ML instinct fuels Aberdeen Standard Investments’ new fund
Aberdeen Standard Investments has launched a new fund that uses machine learning (ML) to identify sources of potential returns.
Beyond the point of no return(s)?
The Aberdeen Global (AG) Artificial Intelligence Global Equity SICAV, launched in Luxembourg, is the product of a collaboration between Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) team and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Investment Technology Institute (MTEC) / Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation in Tokyo – a centre of excellence in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and fintech.
Junichi Narikawa, president of MTEC, says: “This is the first time in MTEC’s 30-year history where we have collaborated with an entity in Europe [and] we worked with their QIS team in London and Edinburgh over a two-year period.”
Aberdeen Standard says it embeds ML techniques within the investment process and will use a variety of quantitative techniques to time its investments.
According to Aberdeen Standard, the machines will be used to read and understand vast amounts of data in order to forecast market moves more accurately.
These investments will be based on “factor premia” – those sources of risk such as value, quality, momentum, small size and low volatility that can provide investors with persistent risk-adjusted excess returns.
The QIS team is comprised of 31 staff located across offices in Edinburgh, London and Shanghai and manages $96 billion in assets (as at 30 June 2018).
Aberdeen Standard Investments is a brand of the investment businesses of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life Investments.
