Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – The Danish company Maersk has taken an undisclosed stake in CargoMetrics, a quantitative hedge fund backed by the likes of Paul Tudor Jones and Google’s Eric Schmidt, to improve fleet deployment, according to Reuters.
The Copenhagen-based tanker company, which is part of Danish shipping group AP Moller-Maersk, has taken an undisclosed but “significant” stake in the Boston-based hedge fund set up by a former US Coast Guard officer and in return will gain exclusive access to its data and algorithms.
The reason Maersk invests into the venture is to better predict demand and improve the deployment of its 160-strong fleet to take advantage of price trends, Soren Christian Meyer, head of strategy at Maersk Tankers, told the Financial Times.
“It’s important to have tankers at the right place at the right time. It’s an industry that has been based on gut feeling on where and when to move capacity, but we want to challenge that industry paradigm. Our investment in CargoMetrics will speed up our digitalisation”, Meyer said.
CargoMetrics links satellite signals, historical shipping data and proprietary analytics for trading purposes in its systematic investment platform.
“Data about the ninety-percent of global trade that moves by sea is a powerful trading edge,” said Scott Borgerson, Chief Executive of CargoMetrics in a statement.
The investment is in line with the more than 100-year old conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk’s push into new technologies as global trade becomes increasingly more digital.
“In the partnership, we will accelerate our use of digital solutions to enable our business strategy,” said Maersk Tankers Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Soren Meyer.
Picture (c): Montri-Nipitvittaya-shutterstock.com
