The LSE Directory / Hedge funds
Systematica Investments is a systematic, quantitative asset manager that trades trend-following, macro and relative-value strategies across global futures, equity and OTC markets using computer-driven models rather than discretionary calls. Its flagship program, BlueTrend, applies trend-following signals across a broad futures universe; the firm also runs macro non-trend, multi-strategy, equity market-neutral and customised mandates for institutional clients. The firm's stated approach is "data, not emotions": it builds and continuously re-tests proprietary statistical models rather than layering human judgment on top of signals. It has expanded beyond pure trend-following into non-trend and equity market-neutral lines, including through the 2022 acquisition of First Quadrant's intellectual property, a diversification move that distinguishes it from CTA peers that stay concentrated in trend-following alone. It serves institutional allocators through flagship hedge fund vehicles and also offers retail-accessible UCITS products, such as the Systematica Alternative Risk Premia (SARP) fund launched in November 2017 with 120 million dollars in seed capital from Old Mutual Global Investors. Systematica was established on 1 January 2015 by Leda Braga as the independent successor manager to BlueTrend and BlueMatrix, the systematic programmes she had run inside BlueCrest Capital Management since joining as head of systematic trading in October 2001; the spin-out was announced in September 2014. Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) acquired a majority stake in the new firm in November 2015, and Braga and AMG bought out BlueCrest's remaining interest in January 2022. The firm is headquartered in Jersey with additional offices in London, Geneva, New York, Shanghai and Singapore, crossed 10 billion dollars in assets under management in June 2021, and reported around 17 billion dollars by 2025. Leda Braga serves as CEO, with Matthias Hagmann and Jean-Pierre Selvatico as co-Chief Investment Officers. In 2025 the flagship BlueTrend program suffered one of its sharper drawdowns, reported down about 19 percent year to date by April amid volatile swings in markets including natural gas, silver and currencies tied to US-China trade tensions, illustrating the concentrated risk trend-following strategies can carry through sudden regime shifts.
