The quants were in the news for wrong reason recently as their models took big hit in some cases. The quants are major force in market today handling major sums of money for big banks or hedge funds. Some of their strategies are cloaked in secrecy. The book How I Became a Quant: Insights from 25 of Wall Street's Elite gives you a peak at the careers of some of the leading quants on Wall Street.
It has series of interviews with 25 quants presented as first person account. The format for interview is biographical and the focus is clearly on a tracing how they got interested in Wall Street. All the quants interviewed landed up in Wall Street via physics or maths academic paths. Most of this happened in 90's when the focus in investment bank turned to quantitative strategies.
The book gives you a look in to lives of these quants and how their career evolved. If you are looking for strategies, the book is not for that. It is focused on biography and career progression. Some of the interviews are focused and some are average or bad, where the subject takes detour from the theme of book or indulges more in promoting their family life or charity work.
Overall it is a fluff book about quants which gives you a insight in to their personality.
No comments:
Post a Comment