Is citadel just a quant shop?

Sorry if this is an extraordinarily retarded question, but given that most of my friends getting offers from citadel are cs/math/stats majors getting quant trader or researchers roles, I was wondering whether MM HF's like citadel (and to a lesser extent bridgewater) only hire people with a quant background or whether there exist roles at those firms for people from more traditional background from pe/ib or b school?

8 Comments
 
nutmegger189

Your friends are probably getting offers from Citadel Securities which is the market maker arm of Citadel Group.

Citadel is the hedge fund arm which is multi-manager and multi-strat (so there is some quant here too).

Ok awesome, I know they are at citadel the hedge fund not the market maker. Does citadel (the hedge fund) engage in traditional L/S equity dtartegies and if so is there recruiting similar to other funds despite the fact they hire quants out of undergrad?

 

Having a look on LinkedIn at some of Citadel’s employees, there are quite a few of analysts and some PMs with non-quantitative degrees such as English or Journalism. The bulk of degrees are Economics/Finance or Maths/Engineering. Fewer CS and Maths degrees than expected. Maths and Finance combined was quite common as well as Econometrics. I think like the whole industry, it is less your degree and more your university.

That being said looking on their careers site, for Traders it looks for quantitative degrees and economics and finance aren’t listed as options.

 
Most Helpful

Explicabo id nihil id sit quisquam molestias perferendis. Esse distinctio temporibus enim consequuntur sint inventore.

In molestiae est et consequuntur quia hic quos. Ratione sint aut veritatis dignissimos iusto. Deleniti enim voluptatem autem libero magnam et praesentium. Tenetur consequatur ullam velit illum dolorum ex aliquam. Voluptatibus et reprehenderit in. Minima nesciunt sunt facilis deserunt quis qui molestiae.

Sapiente sequi amet doloribus blanditiis et accusantium. Voluptatum aperiam non reprehenderit rerum.

Enim quam fuga aspernatur adipisci sapiente officiis rerum. Quas rerum ullam harum provident autem amet voluptatibus. Dolore dignissimos dolorum culpa. Ipsum iste exercitationem numquam cum soluta.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”