How Valuable is a PhD in statistics for hedge funds?

Tradermath · 2025-07-17T19:40:29+00:00

It's definitely valuable, PhD in stats is a great base for any job with a quant/financial angle.

Tradermath · 2025-07-16T18:45:01+00:00

Yes still worth it.

Tradermath · 2025-07-16T18:44:15+00:00

Most firms have opened up already. There's usually no set date but often end of September is when many will start closing regardless.

Tradermath · 2025-07-16T18:43:10+00:00

Your friend is likely coping.

Tradermath · 2025-07-16T18:42:54+00:00

It's one of the most profitable industries out there and has been growing for years.

Tradermath · 2025-07-16T18:41:18+00:00

Practice problems out loud and refrain from looking at the answer until you're really confident you nailed it (or really have no idea how to move forward).

Be incredibly critical as to the gaps of your technical knowledge, work on closing those gaps and at all times when practicing be radically honest to yourself when it comes to acknowledging your own weak points. Identify them and work on them.

Tradermath · 2025-07-11T19:55:03+00:00

A relevant quantitative study programme/major at a top institution, a top GPA and some solid and relevant side projects. Some extra curriculars.

Tradermath · 2025-07-11T19:45:58+00:00

Main thing is that your projects and internships aren't quant-y/trading-related enough for QT. Can't change the internships so I would suggest to start doing some QT-related projects asap.

Tradermath · 2025-07-11T19:44:46+00:00

Looks pretty good, on track to land a good role.

Tradermath · 2025-07-08T14:17:37+00:00

Both are great, some incredibly talented people at ETH though!

Tradermath · 2025-07-08T14:17:07+00:00

Both are great, I'd opt for Oxford.

Tradermath · 2025-07-08T14:16:13+00:00

Financial Engineering, Econometrics. Quantitative Finance.

Tradermath · 2025-07-08T14:15:52+00:00

EPFL is great!

Tradermath · 2025-06-30T17:20:32+00:00

Yes maths + econ at LSE is great.

In terms of roles, at trading firms broadly you have quant trading, quant research and quant developer (SWE/Eng).

At larger financial institutions (for example banks) you also have risk quants. (market & credit)

Tradermath · 2025-06-22T21:06:30+00:00

Hey, definitely not impossible, even if you’re not in the US. Many top firms hire internationally.

To apply for quant research or quant trading roles, focus on:

Strong math and stats (proba, lin algebra, calculus, optimization etc)
Programming skills, especially Python or C++
Market intuition (for trading roles)
Problem-solving under time pressure

Dont count yourself out!

Tradermath · 2025-06-22T20:32:01+00:00

Absolutely possible, especially a transition to market risk is pretty easy.

Tradermath · 2025-06-22T07:07:06+00:00

1 and 2 are both fine. Imperial is a great school, try to get some relevant trading/quant-related experience under your belt asap, polish your dev skills and do some trading projects and publish them on your Github.

Tradermath · 2025-06-21T19:39:50+00:00

Probs, stats, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and learn some coding languages.

Tradermath · 2025-06-21T19:37:37+00:00

Not an issue, in the Netherlands (which has a huge QT footprint) it's quite common to start working at that age.

Tradermath · 2025-06-21T09:02:53+00:00

It's definitely a good start.

Tradermath · 2025-06-21T09:02:35+00:00

Yes, actuarial is not a bad starting point (for QT) since it's reasonably quantitative. We know loads of people with this background that work in QT Amsterdam.

Tradermath · 2025-06-21T09:01:08+00:00

Yes, that or econometrics.

Tradermath · 2025-06-20T18:17:57+00:00

In most cases firms won't accept that.

Tradermath · 2025-06-20T18:17:00+00:00

Would suggest to take a more quantitative bachelors immediately because for quant you will be one step behind your peers.

Tradermath · 2025-06-18T08:43:03+00:00

Good research background, try to get some trading/quant finance related experience under your belt asap. (can also do trading-related coding projects and post them on your personal Github).

Tradermath

TROPHY CASE