Does UBS really oversee $2 trillion or is it a mistake? Further in the article it says that $1.5b is managed by quants. That is a very low proportion.
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Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
31–40 of 46 posts
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#32We are hiring quants. They make pictures we give to some of our clients. We have even been able to hire women.
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#33To design/develop more trading algorithms :)
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#34Is "quant" finance industry jargon? I picked up the meaning from reading the article but I'm not familiar with the term.
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#35Is "quant" finance industry jargon? I picked up the meaning from reading the article but I'm not familiar with the term.
Quant-itative analyst. Yes, industry jargon.
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#36I have a phone interview for a quant position in Goldman's Strats. Tips?
what is your academic background? do you know which strats group?
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#37Is "quant" finance industry jargon? I picked up the meaning from reading the article but I'm not familiar with the term.
Quant-itative analyst. Yes, industry jargon.
Even worse, some banks use the initials "QA" for the function, completely ignoring the idea that those initials already have a meaning in software development.
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#38The problem is that physicists and mathematicians write the worst code I have ever seen in my entire life, and I've been programming for 30+ years. To those people, everything is a single threaded, algorithmic problem, even when it is crystal clear to a formally trained programmer that using a well thought out data structure is the correct thing to do[1][2].
For example, they managed to break my Vertica database from delivering instant results (something it is explicitly designed for in "big data" scenarios) to running 18+ hours for a single SQL query.
[1] Rule of Representation: Fold knowledge into data, so program logic can be stupid and robust.
http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html#id2878...
[2] Rule of Robustness: Robustness is the child of transparency and simplicity.
http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html#id2878...
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Me too. Looks like it's been used for a while but I never saw until this week and this was the second time I saw it. Sounds derogatory.
Quants are the guys who run the math so that the bat-wielding psychopaths that are traders don't accidentaly shoot their feet off. They usually have PHDs. They have some prestige on the trading floor. Edit: They don't literally have bats, you guys. But when the guy who's paying you ~250K a year looks over your shoulder and asks for a risk report, the effect is more or less the same.
Actually some of them do have bats. And most, if not all of them are sociopaths in addition to being pathological psychopaths, which tends to manifest itself in the deep financial crisis we have been experiencing for a decade and a half now. A lot of people with those disorders end up in management, especially upper and middle management. This appears to be due to the sociopathic pathology and high social intelligence.
Apparently it is not yet widely accepted that sociopaths or psychopaths, or persons with both disorders should not be the decision makers, let alone leaders; not only is that not the state of affairs yet, but these people usually cower everyone else and thus come into leadership positions. Why this is tolerated and accepted, I cannot comprehend. I for one fight and oppose them at every turn and opportunity, because I will not accept fallacies, will not accept subjugation, and will not be cowered into obedience; only logic works with me.
30,000 years ago groups of prehistoric humans had communities no larger than 30 because that was about the maximum that the hunting-gathering methodology could support while maintaining coherence. It is noteworthy that sociopaths would usually be expelled from such groups, and that they would not have more than one or two psychopaths in the group, whose function was primarily to hunt and fend off enemies, not lead the group.
Where I read that, I don't remember, but considering the sociopathic psychopaths I have to deal with on a daily basis, it makes perfect sense to me why prehistoric groups of humans did that. Once I read that, the proverbial light bulb went off, as they say.
Somehow, we have gone from that working model to a model where a psychopath, a sociopath, or a combination of both becoming a leader is actually promoted as a role model, something to aspire to, and appreciated by the society at large.
SEE ALSO
http://leedanielhughes.blogspot.com/2013/08/psychopathy-capi...
Re: Why UBS Is Hiring So Many Quants
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quants are the guys who run the math so that the bat-wielding psychopaths that are traders don't accidentaly shoot their feet off. They usually have PHDs. They have some prestige on the trading floor. Edit: They don't literally have bats, you guys. But when the guy who's paying you ~250K a year looks over your shoulder and asks for a risk report, the effect is more or less the same.
I've noticed that on trading floors. Why do traders keep bats at their desks? Are they actually intimating threats of violence to support staff who are stuck on the floor dealing with them?
Yes. It's a passive-aggressive tactic of a veiled threat.
However, the logical among you will realize, over time, that those people are insecure weaklings and that they are bluffing. They are basically child bullies dressed in suits and wearing ties.
Once confronted, they will attempt to outwit their opponent until faced with undeniable facts. When this happens, they break down. It also seems to be a rite of passage for anyone dealing with them, otherwise they show no respect.