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So, you want to work in Quant Trading…?
A curated guide to navigating a move on the Buy-Side
We spend our fair share of time talking to people working in, or aspiring to work in, the quant investment industry. By “fair share”, I mean literally hours a day. And by “quant investment industry”, I mean specifically hedge funds and prop trading firms that run quantitative strategies as the entirety, or a sub-set, of their overall investment strategy.
One thing that is abundantly clear in this industry is that even those working within it are still to some degree fairly closed off to the wider going’s on across the sector. So when it comes to those not already ensconced within a fund/prop firm (quants / traders in banks, asset managers etc., or grads looking to get a foothold in the industry out of academia), there’s an even wider gulf to cross to really get a hold on how to navigate the often chaotic and always frustrating journey of securing a much coveted role within a quant fund or prop trading firm.
Whilst we, as a cog in the machine of the talent landscape within this industry, can provide insights into many of the main and not-so-main players, there is no substitute from getting real, tangible “insider” info. In this industry, it’s both “what you know” AND “who you know” in equal measure…
So to that end, we’ve put together a curated list of places, and most importantly people, that we tend to direct people towards when they ask us about the more nuanced aspects of the industry, or for advice on how to prepare themselves before starting the process of getting a job at a hedge fund/ prop trading firm.
Where to start…?
For context, this is niche industry, both in terms of the actual numbers of real players, and the number of potential ‘seats’ for Quants – At this point, we can start this curated journey into the creation of a small window into the inner-sanctum of this typically opaque industry with a topical introduction to Guiseppe “Gappy” Paleologo, and a recent article he wrote on “Buy Side Quant Job Advice” where in his initial intro he estimates, using some (reasonably fair) assumptions, how much demand there is for quants annually…:
“… the investment personnel in a hedge fund or prop trading firm ranges in the 30-50% of total headcount. Depending on the focus of the firm, quants make 30-100% of that. Most importantly, the job openings depend on the growth of the firm and the employee turnover; say 5-10% ballpark…
… I would guess that the total number of investment professionals here (investment professionals in funds / prop firms) is 15,000. So, maybe 7,000 quants? And a demand of 700 quants a year? That includes everyone, from alpha research, to portfolio construction, to data analysis, to execution, to risk management.”
So yeah. If that estimate holds true with minor allowances for deviation, maximising your chances of landing a seat in one of these firms takes time, effort, inspiration, motivation, a decent amount of research, and in most cases… a bit of luck thrown in.
What’s the universe…?
Having spent many years working within the industry, we’ve probably had interactions (directly or indirectly) with most known organisations running quantitative investment strategies across all traded markets globally.
It’s nigh on impossible to keep track of every ‘name’ globally, but here we’ve included as comprehensive a list as possible of known fund/prop firms that could be considered interesting for Quants / Traders looking to move into / within the hedge fund / prop trading industry (as well as a list of crypto-focused prop trading firms)
Hedge Funds
- 111 Capital
- Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)
- Acadian Asset Management
- AQR Capital
- Aspect Capital
- Azur IM
- Balyasny Asset Management
- Bainbridge Partners
- Bluefin Capital Management
- Brevan Howard
- Capula Investment Management
- Capital Fund Management
- Caxton Associates
- Citadel
- DE Shaw
- Eisler Capital
- Elliott Investment Management
- Engineers Gate
- ExodusPoint Capital Management
- Farringdon Capital
- Ilex Capital Management
- iSAM
- Jain Global
- GAM Systematic
- G-Research
- Graham Capital Management
- GSA Capital
- Haidar Capital Management
- Mako Global
- Man Group / Man AHL
- Maniyar Capital
- Marshall Wace
- Millenium Management
- Oxford Asset Management
- PDT Partners
- Point 72 / Cubist Systematic Strategies
- Qube Research &Technologies
- Rokos Capital
- Schonfeld
- Seamless Capital
- Squarepoint Capital
- Symmetry Investments
- Systematica Investments
- Trexquant Investment
- Two Sigma
- Tudor Capital / Xantium
- Verition Fund Management
- Voleon Group
- Winton
- WorldQuant
Prop Trading Firms
- ABC Arbitrage
- Akuna Capital
- All Options
- Alphagrep
- Aquatic Capital Management
- Auguration
- Bayforest Technologies
- Belvedere Trading
- BFAM Partners
- BHFT
- Bluecrest Capital Management
- Boerboel Trading
