William Ferreira was named head of machine learning at Man GLG, said a spokeswoman.
The position is new. Man GLG is the discretionary investment management business of Man Group, acquired in 2010. Mr. Ferreira is responsible for developing Man GLG’s machine learning capabilities, providing the firm’s portfolio managers with tools and techniques to support analysis and decision-making. He also works directly with teams on the application and interpretation of machine learning techniques related to analyzing news and social media, market events and announcements, and the visualization of complex data, said a news release Tuesday.
Mr. Ferreira also works with Man AHL’s machine learning team, which has been actively researching and applying these techniques within its client trading programs. Man AHL is Man Group’s diversified quantitative manager. Man Group also collaborates with the University of Oxford — the Oxford-Man Institute — which focuses on research into machine learning techniques and data analytics.
“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,” said Teun Johnston, CEO of Man GLG, in the release. “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.”
Man GLG has $28.8 billion in funds under management.
Mr. Ferreira was at Florin Court Capital, said the release. Further details were not available, and a spokesman could not be reached for comment. Between 2011 and 2014 he was technology manager for Man AHL, acting as chief technology officer for Man Systematic Strategies.
