Counterattack starts with controlling probability

Li Hao looked at the nearby restaurants and found that the meeting place was not too far from his alma mater, Peking University and Tsinghua University. And Wang Qiang happened to be a senior student of Peking University and Tsinghua University, so he ordered a private restaurant nearby.

Then, he drove his "online taxi" and set off with the two new experts and scholars he had just met, which surprised Professor Wang a little at first.

The three of them started chatting on the way.

"Li Hao, I'm curious, what field do you specialize in? Unlike us, you don't have a fixed income, right? Investing on your own must be quite stressful, right?"

Wang Qiang spoke first.

"Senior, as you know, I used to be a private equity fund manager, primarily investing in secondary market equity, using both subjective long and quantitative neutral strategies, covering individual stocks, stock index futures, and options. During those years when the market was trending unilaterally, I always thought it was because of my superiority and lacked respect for the market."

Li Hao responded.

"As far as I know, this issue isn't a big deal in the investment world. Most people invest for beta returns, but they often think they're very good at finding alpha. In reality, the net asset growth rates of many fund managers don't necessarily outperform the weighted growth rates of popular industries."

Although Wang Qiang mainly works in the primary market, he is also quite knowledgeable about secondary market investment, and he hit the nail on the head.

"You're right. Furthermore, when our fund faced a significant drawdown, we were always looking for other opportunities, rather than controlling our positions or closing them out before waiting for an entry point. We fell into the credit bond trap and even copied other managers by using high leverage. After all, this wasn't an area we were familiar with, so we couldn't control it well enough."

Li Hao's voice became a little deeper as he recalled the past events that he couldn't bear to look back on.

"What happened next? How was it handled?" Wang Qiang asked curiously. At this time, Zhang Feng also came over.

"Later, the credit bond assets were basically reduced to zero, and the fund was liquidated. The company was officially bankrupt at that time. But recently, by speculating in some low-win-rate, high-odds products, it has regained some funds." Li Hao said.

"Your quantitative neutral strategy should have been able to withstand declines. Didn't it cover the overall drawdown at the time? I'm not saying this, this is still a problem of an imperfect model! When you encounter temporary factor failures, you should have optimized it first. How could you just go into bonds? It's really wrong!"

Zhang Feng took over the topic, feeling sorry for Li Hao's misfortune, angry at his lack of fighting spirit, and feeling sorry for him.

"Teacher Zhang, you've hit the nail on the head!" Li Hao took the opportunity to speak, taking the opportunity to say, "I've noticed that in recent years, quantitative investment has been steadily increasing in both scale and absolute returns compared to previous years. This is a major trend. Especially with the emergence of AI, it can greatly empower quantitative investment!"

"So you want to start a new company specializing in AI quantitative investment?" Zhang Feng asked. He felt that this plan seemed feasible.

"It's similar to what you said, but I'd rather adopt an AI + investment advisor model, making the decision-making chain transparent and more publicly available to investors, rather than the previous black box model," Li Hao replied. "But at the moment, this is just a prototype, and more problems need to be solved."

"That's a great idea, Li Hao." Wang Qiang took over the conversation. "I can't say anything else, but given the current venture capital environment, only areas related to development and artificial intelligence can attract funding. If you need it, prepare a business plan and we can discuss it in detail."

The three of them became more and more excited as they talked. Time passed by unknowingly and the car had already arrived at the parking lot of the destination.

Li Hao parked the car, and the three of them walked into this low-key private restaurant together.

The air is filled with fragrance, and the soft lighting reflects the retro wooden decorations, making the entire restaurant look extremely elegant and unpretentious.

Just as the three of them found a good seat and were about to sit down, suddenly, an exaggerated voice came from the side: "What a coincidence? Isn't this Li Hao, 'Mr. Li'?!"

Li Hao turned around when he heard the voice and saw one of his "old friends", Wang Yu - the guy he was very "familiar" with in the fund circle.

