Man GLG, the investment arm of Man Group, has appointed William Ferreira as head of Machine Learning.
In this newly created role, Ferreira will be responsible for developing Man GLG’s machine learning capabilities, providing the firm’s portfolio managers with tools and techniques through which to support their analysis and decision-making processes.
He will work directly with Man GLG’s teams on the application and interpretation of machine learning techniques in relation to topics such as analysing news and social media, market events and announcements, and the visualisation of complex data.
This appointment follows a number of announcements and fund launches around artificial intelligence. The first fund fully managed by artificial intelligence has been recently launched.
Man AHL has been researching machine learning techniques and applying them within its client trading programmes for several years. Man Group also benefits from its partnership with the University of Oxford, the Oxford-Man Institute (OMI) that focuses on research into machine learning techniques and data analytics.
Ferreira joins Man GLG from Florin Court Capital. Formerly, he worked as technology manager for Man AHL from 2011 to 2014. In his role at Man AHL, William served as chief technology officer for Man Systematic Strategies.
Prior to that, he was an executive director at JP Morgan and has held roles at Merrill Lynch, GSA and CQS.
Teun Johnston, CEO of Man GLG, said: “We believe that machine learning techniques present an opportunity for discretionary investment managers, providing them with analytical tools to complement, and further enhance, their decision making processes.
“We are continually seeking to develop our offering for our clients and, as the amount of data available continues to expand, these techniques can supplement existing rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. William will work closely with Man GLG’s portfolio managers, as well as leveraging Man Group’s existing machine learning expertise, and I am delighted to welcome him to the firm.”
Ferreira, head of Machine Learning at Man GLG, said: “I am excited about the opportunity to build Man GLG’s machine learning capabilities, developing tools to support the firm’s portfolio managers as they run high-conviction active portfolios.
“We see many opportunities to utilise machine learning across the diverse data sets available to the discretionary investment business. Man GLG has a collaborative culture, supported by the sharing of ideas and expertise, and I look forward to working closely alongside the investment teams, supported by Man Group’s existing machine learning capabilities.”
As at 31 March 2017, Man GLG’s funds under management were $28.8bn (€26.5bn).
