Quants
If you have an educational background in statistics, mathematics or finance, you can go on to have a fulfilling career in Quants. Gravitas is an award-winning recruitment company, motivated in supporting Banking professionals embark on their career development journey. You can expect to receive specialist industry advice and a personalised service when going forward for new opportunities, so you feel confident exploring what the market has to offer.
We have over ten years' experience building partnerships with Hedge Funds and Investment Banks across Singapore, supporting professionals across Research, Portfolio Management, Traders, Data and Development secure their next role.
Top Quant jobs in demand
Quant Researcher
Quant Researchers capture market opportunities, through research into commodities, investments in CTAs and equities. They will perform Alpha or Signal Generation when developing trading strategies and well as providing coding skills in Python, C++ and MI. Therefore, Quant Researcher roles are seen as an analytical asset to an organisation. They also provide assistance towards portfolio optimisation or construction. Successful professionals in this specialist area will have significant communication skills, to collaborate effectively with Quant Traders or Developers.
Quant Traders
Quant Traders are a practical role, acting as the ‘face’ of a bank's operations. They will proactively determine investment opportunities on the market, through evaluation of financial products and markets. Other day-to-day responsibilities are execution expenses and book management. Skills in decision-making, problem-solving as well as communication are important to succeed in this role.
Portfolio Management
The natural progression upward from a Quant Researcher is to step into a Portfolio Manager role. As the name determines, Portfolio Managers are responsible for managing portfolio trading and book management. Building experience and knowledge in financial markets is advantageous to this role, so individuals can implement better strategy and decision-making for investment success. Leadership is an essential skill, as Portfolio Managers will coordinate team members or allocate resource towards portfolio operations, all whilst working towards the businesses’ strategic goals.
Data
The Finance industry has been transformed by the possibilities of data, with many Banking institutions exploring machine learning and artificial intelligence. As an effect of this, there has been growth in data positions such as:
- Data Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Machine Learning Engineer
Data Specialists are responsible in collecting raw data, interpreting and modelling data to provide valuable insights towards decision-making. AI and MI have introduced to data specialists to use computer algorithms to assist in identifying trading opportunities. Programming (Python) and analytical skills are essential for a career in data, to problem solve and identify trends or patterns in datasets.
Development
Whilst the Finance industry becomes more technology-focused, developers are more in demand. In the Quants space, especially Platform Developers and Python Developers.
Platform Developers are responsible in building software and applications for trading and large operations, commonly using C++ as the main form of coding.
Python Developers will typically have experience in Front Office, utilising financial knowledge to support strategy back testing and provide technical maintenance to trading applications. Some Developers may develop algorithms for trading applications.
Top three tips for a career in Quants
Advice from Asia Managing Director, Peter Barker.
Become a coding specialist
Most positions in Quants use coding as an essential skill. As you progress your Quant career forward, it's important to develop your coding skills, improving the accuracy and quality of the work you produce. This will only widen opportunities for yourself on the market and prove yourself as an asset to any organisation.
Be aware of financial market change
Regularly put time aside to identify market change and forecasts, so you can explore underlying assets and equities to make sure the strategy you are using works as effectively as possible. By having a continuous stream of useful information, such as subscribing to industry newsletters or following market leaders online, so updates can come to you naturally. Your overall goal should be to become a market expert.
What is the next big thing?
As highlighted, the Banking industry is embracing new technologies such as Data Science, including AI and MI. Industry changes will ultimately shape financial roles, which we are already seeing with a further demand in experience in machine learning. If you are keeping up to date with new skills demand, take a step further and consider ‘what might be the next big thing?’. Anticipating the next top skills and learning them can be the difference between you and another candidate when applying for a new role.