PNC Capital Advisors is putting its large-cap mutual funds under the leadership of a factor-based computer model, a move reflecting the difficulty many active managers have faced in attracting investors. Douglas Roman, managing director of PNC’s Large-Cap Equity Advantage investments, says the move to “quant” will help the firm expand its business with mainstream investors, in part because quantitative models are a less expensive way to manage portfolios. Large-Cap Equity Advantage has about...

Some quantitative managers are skeptical that big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies will lead to big breakthroughs for asset managers anytime soon. Quants’ caution is noteworthy given the increasing number of money managers that are investing in data science and offering factor-based funds, widely known as smart beta. Ryan Caldwell, chief investment officer of Chiron Investment Management, which uses fundamental and quantitative research to run its multi-asset...

It’s an old saw in asset management: Stock pickers are optimists. Their picks, after all, have unlimited potential to rise on a good story — and thus enthusiasm and optimism are the default mien. Bond managers, on the other hand, are always looking at things to go belly-up, cultivating an emotional (and financial) protection against the downside. Bonds, of course, earn a certain interest rate annually — but unlike stocks, their upside is capped, while still keeping open the possibility of...

One of the world’s largest passive investors is starting to look a lot more like an activist these days. State Street Global Advisors, which mostly operates passive index funds but also has a sizable active management business, is getting increasingly involved in governance issues ranging from public company policies on the voting rights of shareholders to climate change. Ronald O’Hanley, president and CEO of SSGA, says the asset manager’s increasing involvement in governance makes...

The future of finance doesn’t involve a killer app or an entirely new vision for banking and investment management. Instead, the industry is being revamped by what firms can do with data — and how their daily work will be done by far fewer people as a result, according to financial executives. Credit Suisse is now piloting a robot named Reggie, a virtual assistant not unlike Amazon’s Alexa. Credit Suisse’s Reggie was programmed to answer regulatory questions, according to Brian Chin, CEO of...