FutureAdvisor says it uses a mathematical optimization algorithm to apply modern portfolio theory principles to each person's portfolio.

WSJ: Offering a Helping Hand on Retirement Saving

He set up a model using an algorithm based on the Monte Carlo optimization method used in statistics and mathematics.

FORBES: Sometimes Science is Behind the Curve

Then IBM came along with a so-called "volume algorithm, " a descendant of optimization formulas originally developed for military applications, like devising the best aircraft deployment to hunt down submarines.

FORBES: From nuclear bombs to net assets