Early Life and Education
Clifford Scott Asness was born on October 17, 1966, in Queens, New York. His family later moved to Roslyn Heights on Long Island. Asness attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude in 1988 with bachelor's degrees in computer science and finance through the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T). He furthered his education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, earning an MBA with high honors in 1991 and a PhD in finance in 1994. At the University of Chicago, he was a teaching assistant to Nobel laureate Eugene Fama.
Rise to Success
Asness began his career at Goldman Sachs Asset Management's quantitative research desk in 1990. In 1995, he started an internal hedge fund for Goldman Sachs, the Global Alpha Fund, which achieved a remarkable 140% return in its first year. In 1998, Asness co-founded AQR Capital Management with David Kabiller, John Liew, and Robert Krail. AQR was established to apply rigorous empirical research and quantitative methods to investment management. The firm initially launched with a hedge fund product. By 2019, AQR had become a major investment firm running one of the largest hedge funds globally. The firm has grown to manage roughly $120 billion in assets.
Key Business Strategies
AQR Capital Management utilizes a systematic and consistent approach to portfolio construction. This disciplined approach involves identifying long-term, repeatable sources of return and emphasizes diversification across asset classes and strategies. AQR was an early adopter of factor investing, using value, momentum, and other empirically validated factors. Asness has emphasized the importance of fair fees and transparent products, promoting mutual funds with lower fees.
Philanthropy
Clifford Asness is a board member of the International Rescue Committee. He has also backed lawmakers who supported New York's marriage equality initiative. AQR has also partnered with the London Business School to establish The AQR Asset Management Institute, which focuses on asset management research and thought leadership, donating over $15 million.
