The convergence of high-performance computing technologies, advances in data science, and increased data availability is materially impacting finance, as other domains. This discussion will survey the development of quantitative finance and the issue of characterizing asset returns and risks. In this context, we will explore the limitations of traditional mean-variance approaches and how to address these limitations for multi-asset class portfolios through the use of factor modeling and stochastic simulations boosted by high-performance computing. We introduce specific experimental architectures and approaches as well as data visualization techniques developed to provide a contemporary empirical framework for financial portfolio modeling.
Speaker(s)
Jeffrey R. Bohn
Dr. Bohn is chief science officer and head of GX Labs (located in San Francisco) at State Street Global Exchange. In addition, he is an affiliated researcher at UC Berkeley¹s Center for Risk Management Research.
Prior to setting up GX Labs, he established the Portfolio Analytics/Valuation Department within State Street Global Markets Japan in Tokyo. (He is fluent in Japanese.) He previously ran PWC Japan's Risk/Regulatory Financial Services consulting practice. Other past appointments include chief executive officer at Soliton Financial Analytics in Hong Kong; head, Portfolio Analytics/Economic Capital at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore; general manager, Financial Strategies at Shinsei Bank in Tokyo; and head at Moody's KMV's Global Research.
Dr. Bohn has published widely in the area of credit risk. He co-authored with Roger Stein Active Credit Portfolio Management in Practice (Wiley, 2009). Occasionally, he teaches at UC Berkeley, Tokyo University, and the National University of Singapore.
Shota Ishii
Shota joined State Street Global Exchange in 2014 to help build out its portfolio analytics and advisory capabilities as well as to work on product strategy, design, and complex data visualization. He also engages in strategic initiatives and business development as part of GXLabs, a new innovation center formed in San Francisco to exploit the recent advances in massive data management and high-performance computing as applied to finance. Prior to State Street, he worked at DCI, a systematic long/short investment manager based in San Francisco specializing in corporate credit. His other experiences include running a social knowledge management start-up venture in Paris and consulting extensively on allocation and risk as regional manager for Asia at Moody’s KMV, a quantitative credit risk advisory firm, in Asia and in the United States for regulators, large banks, asset managers, and insurance companies. He has also consulted extensively for the Financial Strategies group at Shinsei Bank in Tokyo. He has a BS from Cornell University in applied physics and an MBA from INSEAD.