Individual Retail Quant

[MrGoat]

Hi, is it possible to be a successful individual retail quant just trading my own money? I am not looking to join a firm , just interested in trading my own money. If so, where/how do I start ? What books / research papers should I read ?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yes, there are million of retail traders/investors created during the Covid boom with the help of platform like Robinhood.
For a more complex strategies, people don't usually trade solo since the capital and research involved to generate idea, backtest, execute in enormous.
There are plenty of platforms that will allow you to test your idea and strategies. One is QuantConnect.
They have discord channels that you can share your idea with.
I would start by learning coding in Python/C++ and learn how to work with databases such as SQL, etc.

 

[cypriancapital]

I'd highly recommend:
The Market Structure Crisis by Haim Bodek
Dynamic Hedging by Taleb
Fortune's Formula by Poundstone
FAQ in Quantitative Finace by Wilmott
Inside The Blackbox by Narang

and absolutely everything and anything that you can get your hands on by John G Taylor (truly under appreciated genius). I'm on the same journey myself, feel free to reach out

 

[MrGoat]

Yes, there are million of retail traders/investors created during the Covid boom with the help of platform like Robinhood.
For a more complex strategies, people don't usually trade solo since the capital and research involved to generate idea, backtest, execute in enormous.
There are plenty of platforms that will allow you to test your idea and strategies. One is QuantConnect.
They have discord channels that you can share your idea with.
I would start by learning coding in Python/C++ and learn how to work with databases such as SQL, etc.

Hi , how much capital do you think is needed to develop more complex strategies ? I just want something that works on a smaller capital base, since I am not going to be joining a firm .

 

[MikeLawrence]

Hi , how much capital do you think is needed to develop more complex strategies ?

You don't need insane capital to develop the strategies, maybe a couple ten thousand for a good dataset but that's not the biggest issue.

The problem is having a big enough bankroll to implement proper risk management and bet sizing. I've heard ~1.5mm is the minimum.

But on top of that you do have to factor in datasets and some other things I don't know enough to name.