Applied Academics

What Applied Academics does

Applied Academics is an independent, employee- and advisor-owned quantitative research firm headquartered in New York City (110 W 40th St #1901). Founded in 2009 and operating as Applied Academics LLC, the company builds proprietary statistical frameworks to help institutional investors evaluate and select active investment managers. Its core product is Goose™, a trademarked framework developed from first principles by world-class statisticians and engineers that predicts the performance of active managers using historical performance data, enabling institutional allocators to construct portfolios intended to outperform passive benchmarks. The firm complements Goose with Indices, a benchmark-measurement offering that allows clients to contextualize portfolio performance against relevant market benchmarks.

The company sells its services on a subscription, recurring-revenue basis to institutional investors — explicitly framed as 'socially important' allocators such as pensions, endowments, sovereigns, and foundations responsible for beneficiaries' financial futures. Go-to-market is direct enterprise engagement rather than self-serve: Applied Academics builds deep partnerships with leading active managers globally, using those relationships to generate proprietary data insights that feed Goose. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and no customer logos or contract economics are visible. The company maintains a multilingual website in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, reflecting an international distribution effort. Operationally, the firm is privately held with no disclosed parent company, external private equity backing, or institutional shareholders, and operates with 11-50 employees.

Name

Applied Academics

Legal name

Applied Academics LLC

Website

https://appliedacademics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Applied Academics is an independent quantitative research firm that builds the proprietary Goose™ framework to predict active manager performance, enabling institutional investors to build portfolios that outperform passive benchmarks on a subscription basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Quantitative Research Services: Provides quantitative research services and the Goose framework to institutional investors to help them evaluate and select active managers and build outperforming portfolios.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Applied Academics is an independent quantitative research firm that provides its proprietary Goose™ framework to institutional investors to predict the performance of active managers and support the construction of portfolios that outperform passive benchmarks. The offering is complemented by Indices that provide benchmark measurement, and is delivered through direct partnerships with leading active managers globally.

Product overview

Applied Academics is an independent quantitative research firm offering a unified platform centered on its proprietary Goose™ framework. Goose™ is a scientific prediction system built from first principles by world-class statisticians and engineers to forecast active manager performance, complemented by Indices for benchmark measurement. Together, these offerings empower socially important institutional investors to build portfolios that consistently outperform passive benchmarks, setting a new standard for investment accountability and performance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Goose™: Proprietary quantitative research framework built from first principles by world-class statisticians and engineers to predict the performance of active managers, empowering institutional investors to build portfolios that consistently outperform passive benchmarks.

Products and services

• Goose™ A proprietary quantitative framework built from first principles by world-class statisticians and engineers to predict the performance of active managers. It enables institutional investors to build portfolios that consistently outperform passive benchmarks.
• Indices Benchmark indices provided to enable institutional investors to measure portfolio performance against relevant market benchmarks, complementing the Goose framework.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Morningstar: Investment research and data firm providing fund analysis, manager research, and analytics to institutional and retail investors. Overlaps with Applied Academics in manager research and analytics, but with much broader coverage.
• FactSet: Financial data and analytics platform serving institutional investors with portfolio analytics, manager data, and research tools. Comparable in providing quantitative analytics infrastructure to institutional investors, though as part of a much wider product suite.
• MSCI: Global provider of indices, portfolio analytics, and ESG research for institutional investors. Comparable to Applied Academics in serving institutional investors with data-driven investment research, but at vastly larger scale and scope.
• Aon: Global professional services firm with a large investment consulting practice advising pension plans on manager selection and portfolio construction. Overlaps with Applied Academics in institutional manager-selection advisory, though much broader in scope.
• Bloomberg: Global financial data, analytics, and news provider whose Terminal is embedded across institutional investing workflows. Overlaps with Applied Academics in serving institutional investors with data-driven research and analytics, but as a broad incumbent rather than a specialist.
• Russell Investments: Multi-asset investment firm with research, consulting, and OCIO services for institutional investors. Comparable in providing manager research and analytics, but operates much more broadly as an asset manager and consultant.

Direct peers

• Mercer: Global investment consulting firm that advises institutional investors on manager selection, asset allocation, and performance monitoring. Directly comparable to Applied Academics in serving pension funds and endowments with manager-research and selection services.
• Wilshire: Investment consulting and technology firm serving institutional clients with manager research, analytics, and portfolio solutions. Comparable to Applied Academics in combining proprietary analytics with manager-selection advice for institutional investors.
• Cambridge Associates: Independent investment research and advisory firm serving institutional investors, foundations, and endowments. Comparable to Applied Academics in providing proprietary manager research and portfolio construction advice to mission-driven institutions.
• eVestment (Nasdaq): Institutional investment analytics platform providing manager research, performance attribution, and due diligence data. Directly comparable to Applied Academics as a data- and analytics-driven manager-evaluation service for institutional investors.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Applied Academics