Quant hiring not quashed

Quant strategies may have performed badly in recent weeks, but recruiters say Scottish funds' demand for quants remains robust.

Paul Travers, a senior consultant at recruitment firm Morgan McKinley, says Scots fund managers' demand for quant analysts is higher than ever before. Andrew Welsh, senior consultant on the investment banking desk at recruiter Joslin Rowe, says investors seeking downside protection "when markets go belly up" mean risk analysts now accompany fund managers to pitches. And Marcel Grant, team leader at recruiter Poolia, says modellers increasingly work alongside the dealing team to make sure risk is assessed in real time.

This is despite the value of quant funds such as Goldman Sachs' Global Equity Opportunities (GEO) fund, JPMorgan's Highbridge Capital Management, and New York's Tykhe Capital, plummeting during recent weeks' credit crisis.

Travers says Scotland-based quant analysts with two years' experience can earn 50k a year plus a 50- 100% bonus. With five years' experience they command 80k a year or more with a similar bonus.

He adds the shortage in Scotland is such that only 50% of risk analyst roles are being filled locally with the rest being met from China and Eastern Europe.