What sets quant apart from traditional investors?

Video transcript Actively managed investment funds bring the expertise of professional portfolio management to the masses. So, how do the stock pickers of equity funds decide where to invest their clients’ money? Well, it depends on the fund, but many of the approaches fall into two categories: traditional human-led bottom-up investing and the wide spectrum […]
A quantitative edge in uncertain markets

Video transcript One of the advantages to a quantitative approach to investing in equity markets is the ability to adapt quickly to new information. Markets have been volatile recently in light of proposed tariffs and other regulations coming through the new administration. One of the most interesting things that we have been doing in our […]
The flight from the dollar

A “perfect storm” of sorts is occurring in global financial markets this year: the dollar is weakening, US Treasury yields are elevated and US equities are hovering near all-time highs. With this in mind, investors might ask themselves: will global asset managers continue to rebalance their portfolios and diminish their strong US tilts—and will capital […]
A history of quant

How we got from there to here
It’s quant. But not as you know it

Fast reading The MDT Advisers team uses machine learning to parse through vast amounts of data and seek a multitude of equity opportunities in an unbiased way. The investment team designs, oversees, and continuously looks for ways to improve upon the various tools in its investment process. The entire approach is transparent and the reasoning […]
MDT: Do quants dream of electric sheep?*

*“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a 1968 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The book served as the basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott and featuring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah. Fast reading Quant investing typically sifts through vast amounts of data to […]
Credit investors threatened with tax hike on US income

Fast reading The US is weighing up legislation that could see foreign investors hit with a tax hike. In the event that section 899 is triggered, entities from “discriminatory foreign countries” would be hit by a tax increase on US income of up to 20%. The proposal raises the possibility of a slowdown in foreign […]
Fed may do little in this push-me-pull-you market

It’s become a cliché but bond markets remained volatile in May, with investors ultimately discounting the latest tariff tantrums and re-embracing risk. US Treasury yields spiked once again as the federal budget and deficit took centre court, but this time other forms of fixed income investment (asset-backed, corporate, international and municipals) benefitted by comparison to […]
Riding the storm

Video transcript How have we navigated the volatility? ‘Liberation Day’ brought a tonne of volatility and uncertainty to the markets, and in trying to navigate through that we set up a series of five milestones to help confirm our bullish stance. The first thing we wanted to see was more dovish trade talk, talk about […]
How should credit investors navigate such an uncertain backdrop?

Fast reading Uncertainty stemming from the Republican administration’s economic policy has undermined confidence in capital markets. Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded US sovereign debt to Aa1 from Aaa. Notwithstanding a reset on tariffs with China, many market drivers – for lenders, borrowers and investors – are in a holding pattern until an element of […]