Quants cruise hedge funds
Stung by banks' own pricing models, hedge funds and asset managers are hiring quant developers of their own.
Quant developers use IT programs to build a bridge between traders' daily need for pricing and structuring information, and the complex models produced by the front-office quant staff.
Gareth Webb, a consultant at Pathway Finance, which deals with hedge funds and banks, says that pay for quant developers in hedge funds varies widely - from as little as 40k, to as much as 350k+ if the models they're working on bear fruit.
Our own research suggests one City hedge fund is offering upwards of 170k for a quant with C++ skills to work in its fixed income team. Another large hedge fund is willing to pay 80k for a skilled front-office quant developer to specialise in equity derivatives. Candidates are expected to have experience with C++, C#.Net and VBA.
Webb says banks' quant developers are still biting at hedge fund opportunities: "From a client and a candidate perspective, there's no less reliability working for a bank or a hedge fund, and more of the quant clients I've got are more excited by hedge funds and the opportunities to move across [to trading or pure quant roles] once they're in."
