Quant Market

[parisjohn]

Finance jobs, banking jobs, recruitment in investment banking & in the financial markets

 

[Roger Trimble]

Nothing like a good silver lining to light the way... Apparently, according to the comments, there are many different ways to write "Burn in hell." That's got to be worth something.

On a constructive note: I wonder if the market is any better right now for new MBA's in finance? Talk smack about quants all you want, but I find it hard to believe having a working knowledge of maths and how they relate to finance will be a sin when the dust settles.

 

[Roger Trimble]

I thought this link might bring some insight to our financial woes. Just substitute "the quants" for "Canada"...

YouTube - South Park Uncut - Song - Blame Canada

 

[doug reich]

"Bern in hell?" That one was stretching it a little.

I think what makes things difficult to see a way out for quants as opposed to MBAs who are competing for analyst jobs is that there is an 90-year-old path for MBA-types into banks; the quant track is 20 years old and has never suffered this kind of crisis before. (1987 and 1998 were disasters averted for the profession, remarkably.) On the other hand, as you point out MBAs can't fill the roles that exist, and can't analyze the instruments that are out there today.

In short, both groups are suffering, and, as I said elsewhere, people like to draw straight lines (even when they stop making any sense).

 

[Andy Nguyen]

We all should take things in perspective. Better things are ahead of us. Others have it worse

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A jobless Taiwan man released from prison two years ago asked police to send him back so he could eat, police and local media said Tuesday, a grim sign of hard economic times on the island.

When police found the 45-year-old convicted arsonist lying on a street in a popular Taipei shopping district, he requested a return to life behind bars, nostalgic for the 10 years he had already served, the China Post newspaper reported.

Wang had also contacted police separately with his request, a spokesman said. Officers who found him bought him a boxed lunch but declined to send him back to prison, the police spokesman said.

"We advised him to keep looking for work," he said. "I don't know why he can't find a job. Maybe employers think he's not suitable or that he's too old."

Taiwan is in recession, with a slump in exports leading a record economic contraction in the fourth quarter of last year. Economists see more weakness through most of 2009, given falling demand for Taiwan's electronics goods in overseas markets.

 

[Stefan Zota]

This is an opinion of the author, basically starting from a conclusion and trying to put down 1, 2 arguments. The arguments are significantly weaker than a 4.0 analytical section for GRE.
The conclusions are skewed. Recruiters are actually saying there are a few places to work even now and they are NOT saying there is 0 future.

In the end, it does not really matter what an article would say. Very few people, either recruiters, managers, employers, prospective quants will take decisions using this information. Will see in 3-5 years if pricing financial instruments is still needed.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Keep in mind this is efinance news for you. A few writers there contribute to most of the pieces and they tend to quote from a select few "sources". Look at the comment section there and one tends to think of it as a gossip site, not a news site.

 

[knocks]

I'd like to posit another perspective;

Throughout history, scientists, academics, and other experts have never actually gained control of leadership positions. In fact, the leader of an organization/government/entity is almost always NOT the smartest or most technically competent individual in that group. This makes me believe that somehow MBAs will still retain the high-paying, management roles despite the fact in many cases they lack an understanding of the very products they are supposed to manage. Whether they are called MBAs or its some other hot new degree is uncertain.

Disclaimer: Not saying anything against MFEs or Quants in particular, just suggesting another opinion for conversational purposes.