Quantitative Finance, Government Policy and Venture Capital

Quantitative analysis of capital markets, strategy and policy decisions.

We navigate our clients from a challenging problem to a defensible solution along the shortest rigorous path.

Risk & portfolio modelingSystematic strategiesPolicy analysisEconomic modelingProgram evaluationTechnical due diligenceMarket sizingPortfolio strategyRisk & portfolio modelingSystematic strategiesPolicy analysisEconomic modelingProgram evaluationTechnical due diligenceMarket sizingPortfolio strategy

Where we focus

Three practices, one discipline.

Whether the challenge pertains to a portfolio, policy, or startup evaluation, we apply the same rigorous optimization and quantitative focused mindset to every engagement.

Quantitative Finance

For hedge funds, family offices, banks and asset managers

Trading strategy optimization and hedging overlays for family offices; alternative data signals for long/short equity hedge funds, built on deterministic ETL pipelines and machine learning; valuation, risk, and codebase profiling and refactoring for banks and asset managers; and hands on training in Python, machine learning and generative AI for quant teams.

Alpha & factor research
Market & credit risk
Portfolio construction
ML on alternative data

Government Policy

For agencies and representatives at all U.S. government levels

We listen to elected officials, ranging from members of the U.S. Congress to New Jersey State and local governments, then apply the same data gathering, modeling and testing rigor we use in quantitative finance to reach evidence based policy recommendations. We focus on identifying and remediating waste, fraud and abuse, and also advise on fintech, generative AI and national security policy. Our team includes veterans and former Marines who bring firsthand experience of service to this work.

Policy analysis
Economic & fiscal modeling
Program evaluation
Strategic planning

Venture Capital

For investors and the startups and companies they back

We perform technical due diligence for venture capital firms on seed to Series A investments and acquisitions, and help these firms and private equity investors find candidate investments by screening PitchBook and Crunchbase with our own generative AI tools. We also advise dozens of startups, mostly in fintech, on fundraising, technical modeling and development strategy, scaling and customer acquisition.

Technical due diligence
Market sizing
Portfolio analytics
Founder advisory

Scholars Network

America's strongest students, applying rigorous analysis to public problems.

We collaborate with a network of 30+ current and former students from leading universities to solve problems in local, state and federal government. We empower and partner with these students so they can finance their university tuition by solving America’s problems. Each team learns and applies our rigorous quantitative problem solving process to address public interest challenges for the betterment of society.

Offerings

Client use cases from our work.

A closer look at engagements we have delivered. Details are generalized to protect client confidentiality.

01Quantitative Finance

Independent portfolio assessments

For family offices and high net worth individuals

The challenge

Portfolios built up over many years, often across several advisors and platforms, rarely get a single independent review against what the family actually wants them to achieve.

What we do

We review the full portfolio independently of any product provider, look through funds and packaged products to the underlying holdings, and measure costs, risk exposures and allocations against each client’s goals, liquidity needs and time horizon.

Under $10M AUM

A focused review of fund and advisory fees, overlapping holdings and concentration, with practical steps to simplify the portfolio and lower its cost.

$10M to $100M AUM

A deeper review across managers and accounts, including look through factor and sector exposures, liquidity, and how well each allocation serves the client’s goals.

$100M+ AUM

A comprehensive review of portfolios spread across many managers, custodians and asset classes, including alternatives and private investments, with stress testing of the combined exposures.

What we identify

High fee products
Unanticipated risk exposures
Misallocations relative to client goals

OutcomeA prioritized set of remediation recommendations the client can act on with confidence.

02Quantitative Finance

Trading strategy refinement and hedging overlays

For long/short equity hedge funds and family offices

The challenge

A strategy that performs well in a backtest can still carry exposures its managers never intended, such as crowded factors or sector, rate and liquidity bets that only surface under stress.

What we do

We work alongside portfolio managers to refine and optimize the signals, portfolio construction and execution of existing strategies, decompose returns and risk to identify unanticipated risk factors, and design hedging overlays customized to each mandate, risk budget and cost constraint.

Focus areas

Strategy refinement and optimization
Unanticipated risk factors
Customized hedging overlays

OutcomeStrategies whose risk matches their intent, with hedges sized to the exposures that matter most.

03Government Policy

Government operations optimization

For municipal, state and federal agencies

The challenge

Over time, departments and programs accumulate overlapping functions, legacy contracts and spending practices that are rarely revisited as a whole.

What we do

We analyze budgets, contracts and operational data to identify redundancies and inefficient spending practices, quantify what can be saved, and work directly with agency leadership to craft practical plans to execute the changes.

Focus areas

Redundant functions
Inefficient spending practices
Execution plans with agency leadership

OutcomeLeaner operations and an actionable plan that agency leadership owns.

How we work for clients

Following the shortest critical path from idea to deliverable

Discover

We start with the decision, not the data: what needs to be known, by whom, and by when. We then identify, gather and parse the information necessary to inform this decision process. Discovery informs the project roadmap.

Model

We prototype quickly and document every choice to provide full transparency. We utilize statistical and optimization based mathematical models when appropriate. We simulate scenarios to provide clients with the broadest perspective.

Deliver

We deliver models, briefs, whitepapers, spreadsheets, and dashboards that your team can own, with a clear structured handoff and knowledge transfer, and provide an option for ongoing support.

About

Practitioner led. Academically grounded.

Geodesic Solutions was founded in 2016. Since then, we have worked with over three dozen clients in the financial services, family office, technology, venture capital, and startup industries. We draw on a bench of approximately fifty people, ranging from students to domain experts with decades of experience in quantitative finance, machine learning, banking, and consulting. Our team also includes veterans and former Marines.

We apply the same discipline across finance, public policy and venture investing: practical about what decision makers need, and uncompromising about getting the analysis right.

More about us →

Insights

Case Studies, Talks/Podcasts, and Publications

All publications on Google Scholar →

TalkBloomberg · 2024

Have a hard problem worth solving?

We solve problems.

Tell us about it, and we will get back to you with options.

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Quantitative analysis of capital markets, strategy and policy decisions.

Three practices, one discipline.

Quantitative Finance

Government Policy

Venture Capital

America's strongest students, applying rigorous analysis to public problems.

Client use cases from our work.

The challenge

What we do

What we identify

The challenge

What we do

Focus areas

The challenge

What we do

Focus areas

Following the shortest critical path from idea to deliverable

Discover

Model

Deliver

Practitioner led. Academically grounded.

Case Studies, Talks/Podcasts, and Publications

Bloomberg Quant (BBQ) Seminar Series

Steve Taylor on fintech and quantitative finance

Steve Taylor podcast conversation

Portfolio optimization beyond utility maximization: the case of driftless markets

Peer-to-peer risk sharing with an application to flood risk pooling

CMStatistics conference talk

On equity market inefficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic

Why geodesics?

Detecting and identifying arbitrage in the spot foreign exchange market

Social Security benefit valuation, risk, and optimal retirement

Fintech and financial data analytics courses

Forecasting a city budget

Evaluating a state workforce program

A data-driven look at a national policy question

Student spotlight: from classroom to public impact

Research co-authored with network students

Workshop: rigorous analysis for public problems

Have a hard problem worth solving?