Beyond the numbers: Combining data science and human insight

After beating more than 94% of Global Equity peers last year, Arup Datta and the Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity Team aren't resting on their laurels. With 2025 calendar year returns of 22.7% and 30.6% for their global and emerging markets equity funds, respectively,¹ Datta takes pride in the Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity Team's achievements but is never complacent. Now marking five years since Datta assumed management of the Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund, he has consistency outperformed both its benchmark and peer group, delivering superior-risk adjusted returns.

Datta is a 30-year veteran of quantitative investing and leads the 10-member team, which is responsible for managing $10 billion (CAD) in retail and institutional assets. The team is based in Boston, the hub for quant investing in North America, with access to a high-quality pool of talent from Ivy League institutions like MIT and Harvard.

Forward-thinking and always learning, Datta and his team have forged what they believe to be a unique brand of quant investing, which has been paying off with remarkable consistency, since taking over the strategies.

Consistently strong performance — % of peers beaten (CAD, as of May 29, 2026)

Based on Morningstar Global Equity and Emerging Markets Equity categories.

*Arup Datta took over as Lead PM for the Mackenzie GQE Emerging Markets Fund on June 30, 2018 and for the Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund on November 16, 2020. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Arup Datta managing the Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund.
 

In addition to all the rigour you would expect in a quant model, the team considers itself to be:

• Flexible with the use of new tools such as natural language processing and machine learning.
• Responsive by tweaking the model to adapt to macro events and market dislocations.
• Core-focused, with access to value, growth and quality opportunities.
• Open, not siloed, to share ideas across multiple disciplines.

Analyzing more than numbers

“What’s exciting is this blend of old and new,” says Datta. In the seven years since he joined Mackenzie, the team has introduced more cutting edge technologies — machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) — within their stock-picking process and anticipates that this integration will increase in the future.

Historically, non-numerical information was purely the domain of fundamental managers and off limits for quants. Machine learning is changing that. Today, Datta’s team uses NLP codes that can sift through any text and pick up inferences. In fact, NLP is currently part of their live process, contributing some of the ideas they use to pick and evaluate stocks.

A core approach for smoother alpha delivery

Datta believes that being core-focused — with exposure to value, growth and quality at the same time — allows the team to deliver excess alpha in a more consistent manner.

“Over time, you will have value, growth and quality periods in the market, and in the long term, we expect to come out ahead, with more consistent returns,” he says.

Investors benefit from an approach that can navigate different environments and market cycles. For example, while value managers had a huge year in 2022, Datta makes the point that these same managers may have struggled significantly in 2019 and 2020. In contrast, his team delivered impressive returns when value stocks in emerging markets were at their worst point in the past 20 years.²

Responsive to macro events

Datta is quick to clarify that they are very disciplined pure quantitative investors, but not “black box quants” — those who rely fully on the “machine” and won’t change anything.

“We believe you’re leaving money on the table if you're not seeing what's happening in the market,” he says.

In most environments, Datta and his team follow the model they built, which ranks 10,000 stocks in emerging markets and 10,000 in developed markets on more than 20 different factors. Much of it mimics what a fundamental manager looks at, but since they leverage computing power, they can rank and re-rank this vast universe of stocks as and when they want — usually once a day — and trade based on that ranking.

“But with all of the macro events in the past five years, even a strong quant team like ours needs to consider the environment,” says Datta. “Are we really well positioned? Are there opportunities we can take advantage of?”

Macro insights plus timely access to new research and data is a powerful combination, especially when you are the one who has built the machine, Datta says: “You know exactly how to make it better-equipped to deal with the current situation.”

Fund performance (CAD, annualized as of May 29, 2026)

Inception date is June 30, 2018 for Mackenzie GQE Emerging Markets Fund and December 6, 1999 for Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund.
Source: Morningstar Direct.

The Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity Team goes beyond the stereotypes of traditional quant investing. While grounded in a strong foundation of investment discipline and philosophy, their approach is far from a “set-and-forget” black box. The model allows for flexibility, responsiveness and human discretion to supplement the rigour of the process. It’s a team that is always pushing to navigate smarter and better through the latest tech advancements and the synergy between technology and people. As Datta celebrates five years leading the Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund, his record underscores a proven ability to deliver consistent, long-term results by combining advanced data science and seasoned investment judgement.

“I like numbers,” says Datta. “I need that safety to fall back on. I want my decisions to be based on sound facts, and as close to the numbers as possible. That's why I'm a quant.”

¹ Percentile rankings are from Morningstar Research Inc., an independent research firm, based on 2025 calendar year performance of 22.7% and 30.6% for Series F of Mackenzie GQE Global Equity Fund and Mackenzie GQE Emerging Markets Fund, respectively. For Morningstar Global Equity category: the number of funds in the category is 1,785, 1,530, 1,282 and 648 for 1yr, 3yr, 5yr, and 10yr respectively. For Morningstar Emerging Markets category: the number of funds in Emerging Markets Equity category is 276, 243, 210, and 117 for 1yr, 3yr, 5yr, and 10yr respectively. 

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² Mackenzie GQE Emerging Markets Fund returned 11.6% in 2019 versus benchmark 11.7% and returned 18.9% in 2020 versus benchmark return of 16.3%. Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index.

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