Hedge funds want to hire technologists with gaming and research backgrounds

Hedge funds are still hiring technologists, more IT professionals within investment banks want to make the switch across...but hedge funds are increasingly recruiting from outside the financial sector.

If you're a developer working on a cutting edge trading platform in an investment bank, and think that you'll be able to apply your skills in a (potentially more lucrative) role in a hedge fund, you could be sorely disappointed.

More hedge funds are looking for developers with non-finance experience; people who may have worked in gaming, research or even the telecoms industry.

"By looking outside of the finance sector, hedge funds are able to access very credible technologists, with experience developing sophisticated algorithms or real time applications, often for a fraction of the price they would pay for people making a sideways move from another fund," says Nick Finlay, head of investment management at Hays Finance Technology.

For computing graduates, working for a gaming company is particularly alluring, he says, and they tend to attract the brightest candidates. After undergoing training and gaining valuable experience, hedge funds are then able to lure them out with lucrative packages.

Developers working for gaming companies earn an average of 35-45k, suggest recruiters, so the prospect of moving to a hedge fund - where base salaries alone come in at 70-80k - is an appealing prospect.

However, securing a technology role in a hedge fund is no easy task. The roles are often heavily quantitative, so as well as the technical skills - the primary programming language is usually C++ or Java - hedge funds demand exemplary academics, and often a Masters or PhD.

On the research side, it's also not unusual for hedge funds to have close links to academia to ensure that they have access to some of the best burgeoning quantitative finance expertise.

Man Group, for example, houses some of its AHL research team in its Oxford-based Man Research Laboratory along with students of the Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance, which was established in 2007. This means employees of the firm are located alongside academics and students of the university.

Obviously not all of these employees will be working on technology projects, but trading and execution platforms are developed by its research team in London and Oxford, which has increased in size to 95 people this year.

As one of the most technology-reliant hedge funds, AHL has always recruited from more eclectic backgrounds. Last year, it hired Dr Wayne Glanfield, who previously worked on building high performing computer facilities for Formula One, and its tech team comprise ex-lawyers, bio-informaticians and even some people with a classics background.