Hedge Funds Shrink, Millennium Raises $22B

Today’s Highlights

01 Jesse: A Cryptocurrency Quant Framework Updates

Jesse is an MIT-licensed Python framework for cryptocurrency quantitative trading, covering backtesting, parameter optimization, paper trading, and live trading. It has garnered 8.6k stars on GitHub.

Jesse has recently entered an active release phase. Version 3.3 was released on October 11, followed quickly by two patches.

Jesse offers several advantages: minimal syntax for rapid adoption by Python developers; accurate backtesting that avoids look-ahead bias; support for multiple trading pairs and timeframes; over 300 built-in indicators accelerated by Rust; Monte Carlo analysis, rule significance testing, and machine learning pipelines; MCP support for integration with AI assistants like Claude and Cursor; and self-hosting to protect strategy privacy.

02 New Hedge Funds Struggle to Raise Capital as Giants Dominate

Investors increasingly favor large multi-strategy hedge funds, making fundraising difficult for new funds. Even experienced managers struggle to scale, with the number of new funds halving over the past five years.

The top 10 institutions each manage at least $75 billion, with Millennium recently raising $22 billion. In 2005, there were 12 new funds exceeding $1 billion; by the end of September this year, there was only one.

The five-year survival rate for funds starting at $1 billion is 84%, but less than 50% for those starting at $25 million. This has prompted many seasoned professionals to abandon entrepreneurship and join larger platforms. The concentration of capital and talent may exacerbate strategy convergence and market volatility risks.¹

Industry News

03 CFFX Launches Special Program for Public Funds

The China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFX), in collaboration with the Asset Management Association of China and the Capital Markets Academy, is hosting the 2026 Financial Derivatives Management Course. The program recruits 60 participants from public fund companies, offering free training. The six-month program consists of 12 days of instruction, culminating in a certificate upon completion. ¹

Global Affairs

04 Deloitte Accused of Forging Documents to Help Abramovich Avoid Taxes

A BBC investigation found that Deloitte’s Cyprus branch assisted Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in forging backdated documents to remove assets worth $672 million—including yachts, mansions, and private jets—from company accounts, and to fabricate nominee arrangements to evade substantial interest taxes in Cyprus. Legal experts describe this as blatant tax evasion. Abramovich’s lawyers deny he authorized or knew of the actions, while Deloitte maintains it acted in compliance with the law. ¹

Quantitative Research

05 Can Hindsight Explain Asset Price Volatility?

Bryan Kelly, a Yale finance professor, AQR partner, head of machine learning, and top scholar in financial economics, recently published a paper paying homage to Richard Roll’s 1988 American Finance Association (AFA) presidential address, R².

The paper, titled Explaining Realized Returns: Roll's R² 40 Years Later, addresses a core question: Can asset price volatility be explained if the causes are known in hindsight?

In 1988, Roll presented a disturbing finding: even when various potential drivers are observed ex post, stock returns remain difficult to explain.

This paper re-examines Roll’s address as a modern empirical problem: To what extent can asset price movements be explained if market events are known ex post?

The authors use generative AI to extract reasons cited in The Wall Street Journal market summaries, filtering out language related to prices and returns. These reasons explain approximately 30–40% of daily and monthly returns out-of-sample. The content corresponds to interpretable themes, including corporate news, macroeconomic conditions, monetary policy, sentiment, and geopolitics.⁷

Quant Career

06 Quant Job Market: 288 New Roles Across 19 Companies

Featured: BAM is simultaneously hiring for Senior Analyst and Associate Portfolio Manager (Asia TECHNE) roles in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. These positions focus on quantitative strategy R&D for Asian markets, involving factor mining, backtesting validation, portfolio construction, and live trading risk attribution. Candidates will collaborate with senior portfolio managers to translate research into positions.

Requirements: A quantitative background in mathematics, statistics, or computer science; proficiency in Python and data modeling; experience in live trading research for Asian assets such as stocks and futures; and familiarity with risk models and high-intensity investment research rhythms.

Highlights: This team offers a direct promotion path to Portfolio Manager, access to global top-tier data and research infrastructure, flexible office locations across three regions, and compensation benchmarked against leading hedge funds. It represents a rare pathway to advancing to a Portfolio Manager role.

Since the last edition of this column, 19 companies have added a total of 288 new positions.

To receive daily updates on the latest job openings and apply ahead of the curve, visit the Quant Jobs section at www.quantide.cn, where all active positions are updated daily and can be filtered by company and region. ¹²

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