Best Fund Provider – Quantitative Equity
BlackRock
Ryan Kim
head of Asian systematic equities
We are delighted to be recognised for our multi-decade pursuit of both differentiation and innovation.
This award represents the culmination of years of work we have done to embrace new types of data – whether textual, visual, or geolocation data – and new technologies, from early versions of natural language processing almost fifteen years ago to large language models today.
All of this has been part of our effort to move away from traditional ways of investing, including pure style factor investing, where we consciously penalise portfolios for doing the same thing as everyone else, to deliver a more consistent — and, importantly, differentiated — return to investors.
Winners Rationale
“The BlackRock Systematic Asia Pacific Equity Absolute Return Fund has consistently achieved its objective by delivering high risk-adjusted returns while maintaining a neutral position, avoiding any large exposure to specific investment styles or broad equity market beta,” said Stanley Li, senior reporter at Asian Private Banker.
“By utilising unstructured data and machine learning, the team avoids relying on generic, well-known market trades. Instead, it achieves consistency and reduces cyclicality by combining a multitude of smaller arbitrage opportunities found across its entire stock universe.
“The fund’s key competitive edge also stems from the team’s unified research model. By avoiding restrictive country or sector silos, the team is not susceptible to cyclical market swings. This setup allows the entire team to pool its intellectual resources for the benefit of every investment strategy.
“Recognising private banks as a strategic growth priority, BlackRock has also significantly expanded its capabilities in Asia, delivering exceptional service and a full spectrum of active and index strategies tailored to the region’s evolving wealth needs. With these in mind, Asian Private Banker is thrilled to present to BlackRock the award for Best Fund Provider – Quantitative equity.”
