Is it relatively difficult to become an MD as a quant developer?

[goldmanta]

I'll be working at a bulge bracket bank as a technology analyst when I graduate and I'm steered more towards the development side for the foreseeable future. I find a lot of profiles on LinkedIn for managing directors in quantitative research, portfolio management, trading, etc. But I couldn't find "quantitative developer MD". Although some of them were developers in the past, they don't work in a "developer" role right now. This kind of makes sense, since developers are further from the money than the ones I've listed.

First Question: should a quant developer aspiring to become an MD try to transition into a research/trading/management role?

Second Question: Do quants have similar career hierarchies as their bankers (analyst->associate->vp->md)?

 

[mfegrad]

1) why do you want to become an MD? i'd think that it makes more sense to do what you want to do and continue along that career path than to switch to something else just because it has a shiny title.

2) yes.

people skills are what will help you move forward. the problem is that too many devs a) don't have the correct people skills (due to being introverted or whatever) and b) don't understand the business or products. those that do are rare, indeed, and should rise (relatively) quickly.

 

[goldmanta]

hey guy, thanks for the input.

I would really enjoy developing, but I'd also like to make more money. I'm not purely motivated by the income, but that's definitely a huge motivating factor for me. So my rationale for wanting to become an MD is to make more money.. quant developers seem to cap out at a certain level in terms of salary and I suppose that may indeed be due to their lack of soft skills.

But what you said interests me: that those who do have (a) and (b) are rare and that they should rise relatively quickly.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

So my rationale for wanting to become an MD is to make more money

You become MD because you make more money for your employer by bringing more revenue, business, profit, etc. It can be rationalized that since developers are not business facing, they are not bringing revenues as other units.
With this in mind, can you plan your road to MD from a developer? I know a lot of people got stuck at VP levels for years.

 

[goldmanta]

Yeah, that is exactly what my idea was. It didn't seem very easy to plan out a road map for becoming an MD, because developers are simply seen as a means to an end.

One area that I thought might work out is being a developer who contributes well in the electronic trading arm of the company, because HFT/automated trading is just so ingrained with software development. But even then, developers are simply implementation specialists of what the researchers say.. So perhaps being a developer and transitioning into a more "Computer Sciencey" type research role is the best way to get in.

Since how the market is right now is very different from how it will be ten years from now, I think it's way too hard to try and create a detailed roadmap. But what I can get from this discussion is the fact that I shouldn't restrict myself to just the maths involved in quantitative development, but try to broaden my horizons in either Computer Science (algorithms, HPC, etc.) or economic intuition (financial economics/theory, quant research, etc.). The bank that I will be working for seems to be open to letting workers contribute to different areas as long as they can make well on their responsibilities.

 

[pruse]

Why would anyone care for a title? Why not instead care about being a good human being? Then the title might come. Not holding my breath though.

 

[goldmanta]

You guys have really helped me to realize that my thought process is all wrong. I've already gotten into this bank at this point and I really enjoy development. I can see that I'll still be able to make a handsome living (not necessarily super rich) by working as a quant developer at this firm. It might be a little naive of me to think this at this point, but I could really see myself just working at the same first for the next two decades :D

 

[mfegrad]

assuming you meant same firm, and that's great. that's what you want. if you put your head down, work hard, enjoy your work, and are good to the people around you (while showing leadership and an increasing knowledge base), good things will come.

 

[Tom Maloney]

But even then, developers are simply implementation specialists of what the researchers say

Why not do both (research and development)? To me, bridging the gap between creating an idea and executing it is the essence of being a quant: being able to understand the math, models, how to hedge in your model, etc. AND being able to code it up. You may enjoy and be more talented at programming, but you'll be far better off if you understand what you're implementing.

 

[goldmanta]

Why not do both (research and development)? To me, bridging the gap between creating an idea and executing it is the essence of being a quant: being able to understand the math, models, how to hedge in your model, etc. AND being able to code it up. You may enjoy and be more talented at programming, but you'll be far better off if you understand what you're implementing.

I think that's correct. Much of what I'm saying is based so much on my imagination that I forget that quant developer can be a part of researching, especially if he becomes apart of developing for research. Since the firm that I'll be working at offers tuition reimbursement, I'll probably find a way to undergo continuous education in order to avoid be just a developer.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Stop obsessing about becoming and MD. Worry about making it to Associate.