Quants have gone from a niche practice to a dominant player — the largest and most important hedge funds in the world are heavily influenced by, or completely committed to, computer-run strategies. The future of quantitative investing is under question, as a growing group of experts have been calling for more machine-learning techniques to be incorporated in a move away from the models that made so many people successful. This year has not been kind to quants, as the volatility caused by the pandemic earlier in the year slammed many systematic funds that couldn't keep up.