Hey there,I'm a recent Economics/Money and Banking graduate of the University of Western Australia, I've left uni and taken a position in a stock brokerage handling customer share orders and queries. For legal purposes I cant' trade in my spare time unless under special conditions (since I work in the brokerage).I study trading in my spare time and collaborate with a small group of friends I've also started to learn programming basic trading systems through the metatrader 4 platform. I like forex cfd's but if the money is good I'd move into other assetsWhat do I need to do to take myself from where I am now to being a successful quant trader? I'm not phased by a lot of hard work, I don't mind how I get to the goal to be honest. What do I need to learn, who do I need to work for and what other qualifications do I need?Cheers, Scotty

Well, you need strong quantitative background. SO, you should self-study maths, programming. And later apply to MFE.

People who don't know shit about advanced math get a better sharpe ratio than PhDs in physics. Strong quant background is good for your CV if you want to get into a BB but you can be a very good quant trader withtout strong math. I saw how some algo trading desks in major IB work: they don't use more than moving average or AR process, some regressions and that's it. Very sophisticated strategies are not the best in the long run.

Not sure I know advanced math, but for my economics degree I had to do econometrics and a lot of other maths classes. I'm currently going through Wilmott's book, it looks daunting but honestly when you go through it its nothing too far outside what I did in my degree.I was thinking of doing a masters in mathematics and statistical science, I'm not sure about what work experience would be best though

What did the quant traders you talked to, tell you about where to start and what to study?

Havn't spoken to any real quants except people on here. I undertook a mentorship program at one of our big banks in Australia where I got a day long orientation at their 'trading floor', it wasn't prop trading, just selling interest rate/ex change rate derivatives to different business's. Nonetheless they were friendly and tried to give me as much advise as possible.I'm not sure of any prop trading firms in my city (Perth), its a pretty quiet town. I've heard rumours of a few but I can't find anything solid. Hence one of the reasons I joined this forum.Primarily I want to trade, but I don't want to be a naive 'just-out-of-college-knows-everything' type. I want to develop quant skills and understand that side of it to assist myself in being a trader. I'm just about to finish my contract at the brokerage, I think it would be beneficial to get a few years more work experience before going back to uni, maybe rack up a total of 3 years experience. What kind of work experience would be best given my current qualifications? I'm not too keen on brokerage work again (customers drive you up the wall with questions like 'ummmm how do you get paid from shares?' *facepalm) but I would go back if its for the greater good of my career. I'm also going to trade at the same time with an algorithm a friend of mine and myself designed.If I go back to university and do a masters in mathematical and statistical science (my university doesn't offer masters in financial engineering, I could save up and go to another university but I'd rather keep that cash as my own trading capital), I'd take electives in derivatives pricing and strategies while completing my core mathematics units, would that give me all the technical skills I'd need?The course advisor told me I would be selecting from most of the below unitshttp://rules.handbooks.uwa.edu.au/rules/ecm/Part6/Division5/Table65b(It's for a different masters so the units for each wouldn't be exact)Appreciate the advice a lot people. =]

if my question needs to be rephrased or made more specific please let me know

QuoteOriginally posted by: ArthurDentWhat did the quant traders you talked to, tell you about where to start and what to study?Such a useful answer...

QuoteOriginally posted by: CapsaicinQuoteOriginally posted by: ArthurDentWhat did the quant traders you talked to, tell you about where to start and what to study?Such a useful answer...You may not think so but finance is an industry built on relationships, if you cannot communicate effectively with people, then you will not succeed in this line of work.QuoteScottyfromAussie: Havn't spoken to any real quants except people on hereThat's your problem right there - stop posting on bulletin boards soliciting opinions of strangers and go talk to real quant traders.

Quotestop posting on bulletin boards soliciting opinions of strangers and go talk to real quant traders.What is the point of these forums then and in what type of business effective communication is not important...

ScottyfromAussie: Havn't spoken to any real quants except people on hereThat's your problem right there - stop posting on bulletin boards soliciting opinions of strangers and go talk to real quant traders.This forum hasn't been exactly my first resort for finding information on this, I've talked to bankers, brokers, daytrader friends and my old uni professors plus a tonne of internet searching. I can't find any contacts for my city. There seems to be a big gap in Perth for prop trading firms, or maybe there isn't and they just prefer to keep quiet. I would have no idea why though.Browsing the jobs section on here, most of the jobs seem to want a masters in stats/math fin/comp sci, no probs there. I'll do maths and stats at uni with a focus on finance and learn to code myself, a friend and I recently wrote a trading system in mql4 so moving into C/C#/C++ shouldn't be too difficult.Still if there's any advice anyone can offer regarding other qualifications, fields of good work experience I can attain with my current qualifications (bachelors degree in econs and brokerage work experience) or other things I should be studying/doing I'd appreciate it a lot. Cheers also for all the advice given so far