Tudor's Jones Said to Back AI Hedge Funds CargoMetrics, Numerai

(Bloomberg) -- Paul Tudor Jones, the founder of Tudor Investment Corp., has invested in two artificial-intelligence startups as the money manager expands into strategies that employ big data.

The hedge fund manager has invested in CargoMetrics Technologies, an investment firm that uses tools such as satellite signals and shipping data to trade commodities, currencies and equity futures, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. He’s also backed Numerai, a San Francisco-based hedge fund that makes wagers using anonymously submitted models, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

A spokesman for Tudor declined to comment on the investments, which were reported earlier by the Financial Times. CargoMetrics and Numerai didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jones has been moving money into technologies and investment firms that employ quantitative models, both at his firm and with his own money. In 2015, the firm invested several million dollars in FeatureX and Machine Alpha, two Boston-area startups that seek to blend machine learning and investing. Jones started LaunchPad Trading, a joint venture with Chicago algorithmic trading firm HC Technologies, the same year with his money and Tudor’s partner capital. He’s also personally backed Engineers Gate, a quant-trading firm majority-owned by friend and fellow investor Glenn Dubin.

Investment firms including Tudor, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management and Coatue Management have been adding data scientists in an effort to better evaluate or generate ideas that can give them an edge over peers. Hedge funds have come under pressure in recent years as their returns have suffered and investors have complained about high fees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Foxman in New York at sfoxman4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Vincent Bielski