Bloomberg hackathon in Singapore spotlights quant & AI talent
The first Bloomberg Code Crunch Hackathon in Singapore brought together student teams from Nanyang Technological University and representatives from several leading financial institutions to tackle practical financial challenges using quantitative finance tools and artificial intelligence.
Competition framework
Participants used Bloomberg's BQuant platform, a Python-based data science and analytics system, over a three-month programme. The event was designed to support current and aspiring finance technology professionals and foster cooperation between academic and industry circles. The initiative offered training led by Bloomberg specialists, preparing the teams to develop decision-support tools and investment strategies.
Student achievements
Three NTU teams participated, focusing on the challenge of designing an indicator that reflects market behaviour. The winning team, CodeQuants, developed the Cross-Asset Divergence Indicator (CADI), a tool described as providing early signals of systemic stress and highlighting the impact of market sentiment on volatility. The team was awarded mentorship opportunities with Bloomberg's Quant Finance team.
"In the age of AI, training the next generation of coders and providing students hands-on experience for the job market is critical now more than ever. Bloomberg's Code Crunch Hackathon serves as an important opportunity to future-proof Singapore's talent and also provide them with access to the growing quant and finance community." said Professor Byoung-Hyoun Hwang, Head of the Division of Banking and Finance and Provost's Chair in Finance at Nanyang Business School, NTU.
Institutional projects
Six teams from organisations including the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singlife, Modular, Robeco, AIA, and LGT Investment Management addressed problem statements relevant to the finance sector, developing new tools to enhance processes such as alpha generation, risk management, and investment strategy evaluation.
The MAS team produced the PULSE dashboard, which applies text analysis to Bloomberg News articles and signals shifts in macroeconomic sentiment. Robeco focused on a relative value solution that uses cross-currency spread differentials to identify opportunities among bonds from the same issuer. The AIA team presented a fund evaluation and scoring tool, incorporating both thematic and conventional metrics for comparison.
Singlife delivered a credit risk dashboard that synthesises AI insights, news data, and internal information to monitor credit events affecting specific issuers. Modular's interactive dashboard analysed foreign exchange swap spreads, with the aim of sitting on top of technical and seasonal patterns for trading purposes. LGT Investment Management built a tool for multi-asset backtesting and investment strategy simulation.
Award outcomes
A panel of judges from Bloomberg and the NTU Nanyang Business School selected winners in various categories. The MAS team received the Judges' Pick for creativity and rigour in quantitative research, as well as a Most Popular Award following a live audience vote, which also recognised AIA's solution. Robeco was named BQuant Mastermind, for its data processing and user interface achievements. The Quantributor awards for originality and industry impact were given to Singlife, Modular, and LGT Investment Management.
"The inaugural launch and forward-looking solutions developed during our Code Crunch Hackathon is a testament to the stellar quant and AI talent in Singapore and Bloomberg's commitment to fostering the community here for the long term. The finance industry is always looking for ways to harness AI and machine learning to make better, more informed investment decisions, and the goal of Code Crunch is to spark innovative solutions that help uncover alpha and drive decision-making," said Kelvin Cen, Head of Southeast Asia, Bloomberg.
