QIO – The analytical backbone for investment decisions and risk management

Far too often, people make investment decisions on a subjective basis without a structured fundamental framework. Subjective decisions not only suffer from cognitive biases but are also prone to errors. Furthermore, investment decisions are often influenced by possible conflicts of interest between the wealth owner and the wealth manager leading to a so-called moral hazard.

Quantitatively-supported investment decisions mitigate these biases and conflicts by introducing objective measures and a structured investment decision process. Providing quantitative models and advice on the design of robust investment processes is our core competence.

We forecast economic variables, long-term asset returns and volatilities based on our long-standing financial market expertise and state-of-the-art quantitative methods incorporating latest academic developments. We deliver full forecast trajectories dependent on economic scenarios beyond ten years for all major global and regional equity, fixed income and commodity indices, foreign exchange pairs as well as alternative asset indices with sufficient data history and quality.

Combining financial market theory and expert knowledge, we estimate long-term fair values for global, regional and sector-specific corporate earnings, equity risk premia, benchmark and corporate bond yields, credit spreads, commodity prices and foreign exchange pairs.

These fair values and their deviation from current market levels represent so-called fundamental forecasting factors, i.e. factors that are used as signals to enter or exit markets and therefore support investment decisions. The fair value estimates can also be used to build financial products replicating those market signals.

Applying our long-term return, volatility and correlation estimates, we deliver customized strategic asset allocations according to your defined investment goals, risk profiles and exclusion criteria. Recommended allocations can also allow for outside interests in specific sectors or asset classes stemming for instance from corporate ownership.

We support you in the design of your investment process, answering the following (non-exhaustive) questions: How do you split your strategic and tactical asset allocation (TAA)? On which basis do you deviate from your strategic asset allocation (SAA)? Which asset type should be included in the SAA and TAA? Should foreign equity exposure be hedged and, if so, how?

Due to our econometric modelling and asset allocation know-how we are able to offer a unique, modern and accessible application for goal-based investing. The application includes asset and liability aspects and can be fully tailored to cover various aspects of lifecycle wealth management including income origin, inflation or pre-existing asset holdings. Its area of application ranges from retail investors to sovereign wealth funds.

Asset price and economic forecasting
Capital Market Assumptions for major asset classes. Global and regional forecasts for key economic indicators
Fair values & forecasting factors
Factors to forecast business cycle and asset prices, long-term fair values for major equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets
Asset allocation and investment advice
Strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies for all major currencies and markets (multi-asset strategies)
Goal-based investment strategies
Reach your financial goals with goal-based investing by applying dynamic counter-cyclical investment strategies

QIO – More than the sum of its parts

We are a Swiss-based group of senior financial professionals combining strong academic know-how in finance, economics and mathematics with long-standing experience in the financial industry. After we had developed quantitative methods and investment strategies for a leading global bank, we founded QIO – Quantitative Investment Office, the analytical backbone of all our services.

Board
Executive
Partners
Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner
Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner

Michael is the Chairman/CEO and a founding Partner at QIO. In addition to developing the company further as CEO, he is leading its investment process as Chief Investment Officer. Before founding QIO, Michael worked more than 15 years at Credit Suisse, where he successfully led the Quantitative and Technical Investment Strategy team and served as an acting member of the Credit Suisse Global Investment Committee. In his role, he was mainly responsible for asset price modelling, forming the Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs) and the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAAs) of the bank. Michael started his career as an option derivatives trader at Bank Austria and Raiffeisen International Bank in Vienna.

Michael holds a Doctoral degree in social and economic sciences from University of Vienna (summa cum laude) and a Master’s degree from Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh (with distinction) and University of Vienna (with merit).

Email: michael.markovich@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Urs Beeler
Advisor to the Board/Partner
Urs Beeler
Advisor to the Board/Partner

Urs is Advisor to the Board and Partner at QIO. He spent most of his career at Credit Suisse where he held several top executive roles, including Member of the Executive Board of Credit Suisse Switzerland and, for many years, Head of Trading and Sales in Zurich. Urs was also Member of the Board of Directors of SIX Group. During his career, he has distinguished himself as a widely respected professional in the Swiss financial market industry.

After retiring from Credit Suisse, Urs has become an active investor and is serving today as advisor and board member of several start-ups.

Email: urs.beeler@qio.finance

In: Connect via LinkedIn

Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner
Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner

Michael is the Chairman/CEO and a founding Partner at QIO. In addition to developing the company further as CEO, he is leading its investment process as Chief Investment Officer. Before founding QIO, Michael worked more than 15 years at Credit Suisse, where he successfully led the Quantitative and Technical Investment Strategy team and served as an acting member of the Credit Suisse Global Investment Committee. In his role, he was mainly responsible for asset price modelling, forming the Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs) and the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAAs) of the bank. Michael started his career as an option derivatives trader at Bank Austria and Raiffeisen International Bank in Vienna.

Michael holds a Doctoral degree in social and economic sciences from University of Vienna (summa cum laude) and a Master’s degree from Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh (with distinction) and University of Vienna (with merit).

