Why Acadian?

We believe an investment process that applies the best of human thinking and computational power will deliver superior long-term investment returns. Our scientific approach to funds management is driven by systematic techniques and rigorous research.

Mission

Our mission is to be the most trusted and valued source of investment insights and success for its clients.

Approach

Established in 1986, we are recognised as a pioneer in the field of global systematic investing. Our scientific approach to investing leverages cutting-edge technology including artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to gather, aggregate, and analyse data; identify mispriced assets; and construct and manage portfolios.

Clients

Our institutional clients include superannuation and pension funds, foundations, insurance companies and government agencies. Acadian also has relationships with a growing number of financial advisers and Australian Financial Services Licensees.

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Investment Capabilities

We manage over 40 investment strategies globally. Strategy development is support by research and driven by client needs. We have built a culture of innovation around this collaboration. Working closely with our client partners, we seek to anticipate the changing landscape of the industry as well as the financial innovations that support new kinds of investment solutions.

Our Philosophy

Markets are inefficient. These inefficiencies are partly caused by behavioural mistakes and human biases such as overconfidence, under-reaction, risk aversion and irrational beliefs. These behaviours are deeply rooted in investor psychology and therefore highly likely to persist.

 

Our investment philosophy recognises the benefits and limitations of both technology and people. We believe an investment process that applies the best of human thinking and computational power will deliver superior long-term investment returns.

Our commitment to our clients

Our largest and longest-standing clients value several key attributes in a manager. These areas anchor our commitment to service and define success in our relationships with our client partners.

We are true to our investment philosophy and process, therefore, all investment ideas are met with rigorous research and analysis. Our views and investment portfolios reflect our thoughtful, structured, risk-managed, and consistent approach.

For the past 30 years, Acadian has maintained the trust of its clients by being prudent stewards of their wealth and being open and transparent about our process and performance. Our clients’ confidence in our approach and our ability to foster deep-rooted partnerships mean we’re able to invest over a longer-term time horizon and capture mispricing opportunities.

Our success is built on innovation, and our ongoing investment in our people, process, and technology aims to ensure that we stay on the cutting edge of funds management. For example, Acadian has been at the forefront of using AI and ML in asset management to monitor, analyse, and distil large volumes of information. We use advanced ML models to de-noise inputs, detect anomalies, replace missing values, and structure alternative data.

Acadian has a longer history, larger investment team, and broader capability set than most quantitative managers. Our systematic process covers over 150 markets and a 43,000 stock universe. By comparison, a traditional discretionary analyst typically covers around 20 stocks, meaning a firm with 100 analysts may only be able to cover a universe of around 2,000 stocks.

Acadian has successfully managed money and steered clients through all market environments, including major disruptions like the 1987 stockmarket crash, the 2001 tech wreck, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Today’s team can also tap into the experience of former Acadian investment experts, whose views and insights are captured in the group’s library of historical data, spanning the last 30 years.