- Chicago Trading Company
- Citadel Securities
- Da Vinci Derivatives
- DRW
- DV Trading
- East Alpha
- Eclipse Trading
- Epoch Capital
- Five Rings Capital
- Flow Traders
- Geneva Trading
- Graviton Research Capital
- Headlands Technologies
- Hudson River Trading
- IMC Trading
- Jane Street
- Jump Trading
- Mako Trading
- Maven Securities
- NXT Capital BV
- Old Mission Capital
- Optiver
- Quadrature
- Quadeye
- Quantbox
- QuantLab
- Radix Trading
- Susquehanna International Group (SIG)
- Teza Technologies
- Tibra Capital
- Tower Research Capital
- TradeLink Holdings
- Two Sigma Securities
- Tyler Capital
- TGS Capital Management
- Valkyrie Trading
- Vatic Labs
- Virtu Financial
- Vivienne Court Trading
- Wolverine Trading
- Webb Traders
- XTX Markets
- XY Capital
Crypto
- Alpha Lab Capital
- Amber Group
- B2C2
- Byte Trading
- Cypher Labs
- Enigma Securities
- Ergonia
- Fasanara Capital
- GSR
- Kbit
- Laser Digital
- Low Observable Technology
- Numeus
- Portofino Technologies
- Wintermute
A select number of these firms are our clients (feel free to reach out if you’re interested in finding out who we know, and what we know about them), but outside of these, many of them are firms that we’ve gathered intel on from our ongoing interactions with past or present Quants / Traders / Engineers who work in the industry – In all cases, they’re firms that have come up on our radar and we’ve therefore undertaken some level of research on…
(Disclaimer: If they’re our client, we’re not able to share our research / intelligence outside of specifically discussing a potential fit for an opportunity to join them...Everyone else? Fair game...).
Ok, so now you have a list of the (almost) entire universe of fund/prop trading firms that we know are always looking for additive skills to enhance their trading strategies… I’ve included this because… well, damn, it’s hard to find a properly comprehensive list anywhere on the internet, so if anything we’ll probably benefit from some SEO ranking, but hopefully you, dear reader, will find it useful as well.
Also, we figure that transparency builds trust. And if you want to maximise your chances of landing a good role in one of these firms, it pays to know as much about as many of them as possible so that you can get a good feel for the different environments they offer, culture, performance etc., which (undisguised self-advertisement alert) is also something we can help with.
The email, in case you want it, is hello@augmentti.com ;)
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know… Is there “career alpha” in socials…?
Armed with some detailed knowledge of the general universe across the quant investment landscape, now we can look into more specific areas where we think the “who you know” comes into play, but for the purposes of this article, I’m not talking about it in the traditional sense…
Networking is FOR SURE incredibly beneficial and we’d highly recommend reaching out to past friends / college alumni / colleagues who’ve made the shift to a firm you’re potentially interested in applying to. Ask them about their experience, try to get a foot in the door, or just get an insight into the culture/environment at the firm they’re at, but in this instance we’re interested in the people who heroically spend their personal time outside ofwork documenting and detailing various aspects of their work, their research, and their experiences etc. working within quant trading.
Sometimes, it’s easier to point people to those we have found to be atypically active voices in the industry, who share insights that can illuminate without laying bare the secrets that the industry so closely guards…
Below are some of these people:
- Giuseppe “Gappy’ Paleologo (@__paleologo)
The aforementioned Giuseppe is an interesting chap. He’s had stints at Citadel, Millennium and HRT, is currently on his way to Balyasny, and is possibly the world’s foremost authority on gardening leave, so is someone I’m always recommending people (aspiring or current quants) check out online and follow on socials.
Given his content is highly insightful, by all accounts technically on-point, but also somewhat comedic, he’s definitely a guy worth following.
- QuantyMacro (@quantymacro)
This guy finished his undergrad in 2022, [quote] “self-taught himself into a pod” without “going through the typical grad rotations”, and writes / tweets (x’s..? is it x’s now…?) very accessibly IMHO about his research musings, experiential learnings on the job, and some topical commentary on his journey to getting himself into his current seat as a Quant Macro Researcher / Trader at a top fund.
He's active on X, and drops more long-form content on his blog site (www.quantymacro.com). Definitely worth checking out, and not purely for grad/juniors either, as he seems to have gathered solid community connections with seasoned HF/MFT quants alike in a pretty short period of time since becoming active last year.
