[s_q_b]

Very much agreed.

For those who are not aware, Renaissance Technologies is a massively successful hedge fund that makes investment decisions solely from data, with perhaps the most sophisticated mathematical models in the marketplace.

Their approach was entirely novel when James Simons founded the firm. Simons is incredible mathematician, graduated MIT in his teens, and obtained his doctorate at 23. Before and during Renaissance, he made significant contributions to cryptology, topology, and string theory.

His firm essentially invented quantitative trading. To this day, with close to $30 Billion under management, Renaissance Technologies still makes investment decisions purely algorithmically.

[vostok]

To provide a counterexample, P/NP was doing quantitative trading before RenTech. I will say that I wouldn't comment on implementation details in this industry unless I've worked at the company in question.

[s_q_b]

That's fair. It was not my intention to provide a comprehensive review of the firm's approach, but rather a quick summary that glosses over a great many details.

To address your second point, I wouldn't comment on implementation details in a company for whom I had worked.

P/NP is Princeton Newport Partners. I have a passing familiarity with that story ;)

[vostok]

I agree. I wouldn't do that either.