Algorithmic traders still on the menu

Recruiters say algorithmic traders remain flavour of the month, at both banks and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley is the latest to enter the fray. After making 50 - 60 equity researchers redundant earlier this year, the American bank has now hired Andrew Silverman, former head of algorithmic trading at Goldman Sachs to drive its electronic trading business.

UBS is also looking for a junior quantitative analyst to work on its EMEA algorithmic trading desk. And Hedge funds Cantab Capital Partners and DTG Capital Markets are also in the market for algorithmic trading expertise.

"Pretty much all the banks are hiring algorithmic traders," says Joanna Cohen, a consultant at recruitment firm Huxley Associates. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Citigroup and UBS are open to adding staff opportunistically, she adds.

At the same time, recruiters say the number of equities traders is on its way down. "There is still a need for human beings on the trading desk, but not in the quantity we once saw," says David Korn, European managing director of search firm the Options Group.

Algo pay

Cohen says a junior with a single year's experience can earn 60,000 to 70,000 in total compensation as an algorithmic trader. After two to three years it's normal for algorithmic traders working in a hedge fund environment to share in a percentage of the fund's profits. She says traders at large funds can command 10-15%, those in smaller hedge funds can earn up to 20%.