- Macrocephalopod (@macrocephalopod)
“Ceph” runs a mid-freq crypto prop desk, but he’s a TradFi-mollusc gone rogue…
Macrocephalopod's career spans various trading strategies across different frequencies and asset classes. Initially, he focused on longer frequency futures strategies, including CTA trend following and carry strategies. Later in his career, Macrocephalopod transitioned to managing a mid to high-frequency crypto prop desk.
This guy started becoming more active on Twitter (X) around 2020, primarily due to the desire for more engagement and discussion in the finance community, and is pretty active on the platform daily, where his acerbic wit and general British bluntness (not giving anything away there, checkout the podcast below for clarification…) shines through. But most relevant, is that you can get a real sense of some of the dynamic challenges he tackles in his work, research ideas and general market insights from his content, so another one on the “definitely follow” list if you’re keen to engage in / observe the discourse on socials.
- Oxfdf (@0xfdf)
Started writing content for X.com late in 2023, and quickly amassed a pretty solid following interested in their no-bullshit take on the industry, with smart analysis on technical topics (the good and the bad), and more relevant (for this article), some pretty useful insights on their experiences of interviewing quants (check out this thread which is great if you’re an experienced quant on the job hunt, and interested in a hot take on how to be selective over the firms you are talking to / interested in).
I personally really enjoy the fairly direct and detailed insights from this ‘Finfluencer’, and it seems a lot of the others on this list would agree as they all follow this account as well.
- Systematic LongShort (@systematicls)
Another relatively recent (Apr 24) entry into the 'finfluencer' list, but one of the more insightful across the range of market intel, quant research, portfolio management etc.. A 10yr veteran of the industry mostly focused on L/S equity, mostly statarb, runs a global L/S book in equities, and also exploring crypto. This guy has a solid ability to distil technical ideas into short form tweets, so a good follow for quick snippets of daily inspiration / knowledge.
- Rob Carver (@investingidiocy)
Rob worked for Man AHL, a large systematic hedge fund until 2013, and is now an independent trader, blogger, writer etc. etc. He created AHL's fundamental global macro strategy, and then managed the funds multi-billion dollar fixed income portfolio.
Which it appears qualified him to some degree to then write a few books that are considered worth reading by a number of quants/traders we know (hence a couple featuring also in our suggested reading list below…), but more relevant in this context, is an active blogger and ‘engager’ in the social-discourse which, for the purposes of this article, makes it worth including him!
Rob blogs about technical trading concepts in plain English (with a smattering of sarcasm / comedic license), and is also pretty consistently active on this front, so a good guy to follow to.
Also, rather helpfully, to add to the general context of this article, Rob wrote a blog post a few years back titled “So you want to be a quant / systematic trader“ (we didn’t steal that, found this during our research for this article, sorry-not-sorry…) which we think is also probably worth you reading (*right click > open in new tab > return to previous tab {please}…*)
- π*|¤ (@totlsota)
An awesome edition to the “follow list” primarily for his excellence in shit-posting on X, alongside lesser-cadenced but certainly no less relevant technical musings on some of the more esoteric aspects of crypto quant trading / DeFi. Another TradFi-gone-rogue guy, someone we know (but will never reveal our source…) and who is highly thought of in this space generally.
These are just a small selection of some of the active voices on social platforms – Once engaged, you’ll find a plethora of additional ‘Fin-fluencers’ that can add additional layers to your online social connections, something that we believe can really help with getting under the hood of the industry in an active way, and move the dial on that process of gaining clarity from opacity in this market.
Social Media is for chumps… I’m more of a podcast-on-my-run kinda person…
Don’t worry, we’ve got you (and will keep adding to this as we find more):
- CoreyHoffstein – Flirting with Models
A podcast that aims to pull back the curtain and meet the investors who research, design, develop, and manage quantitative investment strategies.
Specific Episodes:
- Managing a Mid-Frequency Crypto Prop Desk (Macrocephalopod)
- Systematic Macro w/ Asif Noor (PM @ Aspect Capital)
- Optimising the Research Process w/ Russell Korgaonkar (CIO @ Man AHL)
- Signals & Threads
Jane Street’s Yaron “Ron” Minsky has conversations with engineers working on everything from clock synchronization to reliable multicast, build systems to reconfigurable hardware. Get a peek at how Jane Street approaches problems, and how those ideas relate to tech & trading more broadly.
- The Curious Quant
Hosted by Michael Kollo, these are generally discussions between technically-minded professionals in the financial services, technology and data science fields. It examines the application of new data and new methodologies to common problems in financial markets.
