Careers at BB with a math background (but no PhD and almost no programming skills)

Hi, I'm a math major in college and I'm wondering where math grads are typically placed. Here is what I have heard and I would appreciate if someone who is really aware of this topic could tell me whether I got this right or not:
- if an advanced degree (e.g. a math or statistics phd or a master's in something like financial mathematics or quantitative finance), then quant roles
- if a regular bachelor's, it depends
- often risk management
- if computer science skills in addition (e.g. thorough comp sci minor), then often technology/ software development department
- often investment research (it may not require too much math, but math major are considered analytic and smart)
- trading (that I know for sure, as a grad of my university with a math bachelor is now a fixed income trader at GS)
- investment banking strats (although i dont know what that is admittedly. I know investment banking (ecm, dcm, leveraged finance, m&a and so), but i dont know what strats is supposed to mean

thanks a lot for any help!

4 Comments
 

I think you've got it fairly correct for the most part. Though CS majors from top universities can go into anything for the most part. I've seem them in trading, research and even banking.

Strats is not as quantitative as typical quant finance, but definitely more quantitative than banking. They tend to hire PhD in Finance as researchers. They tend to provide capital structure advice to Company, advise them how to hedge risk, take advantage of pricing mismatches etc. They don't really have clients directly, but depend on the deal flow that banking brings for the most part.

 
oliver13I think you've got it fairly correct for the most part. Though CS majors from top universities can go into anything for the most part. I've seem them in trading, research and even banking.

Strats is not as quantitative as typical quant finance, but definitely more quantitative than banking. They tend to hire PhD in Finance as researchers. They tend to provide capital structure advice to Company, advise them how to hedge risk, take advantage of pricing mismatches etc. They don't really have clients directly, but depend on the deal flow that banking brings for the most part.

thank you! strats sounds interesting

 
Best Response

I don't have much experience in this area, but the summer after my sophomore year I was interning in NYC and I lived in an EHS dorm in the city. I had a double, so I was paired with a random roommate. The kid was a strat intern at GS, and he really enjoyed his work. He liked his group, did well, and despite his decently long hours seemed very pleased with his summer. It was also the summer after his sophmore year, and he accepted the offer to go back for a second internship on his last day of the summer. I think he is there full-time now.

Anyways, I know it's second hand knowledge, but the only person I know to have worked in strat really liked it, for whatever it's worth.

I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
 

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