Quant vs. Pure Trader

[joseclar]

Hello,

This is motivated by some of the recent threads on the board, and the Tim Grant interview I finally got around to reading.

I have read some interviews and different threads about the trading field. Obviously it is becomming more quatitative by the day. My question is if the same division between quant and traders still exists at all or are most traders really quant traders? For instance is an mba in finance still enough to get a trading position in any area? And will it be a few years into the future? With the emergence of the mfe programs, it seems more and more quants are getting hired in traditional trading roles, typically filled by less quantitative mba grads.

While all trading can involve quantitative methods, which of the primary trading areas would you consider least quantitative and most likely to continue to hire from mba programs?

I know this question has been asked partially in different threads, but I think it would be nice to see a complete topic devoted to it.

Thanks.

 

[joseclar]

Also , this seems to be decently different on the buy side. It seems like the mba is still the degree of choice in that area. Is that accurate, or am I mistaken?

 

[doug reich]

Also , this seems to be decently different on the buy side. It seems like the mba is still the degree of choice in that area. Is that accurate, or am I mistaken?

Isn't the buy side by definition the only place with the traders? Or are you differentiating it from brokerage and, e.g. IB hedge funds?

 

[joseclar]

When I say buy side I consider it to be more the asset management side, pension funds, mutual funds. As opposed to traders at i banks. For instance most portfolio managers seem to be mba grads, or cfa members.

 

[RussianMike]

Well, these days everyone is trading derivatives so to do that properly you need some quantitative skills. Some derivative traders are former bond traders(you see that in credit derivatives) but it seems like its going away. MBA's(not from great schools i.e. Ivy League) dont offer much of a competitive advantage now. I mean if you are trying to hedge you need quants, if you're trading you need quants. Now you dont have to be a quant/quant lite to be a trader but its tough to get in unless you know someone high up(that always works anyways)