Toronto-based Picton Investments is doubling down on its artificial intelligence and tech innovation as part of a wider strategy to grow the business globally, according to a report by Bloomberg citing founder David Picton.
Most of Picton’s capital still comes via Canadian financial advisors serving high-net-worth clients, but the firm is preparing for international expansion to broaden its distribution and asset base.
The report cites Picton as saying in an interview that: “We already have more programmers and developers than I ever thought we’d need – and it’s still not enough. I think we’re all going to basically become technology companies over time.”
The CAD14.5bn ($10.7bn) manager, formerly known as Picton Mahoney Asset Management, rebranded following the earlier retirement of co-founder Michael Mahoney, adopting a new bear-themed logo, which Picton stresses symbolises risk awareness rather than market pessimism.
Picton Investments has embraced AI as a core pillar of its growth strategy, with internal hackathons designed to challenge teams to “disrupt ourselves with technology.” The firm is actively exploring AI applications across both its investment process and operational infrastructure, reflecting a broader trend of quantitative and tech-forward evolution in asset management.
Picton said the firm is hiring aggressively in technology, data science, and engineering — not just in Toronto, but potentially abroad. “We’re looking for global talent with unconventional backgrounds who can bring a unique lens to the firm.”
Picton is positioning the firm’s strategies — including market-neutral and long-short equity hedge funds — as essential tools in portfolio construction, especially for investors still anchored to the 60/40 equity-bond model.
“We want to be the 10–20% of a portfolio that’s designed to be more resilient in volatility,” he said. The firm’s flagship market-neutral equity fund, launched in 2005, has delivered 6% annualised returns, while its long-short equity strategy has produced 9.4% annualised.
