10 years on my own, now what?
I ran a 150M max exposure Quant strategy on my own for the past 10 years. 9/10 years were profitable, but a drawdown over the past 18 months has led my clients to abandon me.
My strat has capacity constraints that preclude me from seeking a pm seat in a MM, and I don't really want to run it again until it shows signs of life anyway. What are some possible career moves for a Quant dev who hasn't had a steady paycheck in a decade(performance comp), and who is tired of rolling these particular dice?
How bad/long was your drawdown and what kind of quant strategy do you run? You can definitely find a seat at a platform or SMA for 150GMV. On a decent year, you will make a few bucks.
Market neutral equity. I had a 6.5% drawdown when 5% was my previous max drawdown. Honestly I was surprised when everyone bailed. It's a Quant strategy that is based on fitting prior data. Historic rate environment was not in my fitting set.
How much wealth do you have saved up?
I have no debt and about 1m liquid. Not enough to run it on my own or retire
For bigger MM shops, you don't have to be a senior PM. These funds are actively looking for a sub pm who has working strategies. Your strategy on your own may not work / go through a drawdown, but combining with other strategies, alpha, etc. could probably have risk mitigating effect at the entire portfolio level. Reach out to the Business Development of bigger firms who are keen on onboarding sub pms (mostly Millennium, Balyasny, P72) and see how that conversation goes. If you go this route, it could potentially benefit you depending on which team you land:
1. Saves data cost - a lot of pods in aforementioned firms rely on similar data, so the cost allocated to you could be cheaper
2. Saves initial build-out work - those guys probably already have a standardized ETL / Research / Dev / Trading / Risk Mgmt process.
3. Relatively Safer - as long as your strategy does not lose a lot of money, they'll keep you around given your diversifying characteristics (assuming your correlation to pre-existing strategies are relatively low)
4. Learn - Can learn how other strategies run, which could give you a new perspective in your strategy.
Good Luck
This is excellent advice. The hiring market for PMs is extremely hot so with a 10 year independent track record there's a high likelihood you will find a good spot.
Sequi ut possimus vitae assumenda fuga consequatur voluptatum. Tenetur accusantium adipisci voluptatem autem id voluptas quo minus.
Nisi doloribus quaerat hic est temporibus quae. Eos natus distinctio similique minus.
Sit aut culpa ipsa officia consequatur. Inventore qui quisquam cupiditate quia blanditiis molestias sit. Sunt aspernatur aliquid sit architecto. Aut est inventore sit eligendi tempora laudantium eos.
Enim vero tempora delectus rerum omnis. Laboriosam deserunt est incidunt eos. Aliquam quos voluptas doloremque dicta dolores illo molestias. Ab sunt corporis voluptatem odit nesciunt.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...