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Product Description
Praise for How I Became a Quant
"Led by two top-notch quants, Richard R. Lindsey and Barry Schachter, How I Became a Quant details the quirky world of quantitative analysis through stories told by some of today's most successful quants. For anyone who might have thought otherwise, there are engaging personalities behind all that number crunching!"
--Ira Kawaller, Kawaller & Co. and the Kawaller Fund
"A fun and fascinating read. This book tells the story of how academics, physicists, mathematicians, and other scientists became professional investors managing billions."
--David A. Krell, President and CEO, International Securities Exchange
"How I Became a Quant should be must reading for all students with a quantitative aptitude. It provides fascinating examples of the dynamic career opportunities potentially open to anyone with the skills and passion for quantitative analysis."
--Roy D. Henriksson, Chief Investment Officer, Advanced Portfolio Management
"Quants"--those who design and implement mathematical models for the pricing of derivatives, assessment of risk, or prediction of market movements--are the backbone of today's investment industry. As the greater volatility of current financial markets has driven investors to seek shelter from increasing uncertainty, the quant revolution has given people the opportunity to avoid unwanted financial risk by literally trading it away, or more specifically, paying someone else to take on the unwanted risk.
How I Became a Quant reveals the faces behind the quant revolution, offering you?the?chance to learn firsthand what it's like to be a?quant today. In this fascinating collection of Wall Street war stories, more than two dozen quants detail their roots, roles, and contributions, explaining what they do and how they do it, as well as outlining the sometimes unexpected paths they have followed from the halls of academia to the front lines of an investment revolution.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A mix of essays with varying qualities , 2008-08-14
I am one of those in a quantitative science field who might consider moving into finance. Based on the book title, the book is an obvious must-read for somebody in that situation. However, I must warn that you cannot get much out of the book unless you are somewhat familiar with the very basic terms and concepts of finance, as most essays do describe authors' endeavors in the financial field. I have absolutely no working knowledge of finance and could get nothing out of reading when financial concepts are discussed. If you can, it is recommended that you obtain a bit of basic financial knowledge from other sources before reading this one. A vast majority of essays are not written for pure finance novices; they are rather targeted toward young economics or finance majors or just those already in the field who want to reminisce with buddies.
The quality of writing varies substantially from one essay to another. On the one side of the spectrum are terse biographical sketches of how some became successful quants, merely listing their past projects. On the other side are rather philosophical proses of how "failed" PhDs in other quantitative disciples found themselves home in finance. That makes the book overall appearance of being incoherent, but it is still useful since we can read about a couple dozen different experiences.
Editing clearly lacks rigor as there are numerous typos and uncorrected grammatical mistakes - a minutia that gives rise to an impression that the book could have been much better given a proper attention and direction. However, for someone like myself in a situation similar to some authors who chose to jump ships, being able to read on their experiences is very valuable, since there is so much uncertainty. You could also form a vague picture of what a quant might do on the day-to-day basis, as well as what skills and activities in academic settings may be similar and transferable in corporate finance. Overall, this is a useful read but could have been a more pleasurable experience for myself.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 A Must read for newbie Quants, 2008-02-09
This book is a must read for all those who are entering or considering entering the world of Quantitative finance. Whilst there might be some omissions like Hull, Joshi, Rebonato, Jaeckel, Carr, Dowd , Thorp and the like (hopefully these will be featuring in the next edition), the mix between academics and practitioners is just about right. Anyone who studies the footnotes carefully and reads the seminal papers mentioned in the book will have a better appreciation of the significant contributions made by some of those featured and of the range of knowledge required to be a quant.
Peter Urbani, Head of Quantitative Research, Infiniti Capital
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Very insightful, 2008-01-28
This is a nice little collection that is fun, insightful, and worth the price. However, these have been collected and printed because, well....theses stories are interesting. Keep in mind that that is a narrative skew and selectivity bias. Lots of quant, risk management, and even front-office jobs are dull dull dull. Often the $$$ makes up for the dull, but there are quant grunt jobs that are thankless traps. Lots of the info from these seasoned pros will help you selsect and direct your own career path with better utility, but also keep in mind that the wild west is tamed and the pioneering days are fading with the sunset and the wall of silicon thrown at all quant problems. Sure there are mottled ducks, but even obscure probability distributions will be tamed and models made tractable. What was once woodlands with wild beasts becomes a strip mall in the suburbs, and the career of a quant is no exception.
Four stars because ...well, you always want more and this is no candidate for the Nobel prize. But very very good.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Entertaining, 2008-01-19
I read this book in a bookstore. It is interesting to see how people from completely different backgrounds transition into finance. For me, this book will serve as a good past time reading (I'm not in finance and I'm already too old to make this kind of transition), but it may be inspirational for newbies and students. However, this book seems to give the impression that only those who came from Ivy League/top schools are smart enough to make this kind of transition. What about those people who are not? Still, this book is a good read.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
How they became a quant, 2007-11-24
decent account about their career paths, but nothing parituclarly revealing. That's all I can say.
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