AI in Investment Management: Mapping Comfort Zones, Constraints, and the Path to Alpha

Timings:

Registration:  17:30 - 18:00

Programme:  18:00 - 19:30    
Drinks reception with networking:  19:30 - 20:00

Speakers:

Host and Moderator: Dan Philps, CFA, PhD, Head of Investment Strategies, Rothko
Dan Philps, PhD, CFA, is the head of Rothko Investment Strategies, where he leads an AI-driven systematic equities investment business that has delivered strong, fundamentally-driven alpha for institutional investors since its inception in 2013. With more than 20 years of experience as a systematic portfolio manager, he has built and led investment strategies that integrate advanced AI approaches with deep investment expertise.

Previously, Philps was a senior portfolio manager at Mondrian Investment Partners, where he played a key role in developing systematic global credit and securitised bond strategies, pioneering machine learning approaches to enhance credit selection and portfolio performance. Earlier in his career, he designed and developed trading and risk models at several leading global investment banks. Philps holds BSc (Hons) from King’s College London and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from City, University of London, where his research focused on memory-augmented deep neural networks and their effective application to security selection. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of the UK.

In addition to his role at Rothko, Philps is co-leader of AI Research at the Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology at Warwick Business School and an honorary research fellow at the University of Warwick, where he advances research on AI in investment management.

Simon Legrand-Green, CFA, Head of Multi Asset and Systematic Strategies Research, WTW
Simon Legrand-Green is an Associate Director at WTW, where he leads global research across Multi-Asset, Systematic, and Digital Asset strategies. Based in London, Simon is part of the Manager Research team, focusing on Liquid Diversifiers -- including Hedge Funds, Alternative Betas, Quantitative Equities, and other esoteric investment strategies. 

Since joining WTW in 2010, Simon has developed deep expertise in economic and fund research, with a strong emphasis on applications in portfolio construction and risk management. He also plays a key role in the design and calibration of WTW's proprietary Structured Assessment Method, contributing to quantitative model development and innovation. 

Simon has worked in both London and New York, gaining international experience and perspective. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Warwick and has been a CFA Charterholder since 2017.

Julan Al-Yassin, Director, Learning Content, CFA Institute
Julan Al Yassin, CFA is Director of Learning Content at CFA Institute, where she develops educational content across private markets, private wealth management, and data science and AI. She leads content development for several skills initiatives’ hands on, evidence centred learning experiences designed to prepare practitioners for real world tasks with a particular focus on the intersection of artificial intelligence and investment practice.

Before joining CFA Institute, Julan served as Director of the Actuarial Science Program at Wright State University. She brings over a decade of experience in curriculum design, and earlier in her career worked in wealth management in the UAE, developing investment strategies for high-net-worth clients.

Julan holds a BSc in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Toronto and graduate degrees in economics from the University of Chicago and in mathematics from the University of Windsor. She is a CFA Charterholder and has passed multiple Society of Actuaries examinations.