Meet a Quantitative Researcher

What did you concentrate on/research during your doctoral program?

I studied Operations Research in graduate school and focused on mathematical modeling and data analysis. Finance is a natural application of that.

What made you decide to join our team?

The people I met during the interview process. I met people who were smart, and also very respectful. They were willing to discuss ideas in a professional way, whether they agreed or disagreed with them.

What do you like most about Quantitative Research at SIG?

The people – I think we have some of the best minds working at SIG. The QR team has a diversified background. If you’re interested in some technical area, it’s very likely you’ll be able to find a person to get a one hour overview and feel like you gained some insight into the area.

What is unique about your current role?

I feel a lot of freedom in the team. For example, the business managers respect my opinion on what are the key areas to work on. I am encouraged by the QR team to pursue the approaches I think are most promising. I participate in decisions very close to trading, but I can also sit back and focus on long term projects that I’m interested in. At times, I’m running between urgent things, but there are also times I can read a paper and explore an idea.

We talk a lot about teamwork and collaboration at SIG. Where do you see this demonstrated in your current role?

It’s demonstrated in every piece of work I do. My work builds on ideas, results, and code pieces of my colleagues. I share with my colleagues if I have worked out something exciting and that could be of potential use to them, and vice versa.

If you were speaking with someone who was considering SIG, what would you say?

SIG is a place you can grow with and build a career. People are patient and invest their time and knowledge in you. My manager is always super busy, but whenever I want to learn a subject, he’s willing to sit down with me and explain from the very basics.

In your opinion, what is the best perk we offer?

The fitness classes; I’ve tried most of them. I like the Total Body Fitness class and the trainer, and am now training with her as my personal coach.

Walk us through a typical day in your life.

My days start by checking emails to make sure production jobs run smoothly before market opens. The rest of the day could include coding, monitoring strategy live performance, fixing emergency issues, deriving math formulas, reading academic papers and commercial reports, reviewing results with another quant, brainstorming with traders on signals, or going through system setup with technologists.

What is your favorite thing about the Philadelphia area?

Philadelphia offers the right balance for me. The city is very vibrant and offers rich cultural experiences, and the suburbs are great for family life.