I work as a QD in equities LS pod in top 4 HF. The PM is nice, team is doing reasonably well, but I am nt sure what is the career path for QD? I have 4y in IB (Front office qd) + 3y in HF experience, I dont think I am learning a lot in terms of tech (as we dont use any fancy tech, just plain python). And I have the liberty to work on alpha projects with other QRs in the team, but for future - Do I focus on being a better QD? In a pod I think QD work is mostly mktdata/research pipeline, execution/portfolio management, data cleanup, and then real time risk/pnl monitoring. What kind of comp ceiling I am looking at? Currently I am at about $400k (avg) to $600k (great year) - all in. If I focus on QR stuff - then I feel I will be judged against other QRs, and I know that they have much higher chances of being fired than a QD, while a QR would possibly make $1.5M in a great year if I make $600k. Doesn't sound like worth it to me. Thoughts please?
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How do you go from banking to QD in an L/S pod
Sounds like a very unusual path, were you a CS major?
Yes I was. But why do you think its unusual? I was in FO qd role in bank.
You made it seem like you were an investment banking analyst that’s why above guy thought was weird
Pod blows up being QD is not a safer place to be than QR..
I meant QR can/will get fired for non performance even if the pod continues along.
In my experience, I would say it’s not that QR is more likely to get fired than QD in general, but rather higher paid employees are more likely to get fired if they aren’t pulling their weight.
It's basically the same career growth as tech: a more senior IC or grow into people management.
The skills and knowledge that distinguish a great QD vs a great QR or PM have some overlap but not a ton. You would have higher upside switching but run more risk both in the role itself and the possibility you are not as good at research / trading as you are at coding.
How do I become a more senior IC in a pod? Usually there will be only 1 or 0 QD in a pod.
For senior IC, or people management I probably need to be in centeal teams?
If your pod is successful it will expand and hire more people. WQ and Cubist both started as pods that grew so much they spun out into separate businesses. You can imagine the QDs who were there early found opportunities for career growth no?
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