business insider article reactions. Computers have won!

Thoughts on this article by business insider? http://www.businessinsider.com/quant-funds-domina…

I know there is a lot of experienced individuals in the trading and sales industry on this forum and I'm wondering what is your reaction to this article? What do you think the future of the trading industry holds? What is important for someone wanting to be in the industry in five years? What should he focus on learning to stand out?

6 Comments
 
Best Response

They publish an article with basically the same title / content every few months it seems...

It's no surprise that these funds and firms are outperforming. I wouldn't necessarily have chosen the same title but my conclusion would be similar. I think it's more apt to say that the smart guys are winning.

The guys who took the quant approach a decade ago are now riding a self-reinforcing wave because they have the ability to pay for the smartest guys to maintain the most competitive computing systems.

In regards to the future, you'll likely find that trading will continue to become much more of a quantitative, algorithmic space and a handful of firms/funds will capture the majority of edge available through a combination of clever tactics and exceptional computing systems that cost too much for an outsider to build and maintain. If you want to be competitive (or remain viable...) you'll have to be comfortable creating value in that sort of environment.

 

Like the guy above said, these articles get recycled every year. Finance (read: trading) isn't the only industry in the world where automation and computerization is a trend. Transportation is a clear example of this.

Being technically literate is important moving forward. This doesn't mean you have to be able to write in assembly or create C++ engines from scratch, but having a general feel for technology will separate those who know what's going on and those who don't.

I think a lot of people get too caught up in the binary of "technical/quant" and "not-technical/quant". At the end of the day, you'll need to know at least enough technically so you don't get played by your developers (happens all the time at large tech firms to "product/project managers" (aka people who can't code). But at the same time, very rarely will a pure developer ever rise high enough on the ladder to be in a position of command. Even as more things get automated, someone still has to decide how/where/when they do, and technical people aren't known for their ability to grasp the big picture.

 

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