Globalised stock-picking Software program takes the human element out of choosing where - among 17,500 shares - AXA Rosenberg will invest client funds.

(From South China Morning Post)

Byline: MEET THE MANAGER DAVID ROBINSON

This week's column might be better entitled meet the computer algorithm, because the main brain behind AXA Rosenberg's client portfolios is a vast software system that analyses 17,500 stocks globally across 26 markets.

The software compares the Rosenberg opinion on each of these 17,500 stocks to the market price every three minutes. No human analysts are involved in deciding where the US$30 billion of assets will be invested, though the specialisation is equities.

The company has very academic origins. Its founder Barr Rosenberg was a finance professor at Berkley in the 70s and 80s, and a pioneer in the practical application of modern portfolio …