Quant Developer -> Analyst?
I'm a developer working at a top multi-strategy hedge fund (one of DE Shaw/Citadel). My team does not generate alpha, we work on risk models to support quants and traders. How hard is it to pivot from engineering/quant developer to fundamental analyst? I attended a T5 university and have a strong quantitative background, but did not have any exposure to Econ classes in college. I have considered trying to pivot to be a quant at my current company (which isn't an easy task either), but I think long-term I won't be able to survive due to most quants having a lot stronger academic credentials than me.
I'm not trying to look down on fundamental analysts, but I think I might have an edge given my background and might see a faster path to a position with PnL cut. Has anyone done something like this before?
Is a quant developer not considered a quant?
Not an expert, but I think its a lot more likely to transition to being a quant than to being a fundamental research analyst. Even if you don't end up being a great alpha generator, you can still be extremely helpful to your alpha team with your developer skills if all else fails (enabling others to make money). Whereas I'm not sure how that would work on a fundamental team. When you say you won't be able to survive due to most quants having stronger academic credentials, do you mean to say they will always be naturally better at stats and data analysis (the parts you don't necessarily require as a developer), or that you just haven't learned those yet (but you could)? If the latter, I think the transition is possible, you just need to self-teach. I would attempt to be an absolute superstar at your current position, and then you have some leverage within which to negotiate yourself into a better role you want.
One way to get closer to fundamental analysts is data science/ alt data.
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