Adaptive Alpha Research is an Australian investment manager and trustee based in Adelaide. It holds AFSL 554884 and acts as both trustee and investment manager of the Adaptive Alpha Research Starling Fund. The firm describes itself as a data-driven investment management business that applies advanced AI, machine learning and quantitative methods to identify investment opportunities and build algorithmic portfolios. Its investment governance is delegated by the board to an investment committee comprising Tom Surman, David Toohey and Brian Miller, with David Toohey responsible for risk oversight. The business serves high-net-worth investors, financial planners and family offices. Its process combines systematic model development, portfolio construction, risk management, compliance frameworks and independent service providers including Interactive Brokers Australia as custodian and ASCENT Fund Services (Australia) as fund administrator.

Adaptive Alpha Research Starling Fund is a quantitative global macro/multi-asset strategy benchmarked against the indexed accumulation of the average daily nominal RBA Target Cash Rate. The A Unit Class targets a return of 8% p.a. above the RBA Cash Rate after fees, with a long-term average volatility objective of 12% p.a. and expected equity market correlation of 0.0-0.3. The fund uses data-driven quantitative models to trade liquid securities and aims to exploit repeating market patterns, particularly mean-reversion opportunities, across different market regimes. Positions may be held from a day to several months, typically averaging 5-20 business days. The process uses backtesting, paper trading and live trading to filter strategies, while risk settings are controlled separately from portfolio model development. The fund may use hedging against equity beta and currency exposure and can hold cash or cash-equivalent instruments during periods of market stress.