One of the World's Largest Hedge Funds on Its 86x Growth in Token Spending

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming active asset management by augmenting research processes and enabling complex agentic workflows. Man Group CTO Gary Collier and Head of Data and AI Tushara Fernando explain how the firm utilizes AI to synthesize vast, unstructured datasets—ranging from broker research to podcasts—to identify investment signals that were previously inaccessible. Since January, the firm has experienced an 86-fold increase in token consumption, reflecting a shift toward agents that can ideate, validate, and construct systematic trading strategies. While frontier models provide powerful capabilities, the real competitive advantage lies in proprietary data structuring and the institutional capacity to integrate these tools safely within a regulated framework. Ultimately, alpha generation has evolved from isolated human insights into a complex, collaborative ecosystem where AI agents and human expertise interact to navigate global markets.