Deeper firm-specific research - For those who leave no stone unturned…
If you’re the kind of person who takes their own research and preparation in all facets of their search for knowledge seriously, have a look at https://alphacution.com. This is hands down some of the most detailed research you’ll find on the hedge fund / prop trading industry, with deep-dive reports into various trading firms strategies / performances etc. gathered from painstakingly detailed research on individual firms including HRT, Simplex, SIG, XTX Markets, Tower Research etc.. It’s founder, Paul Rowady, was formerly a Partner at QuantLab during its early days, so he does know a thing or two about the industry… definitely worth a look if you’re looking for real, detailed and highly comprehensive research.
Prepping for interviews… Recommended for Quants, by Quants, in finance:
Below is a list of source material to help you start to prepare for interviews – These have been specifically selected based on the fact they were recommended to us by Quants working in Finance (hence the title… probably could have just jumped straight in tbf…):
- An Interview Primer for Quant Finance
This was written in 2017 by Dirk Bester, a great guy, detailing his experiences interviewing with over 20 different firms (across the sell-sideand buy-side) for Quant jobs in 2014 and again in 2017, where he documented thequestions, focusing on the intent for the question, a deep dive into the answers,and suggestions on how to communicate them during the interview.
- 150 Most Frequently Asked Questions On Quant Interview (2nd Edition)
This is a staple for any aspiring or current Quant planningto embark on the self-flagellating process that is interviewing for a Quantjob… Link to the store-copy, am sure there are 100’s of PDF/open-source GitHubversions, but I don’t want to get sued, so that’ on you…
- A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews
An oldie, but still relevant, in all likelihood because the person on the other side of the table has probably formulated their interview questions to some degree from this book in the first place…
Don’t take my word for it on its aged relevance… Frank Wu literally said it a few weeks ago, and seemed pretty happy with his purchase going by his Amazon review:
- Jane Street Trading Interview Guide – Intro to Probability & Markets
This one is straight out of the Jane Street vault (it’s literally on their website), but again useful to get a read on the statistics concepts that may be useful (read: are definitely useful) for you to know and bone up on.
- G-Research Interview Guide
Helpfully prepared for G-Research’s (notoriously challenging) Quant interviews, and including some links to past exam examples. There’s also some useful links to places where you can practice coding combined with mathematics problems (ProjectEuler.net, Codility, Kaggle, Topcoder – there you go, curation within curation).
These are good places to start. You may have seen them all already (sweet, on the right path), or you may not have read any (highly doubtful, but perhaps time to get your research-pants on if that’s the case…). We’ll keep adding to the list as we see/hear new things, so bookmark the page for future reference ;)
Practice, Practice, Practice… Where to hone your Quant / Coding skills for interviews?
- Leetcode – Very popular!!
- CoderPad – Often used as the platform for conducting technical interviews, so useful to familiarise yourself
- Codility – As above
- HackerRank – As above (& above that)
- Project Euler – Good for maths / problem solving
- Kaggle - ML focussed
- Exercism.io – this platform allows you to solve problems that are then ‘marked’ / reviewed by a developer in the community, so you get actual feedback on your work from a person which is useful, although I’ve heard the challenges aren’t as tricky as on HackerRank/Codility/Leetcode etc.
- Arithmetic Game - timed arithmetic problems
- Reddit – You can find real life feedback and interview experiences on here
- Glassdoor – Similar to Reddit (although you have to login and provide some data to access all the information)
Given we’re 9 pages in now, I feel like it’s probably time to bring this one to a close. Leave some ammo in the chamber for another blog post and all that… Hopefully you’ve found some/any/most of this useful, and we’ll keep adding to it over the coming weeks/months/years as and when we see / get recommended new material, so bookmark the page for future reference, or indeed drop us a note if you think there’s something else we should include!
A word on Augmentti…
Over the years, we’ve evolved as a firm from one which operated like a typical ‘recruiter’, to a firm which is more focused on the 'intelligence' aspect of the talent landscape within this industry. We gather data from every interaction that we have with our contact network which is aggregated, analysed, and utilised to some benefit for our client or community networks, which span Research, Trading and Technology across the systematic trading landscape globally.
At our core, we’re a research firm. If you’re reading this, and think that our research on the fund/prop talent landscape could be useful for your organisation, or you’d like to discuss your own career journey, feel free to get in touch – hello@augmentti.com
