Hedge in the cloud: funds outsourcing computing power step into unknown

A exterior view of building where hedge fund manager Piquant Technologies is registered, in London, Britain, October 27, 2016. Picture taken October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Maiya Keidan

LONDON: Tucked into the attic of a Georgian building in London's West End, seven people run a US$200mil (RM883.29mil) hedge fund following artificial intelligence formulas. But the supercomputers that process their complex algorithms are nowhere to be seen. 

While most established hedge funds keep their trading systems at close quarters, Piquant Technologies outsources all its IT to third parties via the cloud, where multiple computing resources are shared by multiple and often unrelated users.