Wang Yu used to look down on Li Hao in the financial circle, but he relied on his own "background" and now it seems that he is still arrogant.

Wang Yu walked over quickly and glanced at Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang beside Li Hao, but he didn't recognize them at all. His expression was still full of arrogance.

With a disdainful smile, he patted Li Hao's shoulder in a feigned enthusiasm: "Hey, Mr. Li, long time no see! I thought you had retired from the circle, but I didn't expect to see you here again."

Li Hao smiled faintly: "Yes, long time no see, Wang Yu." His eyes were calm, but he already understood why Wang Yu came.

Wang Yu looked at the two people beside Li Hao with disdain. He didn't recognize Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang at all, so he said arrogantly, "You brought friends to dinner? Li Hao, I have to say, you've had a really hard time these past few years. Even your fund went bankrupt, right? Now you can only rely on cheating on food and drinks to make ends meet, right?"

Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang looked at each other, a hint of amusement in their eyes.

The two did not speak immediately, as if they were watching a show and observing Li Hao's reaction.

Li Hao's expression remained calm as he said calmly, "Wang Yu, you're right. My fund has indeed experienced some setbacks. However, who in investment hasn't failed before? The key is learning how to bounce back from failure. I'm planning to use AI as an investment advisor."

Wang Yu laughed heartily, his tone undisguised in mockery. "Stand up again? That quantitative investing thing of yours nearly bankrupted you back then, didn't it? Stand up again? I think you should just find a job and stop messing around. What's with all that AI investment consulting stuff these days? Humph, isn't that just using a hot topic to fool investors?"

As he spoke, he pointed at Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang, his lips curled up in disdain. "These two... weren't you just bringing them in to help you out? To work on this empty-talking AI project of yours? Hahaha, Li Hao, are you planning to use these gimmicks to siphon off some small investments, hype up the concept, and keep yourself afloat for a while?"

Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang remained silent, with a half-smile on their faces.

At this moment, several diners at the next table suddenly exclaimed.

"Wait... isn't that Professor Zhang Feng?! Oh my god, it really is him! And Wang Qiang, the founder of the Zen Foundation! They're both here!"

The other tables in the restaurant also heard the noise, and instantly all eyes were cast towards Li Hao's table. People in the restaurant began to whisper, and some even secretly took out their mobile phones to take pictures.

Wang Yu's smile froze at this moment, and the smug expression on his face quickly turned into embarrassment.

He turned around and stared blankly at Zhang Feng and Wang Qiang. His face turned from red to white and he stammered, "Mr. Zhang? ...Mr. Wang? You...you...what are you doing...?!"

Zhang Feng smiled indifferently and finally spoke: "It seems that you don't know me and Professor Wang? I am Zhang Feng. What did you say just now that we were...'keeping up appearances'?" There was a hint of joking in his tone, but every word pierced Wang Yu's heart like a needle.

Wang Yu's face flushed instantly. He lowered his head and spoke incoherently: "I, I... Teacher Zhang, President Wang, I'm really... really... rude. I didn't mean to. I really didn't recognize you..."

Wang Qiang smiled faintly, his expression calm yet sharp. "It's not that I'm being rude, but your understanding of AI is clearly stuck in the past few years. Li Hao's AI investment advisory project is very promising. I just spoke with him and plan to discuss his plans in depth."

Wang Yu's face was filled with astonishment, his eyes wide open. "AI investment advisory... can it really work?"

Li Hao finally spoke, his tone calm but with a hint of sharpness: "Wang Yu, you always think AI is just a gimmick, but the fact is, AI has already transformed many industries, and the financial market is no exception. AI can do more than just analyze data and make decisions; it can also make investments more transparent and intelligent. This isn't a gimmick; it's the trend of the future."

Wang Yu froze in place, his entire body deflated like a popped balloon.

He looked embarrassed and seemed to want to say something, but in the end he only managed to squeeze out a sentence: "So that's how it is... It seems that I'm really behind..."