AI use lifts participation in WorldQuant contest

Oct 8 (Reuters) - Hedge fund ‌WorldQuant said ​on ​Wednesday registrations for this year's flagship global quant research contest have almost doubled from a year ‌earlier, as increased adoption of AI has helped ⁠more university students build trading models.

Here are more details:

• The International Quant ‌Championship, run by WorldQuant, ‌a spin-off of Millennium Management, challenges entrants to build mathematical models that forecast price movements across a range of ​financial instruments

• About 156,000 people signed up this year, compared with roughly 80,000 in 2025, the firm ⁠said

• Victor Ayebameru, a student from Adekunle Ajasin University in Nigeria who taught himself ​quant finance, took first place, highlighting how wider use of AI is lowering entry barriers ​in quantitative financial trading

• More than ‌40,000 women participated and approximately 28% of participants came from Africa, said Nitish Maini, chief ⁠strategy officer at WorldQuant

• Easier access to AI tools has helped students from different backgrounds to develop trading algorithms, boosting interest ⁠in quantitative trading competitions that are becoming key recruiting grounds for major ​hedge funds

• There was a notable increase in solo participation this year, the hedge fund said

• Global hedge fund firms that manage ‌more than $1 billion in assets saw their combined assets rise by more than 19% to ‌a record $4.05 trillion by the end of 2025, according to ⁠data from With Intelligence, ‌with quant-focused funds posting ​average asset growth of 30% over the year

(Reporting by Shruti Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank ‌Dhaniwala)

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