A random talk down Quant Street, Ep. 6/11 – What are next-gen signals?

Investing is evolving fast, and next-gen signals are at the forefront of that evolution. But what arethey? In the sixth episode of this new series on quant investing, Iman Honarvar Gheysary returns to unpack these developments for us.

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s return to the White House have been marked by sweeping change: executive actions, heightened trade tensions, and growing uncertainty seem to be the new normal. In this episode, we evaluate how these early policy moves by the new US administration are reshaping the global economic landscape, and what it all means for investors.

‘In times of turmoil you see where the crowded trades are’, says strategist Martin van Vliet. He explains what happened on the bond market that made Trump blink, and discusses where safe havens can be found when US Treasuries crumble.

AI is everywhere – but what does it actually mean for quant investing? In the fifth episode of this new series on quant investing, we speak with Iman Honarvar, Senior Quant Researcher at Robeco, who shares how AI is used today. From scalable infrastructure to real-world applications, Iman reveals how Robeco has built a foundation to make AI truly work – while embracing the human creativity that still drives innovation forward.

President Trump blinked and markets worldwide rally. Is this an opportunity to take risk off the table or are we back in ‘risk on territory’? China faces even higher tariffs, while the historically rock-solid safe-haven status of the US dollar starts to show some cracks.

In this episode we cover five of the key questions clients have dropped with us over the past few days when Trump’s tariffs wreaked havoc on financial markets.

This week’s paradox: ‘we’re witnessing a very significant market event on something that we all saw coming’, says Joshua Crabb, portfolio manager based in Hongkong.

You see indiscriminative selling happening now among hedge funds. First they sell what they could, now they sell whatever they can.

Broad factor groups help explain long-term returns and, indeed, form the framework for quantitative stock selection models. In the fourth of this new series on Quant Investing we meet again with Matthais Hanauer, researcher and director at Robeco, to find out more about the perfect quant stock

Global markets are reeling from unpredictable US policy shifts – from tariff wars to geopolitical moves – all of which has left emerging market equity investors on edge. Positioning portfolios for 2025 and beyond demands a clear grasp of regional, country, and sector dynamics. Investors are looking for alternatives to US Big Tech companies and start adding regions with more attractive valuations and decent prospects.