8 ms·

Jim Simons: The Numbers King

122 points by astdb 9y ago

melling 9y ago
He’s putting some of his wealth into basic research: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- sillytest 9y ago
  test3
adenadel 9y ago
The Numberphile interview with Jim Simons is a good watch/listen Numberphile video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVDqfUhXOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVDqfUhXOY Full length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
mxwsn 9y ago
As a computational biologist, I'm not so confident that Simons can make a huge impact in my field. At best, I would expect his institute to find a niche and impact on the scale of a typical lab, but this pales in comparison to, say, the Broad institute which is a better peer with the Flatiron, what with lavish funding and a distinctive research philosophy than following NSF/NIH grants. He prefers problems that aren't hopelessly complicated, but I suspect this is exactly where computational biology falls into if you don't have the ability to perform causal experiments. And wet lab experiments aren't being funded by the Flatiron.
- tikhonj 9y ago
  How much impact does DE Shaw Research have? I think that would be the most direct point of comparison. I'm not asking this rhetorically—I'm curious but also don't have much experience to bioinformatics.
- ptero 9y ago
  Maybe he can help fix the process rather than provide some spectacular singular breakthrough. A common complaint I heard (from the outside, I do not work in biology) is that a large portion of scientists' productive time at many university labs is spent on finding funding. For example, if he establishes some initial funding streams and keeps it open long enough to see commercial benefits (10+ years) and uses those to transition this setup to self sufficiency (as opposed to a few unicorns spinning off), he could have a major long term impact.
spot 9y ago
not mentioned in the article, the institute he founded 10 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simons_Center_for_Geometry_and_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simons_Center_for_Geometry_and...
nyc111 9y ago
I wish he invested in studying the microbiome. It is a relatively new field and requires computational powers. From the article, if I understand correctly, they study autism only in the context of the DNA. But it is now known that the disorders in the gut microbiome is related to autism.
- mercer 9y ago
  Do you have some links for that and/or could you elaborate? Sounds like a fascinating connection.
  - nyc111 9y ago
    These are the first two in google results: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/ https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-017-0242-1 https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186... I have more references at home but cannot reach them now. There is a also a doctor here in Turkey who tried fecal transplant on an autistic kid. She was optimistic about the results but reluctant to publish just for one patient. This was months ago. I don't know the status now.
- Renfrew 9y ago
  The gut microbiome is a main focus of the Systems Biology group in the Center for Computational Biology. https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computational-biology/systems-biology/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computa...
  - nyc111 9y ago
    Great. I found this research https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2017/09/26/microbiome-project/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2017/09/26/microbiome-proje... But do they study microbiome in relation to autism? I could not find any such research.
amongwhales 9y ago
When a previous article on RenTec/Jim Simons was posted, I saw a comment thread about how Renaissance couldn't possibly be making such consistent money from Machine learning and quantitative analysis, but instead the reason they are so secretive and consistent is that they have insider info they have to hide. Do others agree with that theory? It makes more sense to me, due to a conviction on efficient market hypothesis.
- mlevental 9y ago
  very few people on hn actually know about quantitative finance - so they co-opt folk wisdom in order to be dismissive. all quant firms are secretive - it's not like de shaw or jane street or two sigma publish white papers. rentech has been successful for decades. if they were doing it using inside info they would've been caught a long time ago.
  - ordinaryperson 9y ago
    Bernie Madoff began his Ponzi scheme in the early 1970s (source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/10/03/inside-the-mind-of-madoff-when-did-scam-really-begin/#14eea74b4ec8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/10/03/inside-the...) He ran a scam for almost 40 years right under the nose of regulators and Wall Street. Rentech may 100% legit, but absence of criminal convictions is not proof.
- cepth 9y ago
  It depends on which form of the EMH you subscribe to. I.e. weak, semi-strong, or strong. As described in this article by Cliff Asness, https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14zbgrj5pflsc/the-great-divide-over-market-efficiency https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14zbgrj5pflsc..., empirical research by Asness and others has shown there is strong evidence of “momentum” in markets. RenTech and various other quant shops employ a number of strategies, among them momentum, arbitrage, etc. Edit: also worth nothing that Asness was a doctoral student of Eugene Fama, perhaps the most famous proponent of the EMH.
  - 9y ago
hidenotslide 9y ago
I found it interesting that the employees of Renaissance finally convinced him to boot Robert Mercer. Simons has accomplished great things in mathematics, investing, autism research and math education. But he has also enabled a Bond villain to undermine our social fabric with disinformation, and I don't think he gets enough credit for that.
- mjfl 9y ago
  From the numberphile interviews and the article above I get the impression that Simons is a professional, wise man who doesn't let political differences devolve into hysteria.
  - c128 9y ago
    The do what all hedge funds do - hedge. Simons put money on Hillary and Mercer put money on Trump. :D
- valuearb 9y ago
  Paying an outstanding employee for the value they created is now "enabling" a Bond Villain? Mercer's political views and activities had nothing to do with Rentech or Jim Simons.
soniman 9y ago
It's funny how much good press Simons gets and yet he is a notorious tax cheat. The Senate issued a report in 2014 about how his firm Rentech is a blatant tax fraud. Rentech also got IRA rules changed so employees could avoid more taxes. Basically, the Senate report alleges that Rentech evaded leverage limits (6x capital) and used the balance sheet of their broker to operate basically as an unregulated market maker. So the two keys to Rentech's strategy were a) illegal levels of leverage and b) evading taxes on short term gains to the tune of $6 billion. Once you dial down the leverage and pay taxes, the alpha disappears. One firm rejected the scheme as illegal and the emails from that firm are in the report. The scheme uses the broker as an illegal front, which is what the firm lawyer immediately recognized. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiUkOKl0oTYAhWkmeAKHTvgD2IQFggxMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hsgac.senate.gov%2Fdownload%2Freport-abuse-of-structured-financial-products-misusing-basket-options-to-avoid-taxes-and-leverage-limits&usg=AOvVaw0aByhG3Uly2-0yQc7kaiAm https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...
- whatok 9y ago
  So the IRS and SEC took action against them because everything you're describing is surely illegal, right?
  - soniman 9y ago
    Jim Simons has given $27 million in political donations, all to Democrats. We'll see if the Republican IRS will get Rentech to pay taxes or if the clock has run out. https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php
    - whatok 9y ago
      So now you're claiming that the only reason why Jim Simons donates is to evade taxes?
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
gxs 9y ago
He spoke at my math commencement at cal - good guy, sharp as a tack. Growing up he was one of my idols - leveraged what he learned in school to make money doing something difficult, achieving success and more importantly respect.
valuearb 9y ago
Jim Simons is a super interesting person, which makes this a very interesting read. What doesn't is the writing. "Simons has an air of being both pleased with himself and ready to be pleased by others. He dresses in expensive cabana wear: delicate cotton shirts paired with chinos that are hiked high and held up by an Indian-bead belt. He grew up in the suburbs of Boston, and speaks with the same light Massachusetts accent as Michael Bloomberg, with frequent pauses and imprecisions. He sometimes uses the words “et cetera” instead of finishing a thought, perhaps because he is abstracted, or because he has learned that the intricacies of his mind are not always interesting to others, or because, when you are as rich as Simons, people always wait for you to finish what you are saying" Gawd, that was awful.

