Lucrative salaries, hefty bonuses, and creativity on the job have resulted inquantitative tradingbecoming an attractive career option. Quantitative traders, or quants for short, use mathematical models to identify trading opportunities and buy and sell securities. The influx of candidates from academia, software development, and engineering has made the field quite competitive. In this article, we’ll look at what quants do andthe skills and education needed.
Key Takeaways
- Quant traders use strategies based on quantitative analysis—mathematical computations and number crunching—to find trading possibilities that can involve hundreds of thousands of securities.
- An aspiring quant trader needs to be exceptionally skilled and interested in all things mathematical—if you don't live, breathe and sleep numbers, then this is not the field for you.
- A bachelor's degree in math, a master's degree in financial engineering or quantitative financial modeling or an MBA are all helpful for scoring a job; some analysts will also have a Ph.D. in these or similar fields.
- Lacking an advanced degree, a candidate should at least have on the job training and experience as a data analyst; experience with data mining, research, analysis, and automated trading systems are a must.
- Traders also need soft skills, such as the ability to thrive under pressure, maintain focus despite long hours, withstand an intense, aggressive environment and stomach setbacks and failures in pursuit of success.
What Do Quant TradersReally Do?
The word "quant" is derived from quantitative, which essentially means working with numbers. The advancement of computer-aidedalgorithmic tradingandhigh-frequency tradingmeans there is a huge amount ofdatato be analyzed. Quants mine and research the available price andquotedata, identify profitable trading opportunities, develop relevanttrading strategiesand capitalize on opportunities with lightning-fast speed usingself-developed computer programs. In essence, a quant trader needs a balanced mix of in-depth mathematics knowledge, practical trading exposure, and computer skills.
Quant traders can work for investment firms, hedge funds and banks,or they can be proprietary traders, using their own money for investment.
Technical Skills
An aspiring quant should have, at minimum, a background in finance, mathematics and computer programming. In addition, quants should have the following skills and background:
- Numbers, numbers, and numbers:Quant traders must be exceptionally good with mathematics andquantitative analysis. For example, if terms likeconditional probability,skewness,kurtosis, andVaRdon’t sound familiar, then you’re probably not ready to be a quant.In-depth knowledge of math is a must for researching data, testing the results, and implementing identified trade strategies. Identified trade strategies, implemented algorithms and trade execution methods should be as fool-proof as possible. In the present day lightning-fast trading world, complex number-crunching trading algorithms occupya majority of the market share. Even a small mistake in the underlying concept on thepart of thequant trader can result in a huge trading loss.
- Education and training:It is usually difficult for new college graduates to score a job as a quant trader. A more typical career path is starting out as a dataresearch analystand becoming a quant after a few years. Education like a master's degree in financial engineering, a diploma inquantitativefinancial modelingor electives in quantitative streams during the regular MBAmay give candidates a headstart. These courses cover the theoretical concepts andpractical introduction to tools required for quant trading.
- Trading concepts:Quants are expected to discover and designtheir own unique trading strategies and models from scratch as well as customize established models. A quanttrading candidate should have a detailed knowledge of popular trading strategies as well as each one's respective advantages and disadvantages.
- Programming skills:Quant traders must be familiar withdata mining, research, analysis, and automated trading systems. They are often involved in high-frequency trading or algorithmic trading. A good understanding of at least one programming language is a must, and the more programs the candidate knows, the better. C++,Java, Python, and Perl are a few commonly used programming languages. Familiarity with tools like MATLAB and spreadsheets, and concepts likebig dataand data structuring, is a plus.
- Computer usage:Quants implement their own algorithms on real-time data containing prices and quotes. They need to be familiar with any associated systems, like aBloomberg terminal, which provides data feeds and content. They should also be comfortable with charting and analysis software applicationsand spreadsheets and be able to use broker trading platforms to place orders.
$164,063
The average pay for quant traders, according to recent statistics from Indeed.com.
Soft Skills
Beyond the above-mentioned technical skills, quant traders also need soft skills. Those employed atinvestment banksorhedge fundsmay occasionally need to present their developed concepts to fund managers and higher-ups for approval. Quants do not typically interact with clients and they often work witha specialized team, so average communication skills may suffice. In addition, a quant trader should have the following soft skills:
- A trader's temperament:Not everyone can think andactlike a trader. Successful traders are always looking for innovative trading ideas, are able to adapt to changing market conditions, thrive under stress, and accept long working hours. Employers thoroughly assess candidates for these traits. Someeven give psychometric tests.
- Risk-taking abilities:The present-day trading world is not for the faint-hearted. Courtesy ofmarginandleveragedtrading with dependency on computers, losses can reach amounts higher than a trader's available capital. Aspiring quants must understandrisk managementand risk mitigation techniques. A successful quant may make 10 trades, face losses on the first eight, and profit only with the last two trades.
- Comfortable with failure:A quant keeps looking for innovative trading ideas. Even if anidea seems foolproof, dynamic market conditions may render it a bust. Many aspiring quant traders fail because they get stuck on an ideaand keep trying to make it work despite hostile market conditions. They may find it difficult to accept failure and are thus unwilling to let go oftheir concept. On the other hand, successful quants follow a dynamic detachment approach and quickly move on to other models and concepts as soon as they find challenges in existing ones.
- Innovative mindset:The trading world is highly dynamic, and no concept can make money for long. With algorithms pitted against algorithms and each trying to outperformthe others, only the one with better and unique strategiescan survive. A quant needs to keep looking for new innovative trading ideas to seize profitable opportunities thatmay vanish quickly. It is a never-ending cycle.
The Bottom Line
Quant trading requires advanced-level skills in finance, mathematics and computer programming. Big salaries and sky-rocketing bonuses attract many candidates, so getting that first job can be a challenge. Beyond that, continued success requires constant innovation, comfort with risk and long working hours.
