Quantum FinTech Webinars Series

Quantum Computing Applications in Economics and Finance Conference

Friday April 11, 2025 to Friday April 11, 2025

Quantum computation, a paradigm shift in computer science, holds the potential to affect research in economics and finance profoundly. Quantum algorithms, such as quantum annealing and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, can significantly speed up optimization and asset allocation by exploring vast solution spaces more efficiently. Quantum Monte Carlo methods enhance the accuracy and speed of simulations used in pricing derivatives and assessing risk. Additionally, quantum machine learning can improve predictive models.

A conference and a special issue of the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control are organized to promote cross-disciplinary exchanges on implementing quantum computational methods to problems of interest to economics and finance. The topics include, but are not limited to, solving DSGE models, pricing of financial risk, quantum ambiguity and econometric model specification, quantum money, and cryptography, among others.

Quantum trading – a disturbance in the force (of supply and demand)

Friday September 27, 2024 to Friday September 27, 2024 • 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

The influence of information technologies such as the telegraph, personal computers, the internet, and artificial intelligence has been profound, driving significant global economic growth and creating substantial value. We are now on the brink of another technological revolution: the advent of quantum computers. Quantum computers leverage the principles of quantum physics, offering two primary advantages—unprecedented computing speeds and the ability to solve problems that classical computers cannot, particularly in finding optimal Nash equilibrium solutions in non-cooperative games, which have broad applications in economics and finance.

Financial Risk Management on a Neutral Atom Quantum Processor

Friday April 7, 2023 • 2:00 PM

We are excited to welcome Lucas Leclerc, a Research and Development Quantum Engineer at PASQAL, to share his work on a quantum-enhanced machine learning solution for the prediction of credit rating downgrades. Leclerc and his team of fellow researchers implement this solution on a neutral atom Quantum Processing Unit with up to 60 qubits on a real-life dataset. They report competitive performances against the state-of-the-art Random Forest Benchmark with their model achieving better interpretability and comparable training times.

Join us on Friday, April 7th at 2pm to hear from Leclerc as he walks through this machine learning solution for fallen-angels forecasting.

Improving the Efficiency of Payments Systems Using Quantum Computing

Friday February 3, 2023 • 2:00 PM

Bank of Canada executives, Ajit Desai, a senior data scientist in the Banking and Payments research division and Danica Marsden, a principal quantum computing scientist, shared their work with Canadian High-value payment systems (HVPS). Their team at the Bank of Canada developed an algorithm and ran it on a hybrid quantum annealing solver to find an ordering of payments that reduced the amount of system liquidity necessary without substantially increasing payment delays.

Dynamic Programming on a Quantum Annealer: Solving the RBC Model

Friday September 23, 2022 • 1:00 PM

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, presented his research on dynamic programming on a quantum annealer.

Although quantum annealers are not yet a mature technology, Fernández-Villaverde's and his team demonstrate that the current vintage of devices is already capable of achieving an order-of-magnitude speed-up in solving the real business cycle model, a workhorse model in modern macroeconomics.

NISQ-HHL: Portfolio Optimization for Near-Term Quantum Hardware

Friday April 15, 2022 • 2:00 PM

For this discussion we welcomed Dylan Herman from the JPMorgan Chase Future Lab for Applied Research and Engineering (FLARE). The focus of the FLARE quantum program is to develop quantum algorithms for financial applications and quantum-resistant cryptographic solutions.

Quantum Algorithm for Stochastic Optimal Stopping Problems

Friday April 8, 2022 • 2:00 PM

João Doriguello joined us from the National University of Singapore to share his least squares Monte Carolo algorithm.

Towards Quantum Advantage in Financial Market Risk using Quantum Gradient Algorithms

Friday January 28, 2022 • 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Join us for our next discussion as we will welcome Nikitas Stamatopoulos, Vice President in the R&D Engineering Division at Goldman Sachs, to present his work on a quantum algorithm to compute the market risk of financial derivatives.

Quantum Monte Carlo Integration: The Full Advantage in Minimal Circuit Depth

Thursday October 21, 2021 • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Join us for our next discussion as we welcome Cambridge Quantum Computing’s Senior Research Scientist, Steven Herbert, as he introduces the company’s state-of-the-art Fourier QMCI algorithm, the only QMCI algorithm to bypass the need for costly quantum arithmetic whilst retaining the full quadratic quantum advantage.

Quantum Machine Learning Algorithms for Financial Analysis

Thursday April 29, 2021 • 11:00 AM

Join Rethinc. Labs to hear from Seth Lloyd, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics at MIT, as he shares his findings on quantum algorithms for analyzing financial data and predicting time series.

Topics on Quantum Circuit Optimization

Thursday March 25, 2021 • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Quantum circuits are an essential aspect of quantum algorithms and applications. Their efficiency can greatly impact not only the efficiency of higher level algorithms but also their feasibility and applicability, especially in the current NISQ era. In this talk, Shaohan Hu, will join us from the Future Lab of Applied Research and Engineering at JPMorgan Chase to discuss two pieces of his recent work on building efficient quantum circuits.

Warm-starting Quantum Optimization

Thursday January 14, 2021 • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Join us to hear Dr. Daniel J. Egger present his findings from his work in the Quantum Technologies group at IBM Research in Zurich. His research focusses on the control of quantum computers and on the practical applications of quantum algorithms in finance.

Likelihood Amplitude Estimation on Noisy Quantum Computers

Thursday November 19, 2020 • 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Tomoki Tanaka, vice president of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and MUFG Bank, will join Rethinc. Labs for the next event in their Quantum webinar series. Working with researchers from the financial team at the IBM Q Network Hub at Keio University, Tanaka found several quantum algorithms that may be implementable in near-term devices for estimating the amplitude of a given quantum state. This is a core subroutine in various computing tasks, such as the Monte Carlo method.

Dynamic Portfolio Optimization with Real Datasets Using Quantum Processors and Quantum-Inspired Tensor Networks

Wednesday September 23, 2020 • 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Román Orús, Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Donostia International Physics Center in San Sebastián, Spain, will present the findings from his research on determining the optimal trading trajectory for an investment portfolio of assets over a period of time. Dynamic portfolio optimization is well known to be NP-Hard and is central to quantitative finance.

Quantum Technology for Economists

Thursday June 25, 2020 • 11:00 AM

Join us for our next discussion as Isaiah Hull, a Senior Economist with Sweden’s Central Bank introduces quantum money and highlights the common misconceptions about what is achievable with quantum computing in economic models.

Towards Quantum Advantage in the Financial Services Sector

Thursday June 11, 2020 • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Join us as Dr. Stefan Woerner outlines classical computational challenges appearing in the Financial Services Sector. He will discuss where quantum computing may provide an advantage, and what requirements this imposes on the quantum hardware. Drawing from examples achieved jointly from their IBM Quantum partners from the financial industry, Dr. Woerner will present results with a focus on application-driven benchmarks in order to understand the roadmap towards real quantum advantage for applications.