122 points by astdb 9y ago

He’s putting some of his wealth into basic research: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
sillytest 9y ago
test3

adenadel 9y ago

The Numberphile interview with Jim Simons is a good watch/listen Numberphile video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVDqfUhXOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjVDqfUhXOY Full length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0

mxwsn 9y ago

As a computational biologist, I'm not so confident that Simons can make a huge impact in my field. At best, I would expect his institute to find a niche and impact on the scale of a typical lab, but this pales in comparison to, say, the Broad institute which is a better peer with the Flatiron, what with lavish funding and a distinctive research philosophy than following NSF/NIH grants. He prefers problems that aren't hopelessly complicated, but I suspect this is exactly where computational biology falls into if you don't have the ability to perform causal experiments. And wet lab experiments aren't being funded by the Flatiron.

tikhonj 9y ago
How much impact does DE Shaw Research have? I think that would be the most direct point of comparison. I'm not asking this rhetorically—I'm curious but also don't have much experience to bioinformatics.
ptero 9y ago
Maybe he can help fix the process rather than provide some spectacular singular breakthrough. A common complaint I heard (from the outside, I do not work in biology) is that a large portion of scientists' productive time at many university labs is spent on finding funding. For example, if he establishes some initial funding streams and keeps it open long enough to see commercial benefits (10+ years) and uses those to transition this setup to self sufficiency (as opposed to a few unicorns spinning off), he could have a major long term impact.

spot 9y ago

not mentioned in the article, the institute he founded 10 years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simons_Center_for_Geometry_and_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simons_Center_for_Geometry_and...

nyc111 9y ago

I wish he invested in studying the microbiome. It is a relatively new field and requires computational powers. From the article, if I understand correctly, they study autism only in the context of the DNA. But it is now known that the disorders in the gut microbiome is related to autism.

mercer 9y ago
Do you have some links for that and/or could you elaborate? Sounds like a fascinating connection.
- nyc111 9y ago
  These are the first two in google results: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564498/ https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-017-0242-1 https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186... I have more references at home but cannot reach them now. There is a also a doctor here in Turkey who tried fecal transplant on an autistic kid. She was optimistic about the results but reluctant to publish just for one patient. This was months ago. I don't know the status now.
Renfrew 9y ago
The gut microbiome is a main focus of the Systems Biology group in the Center for Computational Biology. https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computational-biology/systems-biology/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computa...
- nyc111 9y ago
  Great. I found this research https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2017/09/26/microbiome-project/ https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2017/09/26/microbiome-proje... But do they study microbiome in relation to autism? I could not find any such research.

