Standard Chartered and the quant academy

Want to be a quant in an investment bank? Standard Chartered is the place to go.

The bank is set to put between 20 and 30 interns a year through a 'quant academy' to meet growing demand for quantitative specialists in the Far East.

The continuing rapid growth of derivatives products within the region, along with the increasing popularity of ever more complex structured products, have all fuelled demand for quants, according to Benoit-Gilles Cambier, global head of risk management advisory and quant development at Standard Chartered.

The academy will be working with universities in France, India, Singapore and China (see below) but has also agreed a tie-up with the UK's Warwick University.

The three to six-month internships will be located in offices in Singapore, Dubai and London, although the intention is to extend this to Hong Kong as well.

Students will be mentored throughout and complete a practical project to present to the senior quants management team upon completion.

While the bank stresses there is no guarantee of a job at the end of the process, the best will receive a job offer.

"The selected students will receive an offer in one of the following teams: quantitative development, structuring, (exotic) trading, market risk or credit risk," explains bank spokesman Jai Ganesh.

All travelling and housing expenses will be covered by the bank, he adds, and students will get an allowance of US$1k a month to cover living expenses.

The academy was initially launched as a pilot in October last year, and immediately proved popular, receiving more than 150 applications. The first student to complete the internship is now working as an equity derivative quant in Singapore.

Though students can apply from other universities, the bank is collaborating with the following institutions:

· France - Jussieu DEA

· India - IIT Bombay, IIT Madras

· Singapore - National University of Singapore

· China - Fudan University (Shanghai), Xiamen University, Nanjing University.

There is a rolling deadline for applications, with programmes starting in March and September, and interested students should apply to quant.academy@standardchartered.com