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By Radovan Vojtko CEO of Quantpedia.com - The Encyclopedia of Quantitative Trading Strategies, a quant research company with a mission “to turn financial academic research into a more user-friendly form to help anyone interested in algo/quant trading and systematic investing. Quantpedia helps anyone who seeks new quantitative and algorithmic trading strategy ideas.

 

Introduction

By Yieldstreet

 

Key takeaways

By Dan diBartolomeo, President and founder of Northfield Information Services, Inc. Based in Boston since 1986, Northfield develops quantitative models of financial markets.

 

 

By Darob Malek-Madani, Head of Research and Analysis of National Real Estate Advisors, and Samuel Bendix.

 

 

 

National has been an active investor in one of the largest private data center companies in the U.S. since 2010. Over the last 10 years we have received our fair share of questions about this fast-growing and increasingly critical aspect of our modern economic infrastructure. The following is a selection of the most common questions we receive.

By Michael A. Ervolini , Distinguished Fellow, FactSet Research Systems, Inc., and Matthew Gadsden, Senior Consultant & Head of Global Equities Research, JANA Investment Advisors.

 

 

Active Share and Portfolio Concentration - Metrics Not Prescriptions: Why merely increasing these measures is no formula for success.

By Joachim Klement, Head of Strategy, Accounting, and Sustainability at Liberum Capital.

 

 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggests that lenders may be overzealous in repossessing cars.

By Adam Solomon, Go-to-Market Strategy and Planning for Xfinity Growth.

 

 

Carbon Markets Overview

There’s not a lot of love for the credit bureaus, so why would you want one of them in your wallet? Experian’s pitch: A slightly better credit score. Maybe.

With college costs high, at least eight states now offer tax credits or deductions for employers that contribute to workers’ 529 accounts.

The lowest overall cost is to buy a car and keep it for a long time. But leasing usually has lower monthly costs. And leasing an E.V. may come with a tax break.

President Biden’s yearlong on-ramp to help federal student loan borrowers ease back into repayment ended on Sept. 30.

The normally unstoppable force of two veteran money reporters hit the immovable object of wretched industry conditions. Living in Brooklyn didn’t help.

A call from a debt collector may add to the challenges that bereaved people are already dealing with. But spouses “should not assume that they have to pay.”

People who bought homes in the past two years may want to seek a lower interest rate. Here’s how to think it through — and how to shop.

Here’s what the half-point interest rate cut will mean for your car loans, credit cards, mortgages, savings and student loans.

A family reserved an eight-night Vrbo in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the owner canceled the day before the trip. Finding a comparable place was stressful and cost over $4,000 more; Vrbo wouldn’t make up the full difference.

Derivatives and securities exchange network Cboe Global Markets is to launch trading of its previously announced new Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures on Monday, 23 September, on the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE).

The new futures will aim to provide market participants with an additional tool to calculate implied volatility of the US equity market as measured by the S&P 500 Index, and to manage volatility risks and express directional views. The futures are designed to offer a streamlined approach to trading the spread between implied and realised volatility, enabling market participants to take advantage of discrepancies between market expectations and actual outcomes.

According to a press statement, Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures are expected to appeal to a wide range of market participants with diverse investment objectives, including volatility traders and hedge funds seeking capital efficiency and transparency, institutional investors managing equity volatility risk and expressing directional views, portfolio managers aiming for enhanced diversification and risk premia capture, and dealers and market makers transitioning from OTC variance swaps to standardised products.

The new futures contracts will settle based on a calculation of the annualised realised variance of the S&P 500 Index. The realised variance will be calculated once each day from a series of values of the S&P 500 Index beginning with the closing index value on the first day a VA futures contract is listed for trading and ending with the special opening quotation (SOQ) of the S&P 500 Index on the final settlement date of that contract.

The contracts will quote and trade directly in variance units, offering a simplified approach to managing and trading variance exposure. With a contract size of $1[2] and settlement aligned with standard SPX options (generally settling the third Friday of the month), these futures are designed to integrate seamlessly into market participants’ existing trading strategies.

August proved to be a strong month for hedge funds specialising in life sciences and biopharma stocks, with several firms reporting solid gains that helped many return to positive territory for the year, according to a report by Institutional investor.

One standout performer in 2024 is Janus Henderson’s Biotechnology Innovation Composite, a fund focused exclusively on biotech stocks which posted a 3.9% gain in August, bringing its year-to-date performance to an impressive 38.7%, according to the firm.

Janus’s hedge fund composite stands out due to its diversification, which includes smaller, less-liquid companies, private investments, and short positions—factors that bolstered its performance during sector downturns in recent years.

Casdin Capital’s public securities share class also remains among the top performers for the year, up roughly 40%, according to an investor. However, it saw a slight dip in August, declining by 1.8%. Unlike Janus Henderson, which has avoided down years, Casdin is still recovering from a series of losses and has not yet reached its high-water mark.

Other funds to post gains include Soleus Capital which was by 4.7% in August and taking YTD gains to 13.8%. Its success was driven in part by TG Therapeutics, which saw a 19% jump last month. The company, which focuses on treatments for B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases, is Soleus’s largest US-listed long position, accounting for 5.7% of assets as of the second quarter. Iovance Biotherapeutics meanwhile, another top holding, surged by 33% in August.

Suvretta’s Averill Partners saw a 1.6% gain in August, bringing its year-to-date return to 18.5%, while RA Capital Management climbed by 60 basis points in the same month, with its year-to-date performance now at 13.7%.

Some funds turned positive for the year following strong August performances, with Perceptive Advisors gaining 5% in August, pushing its year-to-date return to 3.5%. The fund’s largest US-listed long position, Amicus Therapeutics, rose by 12%, surpassing Cerevel Therapeutics, which was acquired by AbbVie on 1 August.

Cormorant Asset Management, which gained 3.3% in August, is now up 1.5% for the year. Its largest holding, MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, a biotechnology firm focused on inflammatory diseases, makes up over 21% of its assets. MoonLake stock rose 2.7% last month.

Despite a 1.3% loss in August, RTW Investments remains up 15% for the year, reflecting the broader strength of the life sciences sector in 2024.

Facing competition for business, banks are offering incentives to switch. But as one expert put it, “You have to read the fine print.”