Two Sigma

Two Sigma Investments, LP is a New York City-based hedge fund that uses a variety of technological methods, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and distributed computing, for its trading strategies. The firm is run by John Overdeck and David Siegel. History Two Sigma Investments was founded in 2001 by John Overdeck, David Siegel and Mark Pickard. Siegel is a computer science Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who worked for Tudor Investments, and Overdeck is an International Mathematical Olympiad Silver Medalist who subsequently studied mathematics at Stanford University and worked for Jeff Bezos in Amazon.com's early days. The two met at D. E. Shaw & Co., where Siegel held the position of Chief Information Officer and Overdeck the position of managing director. They left to co-found Two Sigma in 2001 with seed funding from Paul Tudor Jones. Pickard served as the President of the firm from its inception until his retirement in 2006. According to Two Sigma, the firm's name was chosen to reflect the duality of the word sigma. A lower case sigma, σ, designates the volatility of an investment's return over a given benchmark, and an upper case sigma, Σ, denotes sum. By adding together the volatilities of individual positions measured against the benchmark, Two Sigma can amplify forecast signals, the company's website says.