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Systematic investing
What Is Systematic Investing?
In today’s uncertain markets, we all need more targeted investment outcomes.
By combining the power of data-driven insights, investment science, and disciplined portfolio construction to modernize the way we invest, systematic investing is unlocking new ways to seek specific outcomes amidst a world of unpredictability.
Systematic investing begins with data-driven insights.
In the digital age, we have access to vast amounts of data, from traditional sources like company financial statements and economic reports to more complex unstructured sources like company news stories, web traffic, social media sentiment, consumer geo-location data and even satellite imagery.
By harnessing highly sophisticated analytics techniques like machine learning and artificial intelligence, we transform this sea of raw data into useful investment information—providing insights faster, at greater scale, and with more granularity than traditional methods.
Next, we deploy rigorous scientific testing to learn if these investment insights actually have the potential to help forecast future returns.
This process includes a comprehensive examination of empirical evidence by seasoned investment experts—testing different combinations of variables and comparing the results to known outcomes. This ability to validate insights means portfolio decisions are firmly evidence-based on not dependent on human conviction alone.
Finally, when an insight is shown to be valuable, we employ a disciplined portfolio construction process to implement it. Our investment experts use computers to model the many complex trade-offs involved—finding a balance between expected return, risk, correlation, and cost—to guide any allocation decisions.
At every step, the systematic process is designed to help deliver more targeted investment outcomes.
Whether it’s seeking risk-managed growth through equities… generating income and maintaining ballast with bonds… or accessing new sources of diversification and return with alternative strategies…
Systematic investing is unlocking new ways to navigate a world of uncertainty.
What is systematic investing?
Systematic investing, often called quantitative investing, is an investment approach that emphasizes data-driven insights, scientific testing of investment ideas, and advanced computer modelling techniques to construct portfolios.
Investing, evolved
![BlackRock Systematic, as of September 2023. For illustrative purposes only.](/blk-one-c-assets/cache-1701188651000/images/media-bin/web/one/us/investment-ideas/systematic-investing-history-q42023.png)
BlackRock Systematic, as of 12/31/2023. For illustrative purposes only.
Innovative investment insights are validated through rigorous quantitative testing—amplifying the decision-making of our investment experts.
Technology-driven process helps scale investment insights across vast sets of securities, enabling high-breadth portfolios for equities, fixed income, and alternatives.
Systematic tools help our investors balance complex risk and return trade-offs with precision—targeting the investment outcomes that you expect.
The future of investing requires modern technology and portfolio construction to deliver consistent returns at a reasonable cost.
![Raffaele Savi](/blk-one-c-assets/cache-1701877652000/images/media-bin/web/shared/headshots/raffaele-savi-92x92.jpg)
Systematic Chart of the Month: The impact of AI on electric power demand
Did you know that on average, a ChatGPT query requires nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google search? The widespread adoption of AI technologies across industries and society is a key driver of expectations for growing electric power demand. The first chart in the above series highlights BCG’s estimate that the annual data-center share of US electricity consumption is expected to triple from 126 terawatt hours in 2022 to as high as 390 terawatt hours by 2030, partly due to the rise of AI. That’s the equivalent of providing electricity to ~40 million US houses in a year (almost a third of the total homes in the US).
We view this as an opportunity for investment in companies across the electric power supply chain—particularly those focused on infrastructure and components critical to increasing capacity. Our systematic process for building thematic equity baskets harnesses big data and large language models (LLMs) to identify companies with varying degrees of exposure to this long-term trend. The second visual shows a portion of the LLM output from our analysis which identifies utility infrastructure construction companies, electrical equipment manufacturers, and data center operators as top beneficiaries along with rationale for the categories selected. Our implementation of this insight has performed strongly this year and represents a compelling AI-related opportunity as the theme continues to broaden.
Explore systematic strategies
To obtain more information on the funds, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit:
Systematic Multi-Strategy Fund
Global Equity Market Neutral
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com.
Build better bond portfolios
BlackRock’s Advantage Series bond fund seeks a combination of income and capital growth through an investment process that validates fundamentally-oriented insights with quantitative research. Our factor-based bond funds use time-tested factor insights to seek superior risk-adjusted and total return
To obtain more information on the funds, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit:
CoreAlpha Bond Fund
iShares USD Bond Factor ETF
iShares Investment Grade Bond Factor ETF
iShares High Yield Bond Factor ETF
iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com.
Seek risk-managed growth at a low cost
Managed through a technologically-driven investment process, the BlackRock Advantage Series of equity mutual funds can help seek risk-managed growth at a low cost.
To obtain more information on the funds, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit:
Advantage Large Cap Core Fund
Advantage Small Cap Core Fund
Advantage International Fund
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. An investment’s environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) strategy limits the types and number of investment opportunities available and, as a result, may underperform other investments that do not have an ESG focus. An investment’s ESG strategy may result in investing in securities or industry sectors that underperform the market as a whole or underperform other investments screened for ESG standards.
To obtain more information on the funds, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit:
Sustainable Advantage Large Cap Core Fund
Sustainable Advantage CoreAlpha Bond Fund
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating," is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com.
Seeking outcomes with active ETFs
Our systematic ETFs are designed to target thematic positioning and target specific exposures to deliver more precise outcomes. Through systematic stock selection and option-based strategies, we can better capture the exposures clients seek and effectively balance the tradeoffs between risk and return.
To obtain more information on the funds, including the Morningstar time period ratings and standardized average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter and current month-end, please visit:
BlackRock Advantage Large Cap Income ETF
BlackRock Future US Themes ETF
iShares US Tech Independence Focused ETF
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com.
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Our investment experts take on some of the most talked about investment themes today and decode what is happening in the markets.