Ewan Kirk

President

GAM Systematic | Cantab

Cambridge, UK

Biography

Dr. Ewan Kirk is a technology entrepreneur, President of GAM Systematic Cantab, and Chairman of the Management Committee of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. A seed investor in startups in Cambridge and London, he has also been active in philanthropy since 2007.

Ewan has been involved in a number of ventures to commercialise, apply and support science, technology and mathematics research.

He is best known for founding Cantab Capital Partners, a science-driven quantitative investment management firm that uses data analysis to research and implement systematic investment strategies. Between 2007 and 2016, Cantab grew from a team of two with £30m AUM to 60 people with over £4bn AUM and was consistently ranked as one of the top-performing quant funds. In 2016 it was acquired by GAM Investments.

A partner at Goldman Sachs between 1992 and 2005, Ewan was responsible for leading their 120-strong quantitative technology group. He previously served as Director of Innovation at Scientific Generics (now Sagentia), a consultancy providing scientific solutions to business problems, and founded DaLEK Software, which developed the Microdraft CAD software package.

Alongside his wife Dr. Patricia Turner, he founded the Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust, which supports STEM, education and conservation causes. It funds the Kirk Distinguished Fellowship Programme for female mathematicians and the Turner-Kirk Visiting Fellowship Programme to bring leading mathematicians to Cambridge.

In 2015, the couple provided a £5m gift to the University of Cambridge to establish the Cantab Capital Institute for the Mathematics of Information.

Ewan holds a PhD in General Relativity, MASt in Mathematics (Part III, Cambridge Mathematical Tripos), and a BSc in Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.

Ewan Kirk’s Newsfeed

Financial Times

Don’t believe the hype about AI and fund management

Ewan Kirk, President of GAM Systematic writes for The Financial Times: Hardly a day goes by without investors being told that artificial intelligence will revolutionise investment management. After all, AI is being hailed as a way to enhance image recognition, healthcare, movie recommendations, fake news and even the humble toothbrush. Surely it is only a matter of time before AI allows investors to sit at home getting rich, while watching movies with sparkling teeth?

Mail Online

Monitoring climate change from the sky: DRONES could play a 'critical role' in tracking the effec...

Dr Kirk, who is the director of the Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust, said improving the range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is critical to their use in helping the planet. He has donated £15,000 to the University of Southampton engineering department as part of a project to create new types of drones with better batteries. He says as well as climate change, the technology can help in stopping or reducing instances of poaching and help first responders in natural disasters. Drones should be an essential tool at the fingertips of those environment agencies already helping in the fight against climate change, he said.

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Ewan Kirk’s Background

GAM Systematic | Cantab

President

Oct 2016 - Present

Cambridge, UK

Part of GAM Investments, GAM Systematic | Cantab manages a range of algorithm-led quantitative investment funds. Led by a team of physicists and mathematicians, the team uses data analysis to test and implement systematic investment strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Known for its academic excellence, it was formed in 2016 following the acquisition of Cantab Capital Partners.

Cantab Capital Partners

Founder

Feb 2006 - Present

Cambridge, UK

Founded in 2006, Cantab Capital is a science-driven quantitative investment firm. One of the top-performing quant funds between 2006-16, the company credits its success to its scientific rigour, using data analysis to research, test and implement systematic investment strategies. With strong ties to the University of Cambridge, the company conducts itself like a scientific research organisation.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Partner | Head, Quantitative Strategies Group

1992 - 2005

London, UK

Goldman Sachs' Quantitative Strategies Group oversees all of the organisation's quantitative technology. Formed of a team of outstanding mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists and technologists, the Group uses advanced econometric and quantitative methods to structure, manage and monitor investment portfolios, researching multi-asset investment strategies.

Scientific Generics (now Sagentia)

Director of Innovation

1989 - 1992

Cambridge, UK

A Cambridge-based consultancy, Scientific Generics (now Sagentia) brings together a team of scientists, engineers and mathematicians to leverage their problem-solving skills to find solutions to difficult problems for its clients, leveraging cutting-edge technology and research to give their clients a competitive edge in the market.

DaLEK Software

Co-founder

1984 - 1989

Glasgow, UK

Founded in 1984, DaLEK developed two-dimensional Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) package MicroDraft for the Amstrad CPC6128 and PCW8256 microcomputer. The original MicroDraft code was rewritten and ported to the PC environment, firstly under MSDOS, then 16-bit Windows and finally 32-bit Windows environments.

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Ewan Kirk’s Gallery

Other Business Interests

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences

Chairman of the Management Committee

2017 - Present

Cambridge, UK

The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is a national and international visitor research institute. It runs a wide range of mathematical research programmes attracting leading mathematical scientists from overseas and the UK. It builds on strengths that already exist in UK universities and aims to generate a new vitality through nurturing and stimulating research.

Philanthropy

Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust

Co-founder & Director

2007 - Present

Cambridge, UK

The Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust is a multi-million-pound trust which supports conservation, early child development, academic research, and international aid causes in the UK and developing world. It has dispersed over £7 million and is one of the largest private funders of fundamental mathematics research in the UK.

Ewan Kirk’s Education

University of Southampton

PhD, General Relativity

1984 - 1989

University of Cambridge

Part III of Applied Maths Tripos

1983 - 1984

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