‘Artificial intelligence’ to drive Edinburgh fund

AN EDINBURGH‑based investment boutique yesterday unveiled a strategic partnership in a hedge fund subsidiary specialising in fully automated securities trading.

SVM Asset Management said it was investing a “significant”, though undisclosed, amount in the Maya Market Neutral fund, run by Level E Capital, also based in the city.

The Maya Market asset management operation was launched by the hedge fund early last month, and invests in large-cap UK and US equities.

It has a portfolio of 400 positions and a target return of 15 per cent. SVM Asset Management said: “The Maya Market Neutral Fund uses a fully automated decision‑making process. This relies on the trading system’s ability to retrieve, store and process large quantities of data automatically, removing human subjective factors.”

Melville Bucher, head of hedge fund marketing at SVM, said the “absolute returns” investment provided the potential for “equity type returns”, whilst also offering low volatility.

Sonia Schulenburg, chief executive of Level E Capital, said: “We have considerable knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence for securities trading and are pleased to be partnering with SVM in this venture.”

Level E said target investors were “institutions, high net worth individuals and foundations”.