Duncan Robinson

Duncan W. Robinson is Director of AI & Optimization and Principal Research Scientist at Franklin Templeton, where he leads work spanning quantitative research, portfolio optimization, alternative data, machine learning, and agentic systems across investment management. Previously, he held senior quantitative research and data science leadership roles at Allspring Global Investments and Wells Fargo Asset Management, where he helped build cross-asset research infrastructure, secured the firm’s first patents in alternative data valuation and privacy-preserving metadata engineering, and architected a patent-pending alternative data scoring framework. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly two decades at Wolverine Trading as an options market-maker and portfolio manager, managing risk across equities, derivatives, commodities, and volatility strategies. A frequent speaker on AI, alternative data, and quantitative finance, Robinson focuses on turning complex market and non-traditional data into practical investment insight. He holds a Master of Science in Data Science from Northwestern University, an MBA in Decision Science from Purdue University, and a Bachelor of Science in Public Finance from Indiana University and is a CAIA charterholder and Financial Data Professional.