Hedge Fund Uses Algae to Reap 21% Return
Desmond Lun’s AI trading model draws on computational biology
Biologists are ‘kicking butt’ in data science, professor says
Hedge fund manager Desmond Lun’s 21 percent average return over the last four years springs from an unlikely source — a petri dish of algae.
Lun, 37, is a new kind of quant, combining AI wizardry with old-school biology to trade futures. Although his Taaffeite Capital Management is small, Lun makes a big claim: His research into one of the natural world’s most byzantine systems — the biological cell — has given him an edge in untangling the secrets of financial markets.
