Quants going forward

Amid the worst downturn in banking since ever, quants are still finding ways into the industry according to this report. The survey of quant farms, who globally produce 2000 man a year, finds that quants are in demand from hedge-funds to banks in order to price counter party risk. "Classes are placed at 60% by this time of the year" says one director of department "versus 80% in previous years." Basically those that were blamed a year ago for setting off the August 2007 panic are now asked to figure out what the hell is going on. As a side note, I am reading "physics of finance", a manifold based modeling of finance that quickly starts drawing on the tools developed by math for theoretical physics, both gravity and quantum theories. For example it models arbitrage as space curvature. Space curvature is captured in general relativity. Money is a force?

Comments

Unknown said…
I had to google it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_analyst

Didn't like the founder of this idea say that the market was no longer rational enough for the approach to work? Or was that something else?
December 23, 2008 at 9:21:00 AM PST
douglas dooley said…
http://douglasdooley.blogspot.com/2008/12/taking-out-ptb.html
December 25, 2008 at 10:47:00 AM PST
adt43wt342 said…
he he,

PTB... god speed to you.
December 25, 2008 at 2:39:00 PM PST
Anonymous said…
As an ENPC grad and trained anthropologist, I am wary of quant approaches that or closed form. The human element gets in there eventually.
December 26, 2008 at 7:52:00 PM PST
adt43wt342 said…
Reading "physics of finance" makes me wonder about the field I got to be honest. So far I don't get it. Doesn't mean it isn't real but I distrust something that is overly complicated.
December 27, 2008 at 6:36:00 AM PST
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