What were the origins and core mechanism behind the TOPS alpha capture application?
Co-Founder, Chairman & CIO at Marshall Wace
In 2002, we sought a scientific method to evaluate sell-side research commissions rather than relying on subjective voting. We built an intranet platform where global sales brokers ran virtual, intraday portfolios. The platform revealed immense actionable alpha, which we optimized, monetized, and transformed into our Trade Optimized Portfolio System (TOPS), blending algorithmic execution with quantitative signal processing.
This answer is part of a full interview with Sir Paul Marshall, Co-Founder, Chairman & CIO at Marshall Wace.
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