantitative finance and algorithmic trading.
The challenge for the students was to develop a model to predict daily stock returns using provided datasets. Their strategies were evaluated based on five key metrics: Sharpe ratio, maximum drawdown, total traded amount, up/down ratio, and overall return. The team with the best performance across these criteria emerged as the winner.
Beyond the competition, the datathon was a fantastic opportunity for students to interact with industry professionals, gain hands-on experience with real-world financial data, and refine their problem-solving skills. Our mentors had an incredible time engaging with the students, sharing their knowledge, and being part of such an inspiring event.
We look forward to participating in future datathons and continuing to support the next generation of innovators in quantitative finance!
Quant Strats Conference is Back in Town!
On March 11th, our CEO, Paul White, participated in a fireside chat at the Quant Strats conference with Budga Bhattacharya, Head of Systematic Research at Lombard Odier Investment Managers. They reflected on their shared experiences at Merrill and discussed their approaches to leading quant investment teams, each focusing on different strategies. The conversation also explored how cloud computing has significantly expanded the use of machine learning and AI, as well as the emerging frontiers for quant teams in the industry. It was an insightful discussion that highlighted the evolving role of technology in quantitative investing and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
CMU Master in Computational Finance Advisory Board Meeting
On February 7th, our CIO, Ashar Mahboob, participated in the CMU MSCF Finance Advisory Board Meeting, contributing to the program’s growth and expanding resources for prospective students.
His dedication to the board was recognized, particularly for the integration of Quantbot mentors and the Code Willing Platform, both of which have significantly enhanced classroom experiences and Datathon competitions.
A key discussion point was the impact of the CodeWilling platform and Data Store on student learning. The platform is seamlessly integrated into coursework, offering an engaging experience, while the Data Store provides invaluable real-world data, equipping students with essential tools for success.
Additionally, the conversation highlighted the need for expanding data availability. Professor Chad Schaffer, a strong advocate for the CodeWilling platform, emphasized the importance of increasing datasets within the CMU Data Store to further enrich student learning.
Ashar’s participation underscores our commitment to fostering innovation in finance education, ensuring students have access to cutting-edge tools and industry-relevant resources.
We’re excited to see how this program continues to evolve, bringing even more opportunities for students to engage with real-world data, industry mentors, and innovative technology.
Quantbot and Schonfeld- a Successful Partnership
On January 28th, Paul White, Our CEO and Co-founder, took the stage once again- this time on a more comfortable Miami day to join Ryan Tolkin, CEO and CIO of Schonfeld at the iConnections MFA Conference fireside chat. Together, they shared insights on the evolution of our nearly two decade-long successful partnership. The conversation centered on key factors that have driven their success.
During the discussion, Paul outlined his philosophy for building a thriving quant business, encapsulated in what he calls the “3 Ps.” These foundational pillars- People, Platform, and Partners- have been instrumental in Quantbot’s success.
The first P is People, clearly important to any business but even more so with the Intellectual Property heavy quant business. At Quantbot we pride ourselves on having an environment where people can grow their careers within the firm, moving between areas and specialities whilst progressing and adding value to overall performance. The difference between keeping a team together for a few years versus 5, 10 and in our case sometimes 25+ is measured on a logarithmic scale.
P 2 is Platform, this is the technology, data, tools and the business process capabilities needed to take ideas from the whiteboard through development, research, simulation and ultimately to live trading. All done at scale, globally without errors.
Finally, the last P is Partners as in order to get the maximum results from the first two Ps you will need to find the right partners to provide capital, back office, legal/compliance, financing, PB and execution services. Here Schonfeld has been an excellent partner in helping Quantbot focus on the alpha research side of building a successful business globally while Schonfeld helps secure the right external relationships for non IP functions. The other core partner for Quantbot is Code Willing who now handle the majority of Quantbot’s critical quant technology platform allowing the firm’s people to focus on alpha research.
Paul concludes that when you get all three Ps right- People, Platform, and Partners- you meet the minimum required for operating a successful quant business. Once that foundation is set, you should be able to run every day and now you can focus on finding the quant IP needed to generate real alpha and that’s where the real fun begins.