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Cuchulainn
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Joined: July 16th, 2004, 7:38 am
Location: 20, 000

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 7:09 am

course in any of the c's (c, c++, c# etc.) would probably be more beneficial, if you don't want to just price/hedge derivatives - which is also great fun, then econ would be a great asset imho.You should also include high C and C major.
 
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DominicConnor
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Joined: July 14th, 2002, 3:00 am

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 8:01 am

0.2- 0.35 M$ is indeed higher than average in the USA but that's not the right comparison.And yes, to many people in this game $200K is not seen as high.The talents necessary to make in in quant work are useful in many industries, so you should be comparing yourself with postgraduate educated numerate people.Perhaps a chip engineer at Intel, fluid dynamicist at Boeing, codebreaker at the NSA, or software engineer at HP.Quant works still averages more than these, but the ratio is rather more realistic for the purpose of career choice.
 
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amerikan
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Joined: October 19th, 2007, 11:41 am

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 12:13 pm

Hi Dominic, I was waiting for you comment. Knew you would show upI see your point. Haha, in Sweden, stockbrokers earn about 100k per year - from which totally 70% will go to taxes. If anybody ever wondered why I want to leave... well, that's a main reason. There is no specifik information for quants, but I can't imagine they earning more - "normal" mathematicians earn about 70 000$ per year.Anybody have any information about bonuses for economists/asset managers (or whatever it was called)? /John
 
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Siberian
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Joined: June 25th, 2003, 8:56 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 1:02 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: Cuchulainncourse in any of the c's (c, c++, c# etc.) would probably be more beneficial, if you don't want to just price/hedge derivatives - which is also great fun, then econ would be a great asset imho.You should also include high C and C major.that's in etc. btw, Cuch, i recently started playing around with c# in visual studio, pretty decent, but real coders at my job are all about c, that's why i put it first.Cheers,Ev
 
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Siberian
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Joined: June 25th, 2003, 8:56 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 1:14 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: amerikan200k? Is that what you quants call a low wage? Haha, that's so... quantishHow much bonus, usually? In % of the basic wage. Sorry about bombarding you with questions, but I'm curious What about working hours/conditions?And, sorry about being a newbie, but if you got 3-5 years of market experience... are you really junior then? You mean you can't begin to work as a junior strategist, you have to work somewhere else, like for a hedgefund, before?Thank you/John GYou should definitely read Dr. Derman's book "My wife is a cunt", it is an excellent book and will give you pretty good understanding of what quants do/used to do. As far as the bonus as a % of salary it varies widely from 20% to 200% and anecdotally a multiple of 5 also showed up, so...strategist in my understanding is either someone who traded before and is ready to settle for a more secure paycheck with not as much upside or someone who worked in a macro shop, so you definitely need an experience.P.S.: Forgive my silly typo, it's of course "My life as a quant". I just work too hard...
 
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twofish
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Joined: February 18th, 2005, 6:51 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 2:11 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnorQuant works still averages more than these, but the ratio is rather more realistic for the purpose of career choice.And then there is the factor of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. 200K in NYC is very different from 200K in other places. Even after taking all this into account, you still end up with a better salary, but not so much so that you should drop whatever you are doing and not consider other alternatives.
 
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Siberian
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Joined: June 25th, 2003, 8:56 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 2:27 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: twofishQuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnorQuant works still averages more than these, but the ratio is rather more realistic for the purpose of career choice.And then there is the factor of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. 200K in NYC is very different from 200K in other places. Even after taking all this into account, you still end up with a better salary, but not so much so that you should drop whatever you are doing and not consider other alternatives.I am not sure whether 200k job in NY is good enough for a family. If you are a single guy, then 200k + bonus is good, but raising a family in NY with a single salary of 200k is hardly enough.Ev
 
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amerikan
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 2:58 pm

20-200% in bonus? Wow, that's a huge variation. What's normal after, say, 3-5 years? How much does a normal new yorker earn?/John
 
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Siberian
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 3:09 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: amerikan20-200% in bonus? Wow, that's a huge variation. What's normal after, say, 3-5 years? How much does a normal new yorker earn?/Johnmost variation is explained by different jobs and companies. variation from years of experience is much less. wait for new yorkers to answer the second question.
 
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amerikan
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 4:28 pm

Okey, so what position gives 200 %, and what position gives 20 %? And how do economists (or people in related occupations) get bonuses? I mean, quants get it through playing their cards well (investing right, giving the company more money), but what about economists?/John
 
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Siberian
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 5:31 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: amerikanOkey, so what position gives 200 %, and what position gives 20 %? And how do economists (or people in related occupations) get bonuses? I mean, quants get it through playing their cards well (investing right, giving the company more money), but what about economists?/JohnDude, you are thinking about Portfolio Managers. Those might or might not be quants, in stat arb hedge funds these tend to be quants but there are a whole lot of other asset managers, PMs in these tend be to traders, economists, whatever, depending on a type of strategies. Quants on the sell side to do what we talked about before, creating customized products for clients, pricing, hedging them etc. on the buy side they tend to work on portf optimization, transaction cost analysis, if it's a stat arb fund then research, but most of the quants i know are not in front office, they are middle office risk management, model vetting, etc. not very sexy;lots of quants are joining back and mid office with hopes of trading at some point, but as far as i know, there are not that many quants who are head traders or portf managers.traders and pms get 200%, developers and junior analysts get 20%. hope this helps
 
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amerikan
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 11th, 2008, 5:45 pm

Okey, it is possible that I messed a few things up there. Portfolio managers, I'll try to remember that phrasetraders get 200 %, portfolio 200 %... and asset managers? Do you know anything about that? Would be great if someone could make a table that showed how much bonus different occupations gave/John
 
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twofish
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Joined: February 18th, 2005, 6:51 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 12th, 2008, 12:24 am

QuoteOriginally posted by: SiberianI am not sure whether 200k job in NY is good enough for a family. If you are a single guy, then 200k + bonus is good, but raising a family in NY with a single salary of 200k is hardly enough.It's enough to get by although it's very unlikely that you will be living in Manhattan. The big expense is education since you either get a house neighborhood with good public schools, which will cost you $$$ or send your kids to private school which will also cost you $$$.
 
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KackToodles
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Joined: August 28th, 2005, 10:46 pm

Financial mathematics and economics

September 12th, 2008, 5:19 am

QuoteOriginally posted by: Siberian20-200% in bonus? Wow, that's a huge variation. What's normal after, say, 3-5 years? How much does a normal new yorker earn?/John Doormen in large buildings make about $125K, waiters, depending on restaurant, can make between $75K and $250K; analysts with MBAs make $135K plus 100% bonus.
 
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amerikan
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Financial mathematics and economics

September 12th, 2008, 6:55 am

250k? Waiter? http://www.bls.gov/OES/current/oes353031.htm That page says that a waiter in new york earns about 24k per year. Well, bonuses haven't been included, but still. /John