What is Quant Finance

Quantitative finance is much different than traditional finance. It is replacing much of traditional finance with automation and mathematical formulas. Learning how to adapt is much more important than clinging on to the old world of finance. Statistics is one of the most used areas in quantitative finance.

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[michaelmraz]

You're missing the big picture...quant finance is mainly working with market data and statistics; business finance is working on actual accounting data and real live deals going on...and unfortunately the biggest money maker for banks is in the later, from actual real transactions with real companies such as granting commercial loans, mergers and acquisitions, syndicated lending, public offering on equities and bonds. Quant finance unfortunately comes after the actual deal so they're back office staff. The real money is in front office.

[tommeltzer]

Very clear and very helpful. Thanks, this was an extremely useful 30, 000 foot summary!

[Wonderland_]

Loving these videos!! Thank you so much for starting this channel! Please keep it up!!

[jkrigelman]

This sounds like a solution space that a few really good AI networks could beat out any hand generated models. I imagine that this landscape has been changing over time?

[Throughxanderseyes]

Thank you for these videos I am to start my accelerated masters in quant econ this fall.

[AaronHernandez-xvqh]

Any Certs you recommend that would be a good stepping stone ? Graduated with a Econ and finance degree and got a masters in finance.

[burner]

Hey Dimitri,
I’m currently on my second year of banking and finance bachelors of science degree and was wondering if I could get your opinion on my idea of undertaking a masters in statistics. I’m not entirely sure if that would be an “allowed” route but I figure it could be a way of expanding my horizon in regards to employability; not just banking sector.

[lizjane]

Thanks for the explanation. This has confirmed what I thought.. interesting (and likely very good!) that you recommend not to ignore traditional Finance theory. FTX would be a nice example of what happens when you do. Not that I'm suggesting crypto has a huge amount to do with what most quants do with their time.. but FTX did strike me as a crystal clear example of what happens when unqualified people tinker in Financial markets. Obviously all humans do that on micro, but it's worrying when it goes macro. If that makes sense at all

[jeffreyalidochair]

then what do you do once you have the pricing of the asset?

[danielmadmony]

Hi Dimitry, great video. So you said MQF has little to do with finance (unlike traditional MSF). What do you mean by this? And why is that so? From my understanding, MSF is just a very 'soft' finance degree and isn't nearlly equivalent to MQF in importance, job placement, and the like.
Looking forward to reading your opinion!

[jhonnysmithsonian]

Great video. I'm entering university next year and I'm wondering about which way I should choose.
Could you please help me?


1- I have the choice between a B.Sc or a B.a in computer science/mathematics.
The B.Sc is much harder to get into so will my future employer disregard my degree for going into B.a even though it's really similar?


2- I also have the choice to do a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in statistics, Finance and a minor in Computer science.
The thing I like about this option is that I get to learn financial theory, but also statistics and computer science. It is also a prestigious faculty in Canada. The only thing that worries me is that the option of getting this BSBA might not give me enough statistics and computer science knowledge to pursue a master's in statistics/financial engineering.

[IanBorgessen]

Hey, Dimitri. Im very interested in persuing a career in the finance industry. I dont really like accounting, I do like economics and mathematics/statistics .
Im currently majoring in actuarial sciences and economics (they have pretty much the same level of maths/statistics, actuaries get a numerical analysis course and one extra course on statistics).
Having said that: would I have the proper background to apply for a Msc in Financial Maths/Applied Statistics and which of those two is preferable for a career as a quant?
Thank you and nice video!

[marcelmir]

I am right now in College and study Econ.
I am really interested in the field of quantitative finance. Eventhough I am not a math genius but I still think math is very interesting and fun.
If I do a degree in computer science or math after my Econ degree, do I have a good chance or is it hard to get in this field, especially if I am in my late 20s or early 30s.
Other question: If I wanna work in quantitative finance, are there only the big banks as potential employers or are there also smaller ones? I am afraid it is hard to enter this field.

[uliliulili]

Dimitri, just watched you on a podcast. Wanted to ask you; Im from Korea, and from my knowledge, its financial market share(?) Is not that significant, hence smaller banks (we do not have banks denominated as investment banks either) and i was wondering if quants is mainly dedicated for banks or does most big companies have dedicated department for us as of 2020? I see that many firms hire risk managers but cant be sure if these are quantitative. Appreciate your work!

[annieliu]

Thank you so much for making this video!! I am currently on the stage of deciding which university I should go. Do you think a program called Mathematics and Computational Finance in the faculty of arts and science in Concordia university is better or a statistics or mathematics program in the management faculty in McGill can better prepare me to become a quant? I am so tangled between these two schools! I feel like the program in concordia is better but I like Mcgill as a university more. Please help 😭

[jsoncoding]

i do finance and econ at school but teach myself web dev and core programming... and math on the side ... i dont want to work for anyone i want to be bill gates lol any thoughts or guidance. i mean i want my own company nd not to work in one

[krishnaprempasumarthy]

Hi Dimitri. That was really clear and informative. Thanks for the video. I don't see an option to message you on youtube. Can I ask you questions on Linkedin?

[benjamingraham]

Hey Dimitri, as a value investor i used python machine learning and statistics to help me value businesses, but is there a point in which complex maths deteriorate prudent qualitative business analysis.

is there a point in which the higher math is false precison ?

[Brassard]

I am working on a Bachelors of Science degree in physics. I am interested in making a career shift to quantitative finance. Because my undergraduate degree is not finance related at all, I figure that a graduate program in mathematical/quantitative finance would be the best rout (it’s too late the change my major as I’m already a junior). Graduate programs in mathematical finance typically want applicants to have an undergraduate degree in a “quantitative discipline”. Would physics be considered a “quantitative discipline” by these standards?

[HarryJohnson]

Hey man, I am currently an accounting major, but I’m also thinking about being a quant because I love math. I’ve done a fair among of math and stats courses but before I go to the upper level stuff, I just wanted to get you opinion on something. You urged stats as a good idea but my school also had a quantitative finance track that ties a lot of math and finance together but doesn’t really involve stats courses. What would you do if you were me? Thank you