Can you explain to me the non-quant role in trading, esp if I have my MSc in Fin (not MFE)?

Excuse my ignorance; I'm a military officer who is currently working on my MSc in Finance; I'll have the academic knowledge to trade swaps, options, MBS, etc; What I want to know is, if I do not want to be a quant, how does this work for me in the trading world? I'm going to be making a transition to the trading/banking world in the next couple of years.

Obviously I have to have some level of competency in math but is it really necessary to take linear algebra, ODE, PDE, Bayesian inference and regression and more? And I certainly don't want to teach myself OCAML; is it necessary I learn VBA?

From my coursework, I'll have at least the basics of option pricing, focusing on the binomial and Black-Scholes models, Option trading strategies such as bull and bear spreads, straddles, strangles, income securities, including zero coupon bonds, floating rate instruments and inflation indexed bonds, asset backed securities, structured notes, collateralized mortgage obligations, and the use of interest rate swaps in hedging, Multiple Regression, all the Markowitz and CAPM stuff, some elements of behavioral finance, fundamental valuation of debt and equity, and foreign exchange, Eurodollars, equity markets, bond markets, futures and forward markets and options, forecasting, hedging, diversification, and asset pricing in a multi-currency environment.

Thanks in advance...

 
Best Response
jackstone:
; What I want to know is, if I do not want to be a quant, how does this work for me in the trading world? I'm going to be making a transition to the trading/banking world in the next couple of years.

Obviously I have to have some level of competency in math but is it really necessary to take linear algebra, ODE, PDE, Bayesian inference and regression and more? And I certainly don't want to teach myself OCAML; is it necessary I learn VBA?

Thanks in advance...

one thanks for your service. with an msc finance you wouldnt be looking at quant jobs in general. you dont "need" the math you mentioned but it doesnt hurt.

i'm not aware of other trading forums besides the quant ones.

 

Thanks for your thanks.

What would be the best avenue for me to try to get a job at one of the bulge brackets? As I said, I still have a couple years left in service commitment.

My Master's program was certainly not at a target but not at an awful school either (luck of the draw with where you're stationed). My undergrad was adequate and has some recruiting. I have a couple buddies in the industry, but the only one I know that works in anything related to trading is a guy at ML who starts his new job on the structured credit support desk (I think?) in the next week.

I've already acknowledged I'll probably have to go back to MBA school for the "pedigree" and networking, even though I know its not necessary for trading, if I want to work for one of the big boys. Would you recommend just floating my resume to all the various shops? I just can't believe anybody would take me without any industry experience, especially since I would be older than their incoming newbies from undergrad.

Thanks again.

 

My 2 cents, just randomly floating your resume to the banks probably isnt gonna get you anywhere. If you can find someone who works at the banks to push for you internally to be given a serious look then your chances go up. In your case i would guess maybe someone with a military background now working in the business. Otherwise just randomly sending your resume out is a crapshoot

 

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