Cliff Asness

Clifford Scott Asness was born on October 17, 1966, in Queens, New York. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 with bachelor’s degrees in computer science and finance. His interest in finance began during his time as a research assistant at Wharton, where he used computer programs to analyze markets and test financial theories. He continued his education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, earning an MBA with high honors in 1991 and a PhD in finance in 1994. During his doctoral studies, Asness was a student and teaching assistant for Nobel laureate Eugene Fama, who, along with Kenneth French, established the Fama–French three-factor model. Asness’s doctoral dissertation focused on the performance of momentum trading, asserting that profits could be achieved by exploiting both value and momentum strategies. He is credited with providing empirical evidence that brought these concepts into the academic financial mainstream.

Asness began his career in 1990 as a PhD student, joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) as a manager for their new quantitative research desk. He brought in colleagues from the University of Chicago to develop models for risk evaluation across currencies, bonds, and economies. While at GSAM, he built upon the factor models developed by Fama and French, integrating his own research insights. In 1995, Asness secured an initial $10 million investment from Goldman, leading to the creation of the Goldman Sachs Global Alpha Fund once the investment reached $100 million. This systematic trading hedge fund became known for high-frequency trading and employed complex computerized models to identify underpriced assets and leverage price momentum. Global Alpha grew significantly, managing over $12 billion in assets by 2007, but was eventually shut down in 2011 after declining to $1 billion in assets.

In 1998, Asness co-founded Applied Quantitative Research (AQR) Capital Management with David Kabiller, John Liew, and Robert Krail. AQR focuses on factor-based investing, offering a range of products from hedge funds to mutual funds. The firm reported losses during the 2008 financial crisis but rebounded to manage $33 billion in assets by the end of 2010. By 2019, AQR had become one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Asness has been an active researcher and author, publishing articles in various financial journals. His contributions have been recognized with awards such as the James R. Vertin Award from CFA Institute, five Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Awards, and the Graham and Dodd Award. He was also named one of the 50 Most-Influential People in Global Finance by Bloomberg Markets magazine.