Spotlight
SIGMA ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
David Rudd
and Luis Seco
THE SIGMA ANALYSIS & MANAGEMENT offices located on
the 11th floor of the new MaRS tower are beautiful. I wait for
Luis Seco, one of Sigma’s founders, in a light-filled, glass-
walled room, and think how pleasant it would be to work in this
large open space with expansive views of Queen’s Park. But
like most companies, Sigma began modestly, boasting only
three employees when they opened their doors at the Fields
Institute in 1999. This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary
of Sigma’s “graduation” from Fields' start-up program.
It was Luis Seco who, in 1999, suggested that Fields incubate
his fledgling company. Don Dawson, the current Director of
the Fields Institute, and Deputy Director Bradd Hart were
looking for ways to fulfill Fields technology transfer mandate,
and Seco thought that this would fit the bill. At the next Board
of Directors meeting, two decisions were made — Fields
would begin an incubation program and Sigma Analysis
would be its first company.
“It was the perfect way to start a company that had no clear
market definition, that was still in the world of ideas,” said
Seco.
Along with his cofounder, David Rudd, and one employee,
they set up shop in the building at 222 College Street, where
they began using portfolio optimization theory and other
mathematical tools to change the investment world.
In those early years, Fields provided the credibility that Sigma
needed to gain clients, but also helped gauge which clients
were worthwhile.
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“Fields was a very good reflection of our company DNA — we
were mathematicians. Clients saw that, and they either liked
it or they didn’t.”
Within three years, Sigma became commercially interesting
and expanded rapidly. They organized events at the Institute,
including a wildly popular lecture from Economics Nobel
Prize winner Myron Scholes that forced the Institute to close
its doors to avoid breaking fire regulations.
“People were hanging from the ceiling,” laughs Seco.
By 2007, the company had grown so successful that Fields
could no longer hold them, but Seco continues to value their
mathematical origins.
“Mathematics is part of our culture. It allows us to do things
that other people find difficult, to create technology and
infrastructure that are challenging for other companies. Our
employees are people who are not scared of equations, who
are not scared of mathematical structures.”
Despite his busy life balancing roles as the CEO of Sigma
Analysis, Professor at the University of Toronto, Director of
the U of T Mathematical Finance Program, Director of the U
of T RiskLab, and of course, husband and father, Seco still
finds time to participate in Fields events every few months.
“Fields gave us something that money cannot buy.”
— Malgosia Ip