amongwhales 9y ago

When a previous article on RenTec/Jim Simons was posted, I saw a comment thread about how Renaissance couldn't possibly be making such consistent money from Machine learning and quantitative analysis, but instead the reason they are so secretive and consistent is that they have insider info they have to hide. Do others agree with that theory? It makes more sense to me, due to a conviction on efficient market hypothesis.

mlevental 9y ago
very few people on hn actually know about quantitative finance - so they co-opt folk wisdom in order to be dismissive. all quant firms are secretive - it's not like de shaw or jane street or two sigma publish white papers. rentech has been successful for decades. if they were doing it using inside info they would've been caught a long time ago.
- ordinaryperson 9y ago
  Bernie Madoff began his Ponzi scheme in the early 1970s (source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/10/03/inside-the-mind-of-madoff-when-did-scam-really-begin/#14eea74b4ec8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/10/03/inside-the...) He ran a scam for almost 40 years right under the nose of regulators and Wall Street. Rentech may 100% legit, but absence of criminal convictions is not proof.
cepth 9y ago
It depends on which form of the EMH you subscribe to. I.e. weak, semi-strong, or strong. As described in this article by Cliff Asness, https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14zbgrj5pflsc/the-great-divide-over-market-efficiency https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14zbgrj5pflsc..., empirical research by Asness and others has shown there is strong evidence of “momentum” in markets. RenTech and various other quant shops employ a number of strategies, among them momentum, arbitrage, etc. Edit: also worth nothing that Asness was a doctoral student of Eugene Fama, perhaps the most famous proponent of the EMH.
- 9y ago

hidenotslide 9y ago

I found it interesting that the employees of Renaissance finally convinced him to boot Robert Mercer. Simons has accomplished great things in mathematics, investing, autism research and math education. But he has also enabled a Bond villain to undermine our social fabric with disinformation, and I don't think he gets enough credit for that.

mjfl 9y ago
From the numberphile interviews and the article above I get the impression that Simons is a professional, wise man who doesn't let political differences devolve into hysteria.
- c128 9y ago
  The do what all hedge funds do - hedge. Simons put money on Hillary and Mercer put money on Trump. :D
valuearb 9y ago
Paying an outstanding employee for the value they created is now "enabling" a Bond Villain? Mercer's political views and activities had nothing to do with Rentech or Jim Simons.

soniman 9y ago

It's funny how much good press Simons gets and yet he is a notorious tax cheat. The Senate issued a report in 2014 about how his firm Rentech is a blatant tax fraud. Rentech also got IRA rules changed so employees could avoid more taxes. Basically, the Senate report alleges that Rentech evaded leverage limits (6x capital) and used the balance sheet of their broker to operate basically as an unregulated market maker. So the two keys to Rentech's strategy were a) illegal levels of leverage and b) evading taxes on short term gains to the tune of $6 billion. Once you dial down the leverage and pay taxes, the alpha disappears. One firm rejected the scheme as illegal and the emails from that firm are in the report. The scheme uses the broker as an illegal front, which is what the firm lawyer immediately recognized. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiUkOKl0oTYAhWkmeAKHTvgD2IQFggxMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hsgac.senate.gov%2Fdownload%2Freport-abuse-of-structured-financial-products-misusing-basket-options-to-avoid-taxes-and-leverage-limits&usg=AOvVaw0aByhG3Uly2-0yQc7kaiAm https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...

whatok 9y ago
So the IRS and SEC took action against them because everything you're describing is surely illegal, right?
- soniman 9y ago
  Jim Simons has given $27 million in political donations, all to Democrats. We'll see if the Republican IRS will get Rentech to pay taxes or if the clock has run out. https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php
  - whatok 9y ago
    So now you're claiming that the only reason why Jim Simons donates is to evade taxes?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]

gxs 9y ago

He spoke at my math commencement at cal - good guy, sharp as a tack. Growing up he was one of my idols - leveraged what he learned in school to make money doing something difficult, achieving success and more importantly respect.

valuearb 9y ago

Jim Simons is a super interesting person, which makes this a very interesting read. What doesn't is the writing. "Simons has an air of being both pleased with himself and ready to be pleased by others. He dresses in expensive cabana wear: delicate cotton shirts paired with chinos that are hiked high and held up by an Indian-bead belt. He grew up in the suburbs of Boston, and speaks with the same light Massachusetts accent as Michael Bloomberg, with frequent pauses and imprecisions. He sometimes uses the words “et cetera” instead of finishing a thought, perhaps because he is abstracted, or because he has learned that the intricacies of his mind are not always interesting to others, or because, when you are as rich as Simons, people always wait for you to finish what you are saying" Gawd, that was awful.