The sixth edition of the Indian Institutional Quant Conference (IIQC), organized by the Lambda Quantitative Strategies Association (LAQSA), took place on July 17 at the Taj City Centre in Gurugram. According to reports from The Economic Times, the day-long conference brought together global academics, institutional practitioners, regulators and technologists to discuss emerging trends in quantitative and systematic investing. The event featured panel discussions, fireside chats and technical presentations, with participation from asset management companies, family offices, policymakers, global research firms and academia.
The conference began with a welcome address by LAQSA co-founders Rishi Kohli of JioBlackRock AMC, Pankaj Mani of RealWorldRisk and Arvind Mathur of Private Equity Pro. As reported by The Economic Times, among the other speakers were Prof. Chetan Ghate, Member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Sunil Ramrakhiani, Chief Business Officer at BSE, Prof. Sandeep Juneja, Founding Director of the Safexpress Centre for Data, Learning and Decision Sciences at Ashoka University, Lalit Taneja, Director of the GARP Delhi (India) Chapter, and Prof. Miquel Noguer I Alonso. The event marked the second time the conference was held in the National Capital Region.
According to reports from The Economic Times, the discussion highlighted differences between the adoption of AI globally and in India, particularly in the context of data availability and regulatory constraints in domestic markets. The conference examined how agentic AI and alternative data are gaining prominence in India's investment landscape, with discussions focusing on how these technologies are shaping the country's institutional investment ecosystem. These developments align with current market trends where technology stocks attracted investor attention on optimism surrounding quarterly earnings and improving global demand trends.
As reported by The Economic Times, the conference also examined the regulatory outlook for quantitative strategies from a global comparative perspective. Prof. Chetan Ghate provided a macroeconomic perspective on the structural challenges involved in economic policymaking at scale. The event featured sessions on Regulating the Quant Ecosystem, Agentic AI in Quant, and Forex Strategies, which sparked candid, practitioner-led dialogue across the ecosystem.
According to The Economic Times, Pankaj Mani, Co-Founder of LAQSA, commented that the conference reflected how India's institutional quant ecosystem was progressing from strategy design towards implementation and greater technical rigour. Rishi Kohli, Co-Founder of LAQSA, stated that the sixth edition reinforced that India's quant community is expanding in both depth and maturity, linking global experience with India-specific market realities and strengthening the network of professionals building systematic capabilities. As quantitative tools become more deeply embedded in investment processes, the boundaries between traditional and systematic investing are becoming less distinct, with developments ranging from Agentic AI and alternative data to the emergence of SIFs playing an increasingly important role in shaping India's institutional investment ecosystem.
