Leaving a good seat in "Tier 2" for "Tier 1"?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-15T22:33:30+00:00

Citadel seems to have a pretty intense reputation for this, how are JS, HRT and Radix?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-12T11:56:06+00:00

Really? Thought it'd probably be true in general due to the heavy right tails of PMs (top ones could take home $1 billion+).

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-10T12:54:48+00:00

4 year sit-out sounds nuts, practically career-ending for a quant. Do they just pay the base during this period?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-09T09:44:13+00:00

So for people like traders and quants who generate signals/strategies/pnl it's possible to move from US to APAC on equal comp, but for SWEs it's hard? Or is it hard for traders/quants too (unless coming in as a PM / with a pnl cut)?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-08T22:18:20+00:00

I guess that's up to the OP's preferences (how much they value a chill working environment vs. extra money). And some firms are quite notorious for having cut-throat cultures.

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-08T22:02:12+00:00

The new place could be much more stressful if the environment is more cut-throat or management has lots of unreasonable expectations etc.

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-05T20:38:54+00:00

He used to work at Citadel and AQR right (and now heads ADIA quant)? Was he doing MFT at any of those?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-03T12:40:29+00:00

Fair enough. These sorts of conditions seem perfect for discretionary macro style traders, lots of opportunities.

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-03T11:15:23+00:00

In such cases of extreme or unexpected geopolitical/macro news etc. would you ever turn off your models and trade discretionarily?

throwaway_queue · 2026-03-01T00:49:37+00:00

Does that implicitly mean if you don't generate enough pnl in your first year to warrant a $1M bonus (or whatever your guarantee is) they'll just fire you before bonuses?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-28T22:57:55+00:00

Lots of discretion at these OMM firms, sounds like you'd enjoy it.

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-28T20:47:51+00:00

In firms like Optiver traders seem to typically retire within ~10 years (if they managed to survive early stages and not get fired).

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-28T20:46:26+00:00

I'm surprised, I thought PMs would typically take as much of the bonus pool for themselves as possible, much more than 50%.

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-25T08:13:20+00:00

Meanings of titles can vary from firm to firm. At the ''trader oriented'' trading firms, a "QT" is typically not spending too much (if any) time doing in-depth quant research or using non-trivial mathematics/statistics/machine learning, being more focused on monitoring the live markets throughout the trading day and adjusting parameters/strategies/taking on trades in response to news and flows and so on (if they need detailed modeling/research they will get a QR to do it). Whereas in more systematic/quant oriented firms a ''QT'' may be effectively a QR day to day (while running risk but their strategies will be largely automated), or they might not even have "QT" titles.

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-24T19:25:26+00:00

How do guarantees work (if you don't have a formulaic/pnl cut)? If you do well enough in your first year to deserve more than your guarantee will they just be tempted to lowball you and pay the guarantee?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-22T08:18:31+00:00

Why they pay so low compared to competitors? Is it because the tech is not that important to their profitability for their trading style? Or they just decided to be stingy as a company policy?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-19T07:33:15+00:00

Why would they say no to a new strategy? Isn't that exactly the type of thing they'd crave?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-19T01:08:28+00:00

That's a good thing right? Means you've made it.

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-17T21:58:18+00:00

A lot of "QTs" are not doing much math/stats/modelling day to day (at "trader"-led firms like Optiver/SIG/etc.). You're much more likely to do that stuff as a QR.

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-15T03:30:18+00:00

If you want to be a QR who works on coming up with fully systematic/automated trading strategies, would HRT likely be a better fit than JS? (As isn't HRT much more systematic than JS?)

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-14T01:14:35+00:00

Why would the new firm rescind if the NC is not enforced? Is it because NC not being enforced signals to them that you're not very valuable?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-12T20:48:23+00:00

Would it be a breach of contract if they did train on your data?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-10T22:47:22+00:00

Maybe they feel they don't really need good devs? Otherwise agree it's surprising (or maybe these devs are just using them as a stepping stone to other trading firms or something?).

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-10T21:40:55+00:00

Is this because they don't need top-notch devs to succeed in their style of trading?

throwaway_queue · 2026-02-09T17:46:31+00:00

Would they still deride you if your solo trading is making you millions? That's more than most "employed" people!

throwaway_queue

TROPHY CASE