I've been think about getting into quant trading, but heard that the vast majority of quant traders have phds. If there are any quant traders out there I was hoping to hear about your experiences! Has anyone started out as a software engineer before going back to school? If you did get a phd, would you say it's better to get a phd in computer science or applied mathematics? Also, what's the work-life balance like? Is the field cut-throat? All info and suggestions welcomed :P
1. Applied maths 2. You only hear about the winners. Loser are liquidated within days and lose their jobs, possibly becoming pariahs in the process. Very few can sustain this for years.
You dont need a PhD. What you need is some edge/skill to convince them to hire you. PhDs make it easier to signal to hiring mgrs that your quant skills are intact, but I've seen plenty of cases of rejection, and also getting a PhD is a huge opportunity cost.
also PhD is used by hedge funds to brand themselves as "smarts-heavy"; expecting to apply extremal combinatorics on actual quant job is plain naivety of people who haven't worked in the industry
I don’t this’s Hedge Funds go just for PhD. You need a proven track record of success to be at top tier Hedge Fund. Aggressive HFs are not newbie friendly.
I've met a couple quant researchers who don't have PhD's. Alternative strategies include getting an MS in statistics, or financial engineering.
If you have a medal in IMO it helps without PhD
Of course. Getting an MS is much easier
what urges you to go into quant? money?
clearly yes n order of magnitude than even FAANG
PhD not important for doing your job. Has some signalling value. CompSci probably probably more useful on job but applied maths a better signal. They like mathematical thinkers. Source: entry level quant trader after MSc in pure mathematics, <1 YOE
Thanks for the tip. What's your TC (annual total compensation)? And do you code at all?
please don't get a PhD for sake of "quant" trading - unless you absolutely love being a researcher at a quant hedge fund (and how would you know that?)