Opinion certainty 3/5 debate potential 2/5

Jim Simons's Dual Quant and People Skills Drove Returns

Gregory Zuckerman · Gregory Zuckerman – Decoding Renaissance Medallion (Capital Allocators, EP.119) · Jan 6, 2020 · at 15:41

Author Greg Zuckerman explains to Ted Seides the management and quantitative factors behind Renaissance Technologies' historic market returns.

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“I think that's part of the reason why the returns have been so ridiculous is that he's a unique breed. He could do both, the quant side, the mathematics side, but also the personal and relate to people and manage people.”

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