Yes and no, algorithms developed mainly by quants are a large part of institutional investing, but for example Warren Buffett put simply is a (value) stock investor (he trades based on the the underlying value of a stock). Say WB believes Facebook is worth (exaggerated) 1 Trillion if the market was trading Fb at a market cap of 100 Billion, WB would more than likely long FB in his bet that Fb was worth more then people believe and hope to profit of said investment. Investopedia is a great entry level source for trading information if you are interested.