Willing to move to quant research from Risk modeling

[Alex_RC]

Hi Everyone.

First of all, let me tell you a little bit about my background; I am currently working as a risk modeler in one of the bulge bracket investment banks in India. I have spent around 6 years in the industry and over time I have developed a taste to move to quant research with the application of data science roles either in any traditional banks or any other form of asset management companies. Regulatory risk modeling, as many of you would probably know, deals with econometrics and statistics, however, it has less application of coding (not to say it's non-existent).

I am starting my Financial Engineering course with NYU Tandon this fall'21. I am posting here to get an honest and realistic view of my possibilities to get into my desired role (quant research) and what all I should particularly focus on in my curriculum to get threre.

Regards

 

[l_l_c_p]

What I have seen in the industry that most quant researcher roles exist in hedge funds( Citadel, 2S, JaneSt, HRT etc), probably the ones you are aiming for where in they resource folks from a) top performers in Bachelors from hard science programs like maths physics CS from MIT princeton etc. straight out of school b) ex-quant researchers or ex-Software engineers pursuing MFE in top programs like CMU, Baruch etc c) Internally by promoting few good performers from tech side although less in number. See Likendin -its your best resource.
However, that doesn't mean it shuns any options for people who dont fall into the above bulge bracket, but less often that not. But having a solid background in software engg in particular development experience preferably in C++, systems level understanding, algorithms, production level programming goes a long way than some typical MFE courses and in certain instances can do away the lack of financial background. Thanks. All the best for your Fall semester.

Of course the curriculum you choose matters, so NYU Tandon grads can help you on that.

 

[Yevgeniy]

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[Alex_RC]

What I have seen in the industry that most quant researcher roles exist in hedge funds( Citadel, 2S, JaneSt, HRT etc), probably the ones you are aiming for where in they resource folks from a) top performers in Bachelors from hard science programs like maths physics CS from MIT princeton etc. straight out of school b) ex-quant researchers or ex-Software engineers pursuing MFE in top programs like CMU, Baruch etc c) Internally by promoting few good performers from tech side although less in number. See Likendin -its your best resource.
However, that doesn't mean it shuns any options for people who dont fall into the above bulge bracket, but less often that not. But having a solid background in software engg in particular development experience preferably in C++, systems level understanding, algorithms, production level programming goes a long way than some typical MFE courses and in certain instances can do away the lack of financial background. Thanks. All the best for your Fall semester.

Of course the curriculum you choose matters, so NYU Tandon grads can help you on that.

That was quite insightful. I just had one thing going on my mind as I read along your post, several banks are opening their quant research team as well, for instance, I can immediately recall JP Morgan as one of them. What do you think about them, are they easy to get into than the hedge funds? Also. just to help you answer better, I DON'T have coding background, I rather come from a core engineering background and was fortunate enough to have gotten the chance to explore the quant finance world.

 

[l_l_c_p]

That was quite insightful. I just had one thing going on my mind as I read along your post, several banks are opening their quant research team as well, for instance, I can immediately recall JP Morgan as one of them. What do you think about them, are they easy to get into than the hedge funds? Also. just to help you answer better, I DON'T have coding background, I rather come from a core engineering background and was fortunate enough to have gotten the chance to explore the quant finance world.

Yes, in banks (including mine) have quant research (QR) roles but I feel they are not the same as HFs per se, as you can club them under quant analysts (QA) category most of the time but if you are asking are they gettable? Yes, after MFE. Primarily because they give out more interview calls than HFs.
Regarding coding, I would say its a 'must to have' while some stats programming(In R python etc)/derivatives pricing are 'good to have' for HFs. Basic understanding of derivatives would suffice mostly. While research roles in banks would require formal training in maths/stats/ML demonstrated mostly through PhD kind of coursework as opposed to MFE. Coding is essential and can't be substituted or its lacking thereof.