Power trading in Houston
My background is in HFT, but interested in moving to power trading in Houston. Wondering if anyone could give the lay of the land there, as far as who are the players, and if any shops are interested in pure quant backgrounds.
yes, most shops would be interested in pure quants to some degree. You could add value across all producst FTRs, virtuals, and ICE. May need to overcome a learning curve in terms of the niche power markets/rules but if you have solid data analysis and programming skills it could happen. Some shops to look at in Houston:
EDF Saracen Roscommon DC Energy (DC not Houston) Citi BAML
There a bunch out there just do some searching and you will find shops ranging from prop shops to big asset owners to banks.
Very helpful comment, thanks! I will check out these places. Have any advice for getting a foot in the door? Have sent a few applications, but I think my background is pretty non-standard. Have talked to a few recruiters, but they weren’t really quant-friendly. Have tried DM-ing a couple people on LinkedIn as well.
I'm not sure what your background is but maybe look an quant analyst roles. I think trying to make a jump right into a trading seat maybe be hard but not impossible. The only reason I say this is because the power markets can be extremely niche and detail oriented. I think any role that would allow to work work as an analyst would allow to gain the knowledge necessary. The other way would be go in via a real time desk or scheduler role,on the surface you may be overqualified for those roles but it would definitely help build a solid foundation. Do you know if there is any specific region/product you want to trade? Houston is the Mecca so to speak but there are other areas of the country that have reputable firms.
Thanks again, hadn’t considered the real time route. I don’t have a specific region in mind. have been looking at data for FTR’s and virtuals and trying to develop an algorithmic strategy on my own as a way to gain experience. I suppose it’s conceivable that if something looks good I might try it on my own or try to find an investor, although I am sure it would be better to have some experience on a desk first. Already in Houston and would like to stay, which is how I started looking at power in first place.
I hav a math background and have been a quant analyst for equities, so quant analyst probably would make sense for entry level, although ideally I would prefer to trade before too long.
You won’t need RT desk experience just apply directly to FTR trading roles
I didn’t read much, but if you are a pure quant, you can jump right into an FTR role if you have a programming background compounded with your mathematics background.
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