I see people with job titles "Equity Strategist", "FX Strategist", is this a quant job ?What do they do ?

I think it's somebody whose ideas sound good, but they don't quite make any money for the investor.Suppose I were to open two funds today, a hedge fund and an Internet fund. Even if I don't think the hedge fund is going to make any money, that's where the investor is going to put his money. Similarly, a strategist offers ideas that investors will like the sound of.

So "Strategist" does sales ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: VetinariSo "Strategist" does sales ?I think they usually just write dumb newsletters. But some people who are like structurers, apparently are also called strategists. Like suppose I am Coca Cola and I am earning all kinds of foreign currency. And I have to manage excess cash to meet payroll and other liabilities in the US. A "strategist" might say "buy this now, buy that later, and you will meet these goals."The strategists I always hear about are in sales, otherwise why would I hear from them? These are the ones saying "Buy bonds, because the economy is slowing. 60% in stocks." The other ones take an actual buying or selling need - like for commercials, as opposed to speculators - and propose a series of trades that will fulfill it. A pension fund - over the course of several decades spent buying bonds at the high to break promises to union workers - will also need some kind of strategist to tell them exactly what it takes to meet some new federal regulation.Or so I imagine...

At goldman sachs, quants belong to the FICC strategy group and their job title is strategist. some 500 of them. including sale strats. some other companies use similar title.

So a strategist generates trading ideas ?A structurer builds things for them to sell ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: VetinariSo a strategist generates trading ideas? A structurer builds things for them to sell ?An investment bank is a lot like Coca Cola. If Coca Cola does a good job marketing Coke, they end up with a lot of foreign currency. If sales and structuring do their jobs well, the bank ends up with a lot of order flow. They have to figure out what price to bid, and when. So figuring out how Coke can unwind and hedge her foreign currency, is a lot like figuring out how you hedge whatever options you write.In both cases, these are not problems that would help an ordinary investor, who wishes to add volatility.

Strategists identify trends in macroeconomic factors (usually). They give their opinion on what may happen in the future (and probably how to act upon it). Most of them are usually wrong... It's very hard to make good predicitons. Farmer's right, an opinion from a strategist can actually be used a sales pitch.

I would have described strategy as similar to structuring but after a deal has closed. The structurer will create the deal in the first place (decide what SPVs, where to domicile, what rates to pay, what hedging is required, ratings, triggers etc etc), but once the fund is up and running, the way you run it within the structure is your strategy. This doesn't neccesarily mean having a market oppinion, but rather telling analysts "if you buy that he can't buy that and his idea is better than yours for our current position". I think it will probably vary from place to place though.

QuoteOriginally posted by: jomniStrategists identify trends in macroeconomic factors (usually). They give their opinion on what may happen in the future (and probably how to act upon it). Most of them are usually wrong... It's very hard to make good predicitons. Farmer's right, an opinion from a strategist can actually be used a sales pitch.investment banking business is not to beat smartest guys out there, it is to rip the dumbest onesso it goes maybe strategists make a good job after all