On Friday, May 10th local time, the Simmons Foundation announced on its official website that its co-founder, mathematician and investor James Harris Simons, passed away in New York City at the age of 86.
In the investment world, Simmons is best known as the founder of Renaissance Technology and the father of quantitative investment. He applied mathematical and statistical theories to practical situations, breaking free from the shortcomings of traditional financial models and the subjectivity of analysts, and opening up a unique path of quantitative investment on Wall Street.
The press release stated that Simmons himself often stated that his career went through three stages: mathematician, investor, and philanthropist.
Source: Simmons Foundation Official Website
In 1968, at the age of only 30, Simmons was invited to serve as the head of the Department of Mathematics at State University of New York at Stony Brook. Eight years later, he was awarded the Oswald Wimbledon Geometry Award, representing the highest achievement in the field of geometry.
In 1978, at the age of 40, Simmons left academia against the opposition of his friends and colleagues and founded Renaissance Technologies, forming a team of scientists to integrate mathematical ideas into investments. However, the first decade was not particularly successful.
Until 1988, Renaissance Technologies launched its first fund product - the Medallion Fund. In the following 30 years, the annualized compound return of the Grand Medal Fund was close to 40%, significantly leading the annualized compound return of the S&P 500 index during the same period.
The success of the Grand Medal Fund has led to the explosive growth of the concept of quantitative investment on Wall Street: Quantitative investment is a strategy based on computer algorithms for investment decision-making, which discovers patterns and trends through the analysis and modeling of a large amount of historical data, and then makes investment decisions.
Professionals say that quantitative investment utilizes far more information than the human brain can accommodate, and can prevent emotions from affecting trading decisions. Until today, many investment institutions are adopting this approach for investment.
"Investment is an information war." Simmons believes that investors should obtain as much information as possible through various channels, conduct in-depth analysis to better understand the market and formulate effective strategies. He also emphasized that high returns often come with high risks, and stable returns can achieve long-term wealth growth.
Undoubtedly, Simmons holds an irreplaceable position in the field of quantitative investment. In 2010, he retired from the second tier of Renaissance Technology Company, but remained the controlling shareholder and served as the chairman of the board until 2021, during which he participated in major company decisions.
In 1994, the Simmons couple established the Simmons Foundation, which specializes in assisting scientific research programs in education and healthcare.
The chairman of the foundation wrote in a press release, "Jim (Simmons) is an outstanding leader who has made revolutionary contributions in the field of mathematics and created a globally leading investment company."
