A user on this forum wrote the following in a previous thread:
“Quants have taken over stock picking and, further, the artificial intelligence and data scraping programs that search out undervalued securities are by orders of magnitude faster, cheaper and better than most CFAs.”
my my question is: are there any relatively future proof and potentially lucrative positions in asset management for an individual without a math focused education or high level coding experience/education? Is there a real future in finance for non-quants and high level coders?
I am undertaking L1 CFA this December. I’m a law grad. What else can I do short of starting a math based education/degree from scratch? Do I have a chance?
Does the user who wrote that have numbers to substantiate his claim? Quantitative stock picking today is only a small part of the industry, and that is unlikely to change any time in the foreseeable future. The role of technology in reducing investment costs is growing, especially as more people move into passive investments or those that rebalance automatically. However, does not mean that there is a growing field of mathematicians who can find mispriced securities using computer programs.
Thanks Isaiah and Ohai. I appreciate you’re time answering. The fact is, I don’t know many professionals in the industry that I can ask about these things.
I don’t know what the quoted person’s role/position is.
Quant/math PhD/physics PhD just seem to be the phrases that pop up most often when I am looking up stuff on asset management online.
I’m just thinking about the opportunity cost of pursuing the 3 levels of the CFA and the not being able to find sufficiently financially rewarding and available roles afterwards.
Im thinking about investment decision making (eventually) sort of roles.
Law grad studying for the CFA exams. Working in reinsurance within a company that owns a huge asset management firm (as many insurance companies do). Aiming for a sideways move. Some high up contacts within the mother company that may or may not be able to help with this. Obviously I want to do at least the first two levels of the CFA exams before trying to use their influence.
Exams and studying I don’t have a problem with. Tbh I’m single and care very little for a social life as long as what I do brings me closer to my goals of achieving highly in the industry.
When everyone has the same robots, and the same criteria for deciding whats cheap and what isnt, then the competitive advantage disappears. There has to be someone who can decide where theres value. Thats where humans come in.
“the artificial intelligence and data scraping programs that search out undervalued securities are by orders of magnitude faster, cheaper and better than most CFAs.”
If this is the case, how come quant funds/etfs haven’t taken over all money management rolls? Who on earth wrote that?
I suppose AI and bots can get a sense of company management’s capital allocation strategy and operational plans too, right? lol
