China Quants Defend Sector Amid Calls to Ban Algorithmic Trades

(Bloomberg) — China’s top quantitative hedge funds are defending the beleaguered industry against pundit calls to ban algorithm-driven trading following regulatory tightening.

Yanfu Investments LLC and Zhejiang High-Flyer Asset Management, two of the largest quants managing more than 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) combined, published rare articles this week in response to “misconceptions” about quant investing. Quants are being blamed for any market fluctuation even when evidence suggests otherwise, High-Flyer wrote on its WeChat account Wednesday.