Email: michael.markovich@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Juri Sarbach
CTO, Partner
Juri Sarbach
CTO, Partner

Juri is the CTO and a Partner at QIO. Before joining the company, Juri cofounded Quantworks in Zurich, where he is also the CTO and Cloud Architect. He deepened his data analysis expertise at Meocon Consulting and his quantitative background at Kraus Partners Investment Solutions as a quantitative analyst. Before joining IS Partners as a fund manager and Chief Risk Officer, he designed quantitative/systematic trading and asset allocation strategies as a fund manager for Ananea Funds in Valetta and for Clariden Leu in Zurich. Juri started his career as a strategist at Bank Leu.

Juri is a Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect and Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer. He holds an MA (lic.oec.) in economics and finance from the University of St. Gallen and a Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF, with distinction).

Email: juri.sarbach@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Nemanja Kostic
IT Advisor, Partner
Nemanja Kostic
IT Advisor, Partner

Nemanja is a senior IT Advisor and Partner at QIO. Nemanja founded his AWS consulting company 1way2cloud in Zurich after he had worked at Amazon Web Service as a Senior Solutions Architect. Before, he had been an Enterprise/Solutions Architect at Zurich Insurance Company and a software developer at various mid-size companies. Nemanja started his career as a Research Assistant at Siemens in Munich.

Nemanja holds ten AWS certifications and he is an Open CA Master Architect. He holds an MSc in computer science and a BSc in software engineering from the University of Belgrade.

Email: nemanja.kostic@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner
Dr. Michael Markovich
CEO/Partner

Michael is the Chairman/CEO and a founding Partner at QIO. In addition to developing the company further as CEO, he is leading its investment process as Chief Investment Officer. Before founding QIO, Michael worked more than 15 years at Credit Suisse, where he successfully led the Quantitative and Technical Investment Strategy team and served as an acting member of the Credit Suisse Global Investment Committee. In his role, he was mainly responsible for asset price modelling, forming the Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs) and the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAAs) of the bank. Michael started his career as an option derivatives trader at Bank Austria and Raiffeisen International Bank in Vienna.

Michael holds a Doctoral degree in social and economic sciences from University of Vienna (summa cum laude) and a Master’s degree from Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh (with distinction) and University of Vienna (with merit).

Email: michael.markovich@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Urs Beeler
Advisor to the Board/Partner
Urs Beeler
Advisor to the Board/Partner

Urs is Advisor to the Board and Partner at QIO. He spent most of his career at Credit Suisse where he held several top executive roles, including Member of the Executive Board of Credit Suisse Switzerland and, for many years, Head of Trading and Sales in Zurich. Urs was also Member of the Board of Directors of SIX Group. During his career, he has distinguished himself as a widely respected professional in the Swiss financial market industry.

After retiring from Credit Suisse, Urs has become an active investor and is serving today as advisor and board member of several start-ups.

Email: urs.beeler@qio.finance

In: Connect via LinkedIn

Lorenzo Linardi
Partner
Lorenzo Linardi
Partner

Lorenzo is a non-executive founding Partner at QIO. He is currently a quantitative developer at Credit Suisse responsible for the development of pricing tools. He initially worked as a quantitative strategist developing econometric models for equity markets and quantitative strategies for portfolio management. Before, Lorenzo had been a teaching assistant at the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zurich and helped develop actuarial-financial software at Numerica Risk in Italy.

Lorenzo holds an MSc in quantitative finance from ETH Zurich and University of Zurich (summa cum laude) and an MSc in applied mathematics from Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” (cum laude).

Email: lorenzo.linardi@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Juri Sarbach
CTO, Partner
Juri Sarbach
CTO, Partner

Juri is the CTO and a Partner at QIO. Before joining the company, Juri cofounded Quantworks in Zurich, where he is also the CTO and Cloud Architect. He deepened his data analysis expertise at Meocon Consulting and his quantitative background at Kraus Partners Investment Solutions as a quantitative analyst. Before joining IS Partners as a fund manager and Chief Risk Officer, he designed quantitative/systematic trading and asset allocation strategies as a fund manager for Ananea Funds in Valetta and for Clariden Leu in Zurich. Juri started his career as a strategist at Bank Leu.

Juri is a Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect and Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer. He holds an MA (lic.oec.) in economics and finance from the University of St. Gallen and a Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF, with distinction).

Email: juri.sarbach@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Nemanja Kostic
IT Advisor, Partner
Nemanja Kostic
IT Advisor, Partner

Nemanja is a senior IT Advisor and Partner at QIO. Nemanja founded his AWS consulting company 1way2cloud in Zurich after he had worked at Amazon Web Service as a Senior Solutions Architect. Before, he had been an Enterprise/Solutions Architect at Zurich Insurance Company and a software developer at various mid-size companies. Nemanja started his career as a Research Assistant at Siemens in Munich.

Nemanja holds ten AWS certifications and he is an Open CA Master Architect. He holds an MSc in computer science and a BSc in software engineering from the University of Belgrade.

Email: nemanja.kostic@qio.finance
In: Connect via LinkedIn

Contact Info

QIO – Quantitative Investment Office AG
Postfach
8802 Kilchberg Switzerland

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