which career is more lucrative and likely to be lucrative
Being a quant researcher/trader or working in private equity/investment banking Yes I know they have different applicant pool but I just want to know and also if you have to be naturally born gifted to have a good career in quantative finance than traditional or you can learn it like having a bachelor's and masters in a math/cs/stats Or if you aren't naturally a genius you would never make more than a person in ib/pe even if you prefer the work way more I definitely prefer more technical work than sales or making PowerPoints but it just seems out of my reach not making significantly less money doing so
Dependent on many factors, out of the gate quant finance and it’s not even close. Longer timeline and it becomes a skill (quant) vs origination/sales debate. The top IB guys bring in deals like a mofo and can make upwards of 10m, for PE the partners with carry can rack in 35m+. The truly exceptional and smart people in quant finance literally can make 50m+ and that pathway is not dependent on your networking/sales skill.
Overall between the 2 quants the better gig for 1-5% of the population of canidates vs IB it’s just a can you survive, and PE it’s can you last long enough to make equity partner or large carry
I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be top Md or pms or partners so those 35 10 50m numbers are definitely out of reach what about the median or avg?
pointless to give averages as everything is case by case and relationship by relationship. Generally your coverage MD's average a million or 2, other products besides M&A likely lower, and Rx much higher. Post taxes, expenses etc. MD's are not balling out rich tbh, PE its much more of a luck game ie. did fund perform well and could you realize carry (can you even make partner and have generous founders). Quant is super blackbox with salary but you cant be average or you just get fired, 99% its multiples higher than MFPE partners.
Bro how many of these posts are you going to make? There is no such thing as an average QR or QT if the firm pays more than IB/PE. Its like asking what is the case for an average NBA player - everyone in the NBA is top 0.00001 percentile.
If you are not smart enough for QT/QR then ur not. You cant even get in to these QR/QT firms if you are just some average guy. I go to one of the best STEM schools in likely the entire world and all of the big tech and quant finance firms come to campus to recruit. Even then the number of quants we produce each year is prob less than 20.
Btw not sure if you realized but the number of top PE seats open to recruitment each year is less than 200 and it is chased by people from top schools and at top groups in top firms. If you are asking questions like this I would recommend taking a look at Big 4. You can find people of your caliber there who spend their day asking hypotheticals like this.
Who hurt you bro? I’m just reposting until I get reply’s because over half of my posts only get that annoying monkey bot
Honestly I think already got enough info from people actually in the career so I don’t know why I’m posting in a ib forum getting replies from people with no credibility whatsoever
You're not going to get accurate answers about the quantitative industry in an IB forum. Most of these people have giant lack of knowledge of the industry. They spew the same nonsense like “it's completely talent based” which I truly believe is just them trying to cope not trying other industries beforehand.
However, can you become a researcher or trader without being extremely smart? Yes, and probably make more than bankers. Will you make 8 figures? Very likely you won't. From what I can see from your other posts, you prefer more technical roles, so I would recommend not being a banker overall. Even if you make slightly less, be happy you didn't have to work more than 50 hours for at least a decade.
The competitiveness of getting into a high paying quantitative firm is about the same as becoming a analyst at bb. It’s just one focused their education on technical skills and another on networking and sales. Im always confused on when people who don’t even work quantitative roles always have to say how impossible it is to succeed and get into a big firm unless you are a math genius. I don’t know what op isn’t asking these questions on an actual quantitative forum where the answers are more accurate. To answer Op if you pursue a stat/cs/math bachelors and masters at a target school you will have a likely chance to be at a ib/pe level or higher paying firm
Honestly, quantitative finance seems like it has potential, but I’d view it from the lens from starting a fund rather than being a quant trader. That being said, if you have the drive to have a career in PE and rise to the top you will do very well.
The reality of ‘which career’ can be next to meaningless. The tides shift with time. Frankly, if you’re good at sales and developing relationships you could become a financial advisors and hit the 7 figures quickly as well (odds are against you vs the others but I’d plausible).
One thing I’ve observed is starting your own company is a great way to get rich. I know people who make high 6 to 7 figures annually with no degree but started a company in a space that I’d never correlate with making one wealthy.
I definitely would prefer being a quant but is it true you have to be naturally very smart in math to have a successful career relatively compared to traditional finance roles
Yes. You have to be a VERY exceptional mathematical thinker to even be considered. The mathematical understanding that is required is on a entirely different level; in IB/PE you just have to be 'good with numbers', but at the end of the day it's simple arithmetic. In QR/QT, even if the actual math is not complex, your mathematical/ quantitative intuition needs to be top tier --- this is why everyone in the industry has been a math prodigy since they could read.
So just to be brutally honest, based on how stupid you sound in this post, your previous post, and all your replies, you do not have a snowballs chance in hell with ANY of the careers you are considering. You are currently the homeless guy pondering if you want your mansion to have one or two pools -- you have bigger fish to fry my friend.
I would just suggest anything quant heavy takes a rare talent, but is likely to be replaced by AI (ironic) as the tech gets smarter. Will always need some humans to create but that number will diminish over time. Sales on the other hand is highly relationship, soft skill based which typically requires human interaction.
Damn
False 1. if you have a math focused education at a top 20 school you would have a good chance in succeeding and getting into a big firm unless you fuck up the interview badly.
2. the intelligence needed to succeed as a researcher or trader is very overblown by people not in the industry
3. Quant traders, developers and researchers getting replaced is very inaccurate who do you think are making and using the algo models??
Based on your writing skills you aren’t smart enough to be good in either path
Hey man, post this for the 9th time and maybe you’ll get the answer you’re looking for!
While you’re drafting the next post, would recommend you Google what periods are and where they go in sentences.
They probably made a new post while you were writing this
Sister works at a commodity hedge fund (both systematic and fundamental) and judging by what she says and the company filings that are publicly available (UK), the PMs must be taking home multiple tens of millions a year considering how little she makes (one of 35 employees) compared with how much the company made in 2021-2022 (£170+ million according to Companies House).
Performance hasn't been that good since then but for the number of employees, the pay per PM must be fairly incredible.
Gunvor?
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