Credit Suisse's Asset Management Division Launches Systematic Trading Group

Credit Suisse Asset Management today announced the launch of its Systematic Trading Group that will offer investors access to actively managed liquid trading strategies. These are strategies that seek to achieve risk-adjusted returns with relatively low correlation to traditional markets within a pre-defined risk management framework.

In a statement released today, the firm said the group will be managed by Mika Toikka, formerly the Global Head of Risk and Strategy for Proprietary Trading in Credit Suisse's Investment Bank.

The Group is expected to be comprised initially of approximately 20 traders, research analysts and front office personnel offering a diverse set of liquid strategies across multiple asset classes with transparency and will initially manage approximately $500 million of assets.

In terms of potential job opennings, Toikka said he expects to be able to "attract world class trading talent." He adds that he's already "started to bring together a team of traders from within Asset Management with a group of hedge fund managers and former proprietary traders from other top-tier financial institutions to build on the track record of Asset Management's quantitative product line to offer our clients access to systematic trading strategies."

With the launch of the Group, Credit Suisse's Asset Management division is also forming a Systematic Trading Advisory Board. The Board will initially consist of Robert Engle, Nobel Prize in Economics 2003 (Professor of Finance, Stern School of Business) ; Olivier Ledoit, the former head of Statistical Arbitrage at Credit Suisse Global Prop Trading in Europe (Permanent Research Fellow at University of Zurich); and Andrew Mullhaupt, formerly of Renaissance Technologies and SAC Capital (Research Professor at Stony Brook University).