Best funds / financial firms for AI researchers post PhD
Friend is finishing up a PhD in AI / ML at a university with a very strong brand (think one of the best if not the best in the world / known for AI) in the US.
The top AI firms (the ones doing real interesting research that are not total start-ups, Deepmind, Anthropic, OpenAI) are barely hiring, so here is the question:
If a hardcore nerd / techy has to “sell out” and join our finance ranks, what are the “best” firms to do this at?
“Best” here defined as:
- AI Research work that is super interesting
- AI researchers being taken seriously internally as a key part of the firm (not just some back office team)
- Best chance to move back to the pure tech space (like exit to one of the aforementioned firms)
- Great pay
- Bonus points for firms with offices not in NY, but the whole world is in play here
Any wisdom or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Im not part of the industry and don’t know much in general but for the description you gave , your friend sounds like a fit for renaissance technologies. They have been doing Machine learning since the 80s and are 100% quant base firm. Plus the employees have access to the medallion fund , the best performing fund in history.
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Back office? Bro is your friend dumb? If they are a top AI/ML PhD then just cold apply to CitSec, Jane Street, HRT, Optiver, DRW et al. Forget banks lmao. Easily high six figure starting/7 figures if the firm performs. Quant research is what you want. And yeah like the other guy said RenTech, although it is a pretty tough nut to crack.
Many of the large firms have AI focused divisions now but my sense is they are more like back office. I interviewed at a few of these groups last year but it seemed like their work was not really used by the PM/quant teams (often they themselves didn't know what the impact of their work was, but were happy with their pay). In general AI for its own sake does not drive returns in these firms, and the ML that is useful is pretty basic.
Place where they can use them: Reintech, Crabel, Citadel, Citadel Securities, Hudson River, Enginneeing Gate, DE Shaw, Man Numeric-AHL-GLG, Winton, Jane Street, XTX, somewhere at MLP, Worldquant. I would also say that the best HFs / mkt makers are not the best because of AI/ML but they are the best in the processes, data cleaning, understanding of strategies instruments and the implementation, execution. Implementation is key List is by far non exhaustive, but I hope it’s a decent starting point.
CFM are the smartest people I have ever met. Loads of PhDs (mainly physics/maths) and a very academic/ academia-like environment. They use a lot of PCA so you really have to love statistics.
- They are European though.
Do you have the performance of their stratus fund?
2024 YTD (through May): +6.2%
2023: 12.85%
2022: 20.40%
2021: 9.39%
2020: 5.27%
2019: 3.68%
All of these are net to LPs, assuming the unlevered Stratus product (they also have a 1.5x USD and 1.5x Euro series)
There aren't many. You'll have to find a firm that is quant focused and PhD quant focused as well.
Citadel Securities, RenTech, TGS, XTX and some parts of Jump, DE Shaw and Two Sigma.
Jane Street and HRT are the wrong answer.
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