25 Comments
 

DE Shaw is hardly a quant fund anymore. they have a lot of strategies, many of them not quantitative at all. Citadel is more quant, but again, many strategies that aren't. RenTech is of course the ultimate definition of a quant fund (but not the quant such as financial engineering or "traditional" quantitative finance)

it's not clearcut. but for quant strategies, why hire the guy without a phd (unless he already has an amazing track record from somewhere else).

 

If you can apply C+ or C++, you stand a decent chance - you could have a degree or be self-taught.

Citadel & Shaw are multi-strategy funds and employ fundamentals and technicals as much, if not moreso than quant.

Philosopher hit the bottome line - this is an employer's job market, so why hire a guy without a grad degree when you can get a Phd/MS for the same price?

 

A ‘quant’ is usually a quantitative analyst. One becomes a quantitative analyst mainly by two ways: - Get an advanced degree in a relevant area. - Be outstanding at another place, transition into quantitative analyst job. Undergrads won’t be doing any heavy quant shit. If you’re brought into a quant fund straight from UG, you’re going to be prop trading/generalist/investment analyst.

http://nvmnd.wordpress.com/ NVMND.

 

I am just curious on this...so are the PhDs usually in something like Econ/ Math/ Statistics/ Computer Science? Or are they in things like Chemistry, Physics, Phycology, etc.?

 
 

Yep, you either go quant or you go into research. You'll see a lot of them in AM too though, most pm's at Templeton for example are PhD's but I doubt its a requirement.

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, you can't trust people Jeremy
 

Bank / Fund economists have PHDs in Economics. Quants have PHDs in all kinds of shit... particularly at HFs like Ren Tech, etc, where people have PHDs in Physics, Math, Biology... you name it (as long as it's from MIT or Harvard)

 

My BSc is in Math from Melbourne uni and I can do Phd from either Adelaide uni or Melbourne uni.Adelaide uni is good in Mathematical Physics applied to Finance and Stochastics, while Melbourne uni has few Probability people who do research in Financial Math.Which uni do you think I should choose for Phd.

Nassif Nabeal

 

http://quantnet.com/

would help you better every 1 here is a religion major who leans to the far left(look up the use "ant" he is known as a strong liberal and then there is emf he is supppper liberal it is bc they have religion degrees and dream of making hte irs stronger )

 
IlliniProgrammerQuantnet's a good place to look, but I just have to say that I'm not 100% behind the idea of a PhD unless it's absolutely necessary or the OP really wants to do one.

You can do 95% of what you can with a PhD if you get an MFE and spend 4 years in industry instead.

Agreed. I was at a quant firm before where I am now, and I had PhDs in my group and MFEs. We got paid the same at each level. A PhD is overkill for almost everything in finance. The only places where you probably NEED a phd is rentec or de shaw's quant groups.

-MBP
 
manbearpig
IlliniProgrammerQuantnet's a good place to look, but I just have to say that I'm not 100% behind the idea of a PhD unless it's absolutely necessary or the OP really wants to do one.

You can do 95% of what you can with a PhD if you get an MFE and spend 4 years in industry instead.

Agreed. I was at a quant firm before where I am now, and I had PhDs in my group and MFEs. We got paid the same at each level. A PhD is overkill for almost everything in finance. The only places where you probably NEED a phd is rentec or de shaw's quant groups.

I agree with the above, except I would even go so far as to say that a PhD is never going to be absolutely necessary. Don't do a PhD for the sake of career progression, because there are better options, period.

 

Temporibus corporis ab est aliquam. Molestias ullam minima qui earum quibusdam id in. Vitae aut cupiditate vel exercitationem ut ut. Iure enim non voluptatem iste et nihil.

Sit autem rerum molestiae sit molestias voluptas. Dolor aut numquam qui quo eos repudiandae. Et eos aspernatur dolorem non qui ea et. Veritatis assumenda tenetur quae dolor molestiae. Magni ad dolorem consequatur asperiores perferendis. Est omnis ut ex tempora sequi autem libero ut. Id non ducimus beatae eum quo.

Mollitia ut et quos necessitatibus adipisci quia. Totam consequatur possimus non aliquam veritatis quis.

Occaecati nisi omnis quia sit quod omnis est. Sed et dolor unde dolore.

Offshore liffe

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”