Brutal Start To The Year For Quants

After a strong 2025, the start of the new year has been very challenging for Systematic Long/Short managers, i.e. quants. 

As Goldman's Kartik Singhal writes in a note published earlier today (available to pro subs), across the cohort tracked by the bank, performance is down 1% globally YTD (as of Thursday's close). This 10-day drawdown may not sound like much, but it is the worst since early October.