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Encyclopedia > Quantitative analyst
Robert C. Merton, a pioneer of quantitative analysis, introduced stochastic calculus into the study of finance.

A quantitative analyst is a person who works in the financial markets developing and implementing mathematical models to assist the activities of traders and risk managers within investment banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions. Throughout the industry, such professionals are known as quants. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Robert C. Merton (born July 31, 1944), a leading scholar in the field of finance, was one of three men who, in the early 1970s, developed the mathematics of the stock options markets. ... Stochastic calculus is a branch of mathematics that operates on stochastic processes. ... In finance, financial markets facilitate: The raising of capital (in the capital markets); The transfer of risk (in the derivatives markets); and International trade (in the currency markets). ... Traders was a Canadian television drama series, which aired on Global Television Network from 1995 to 2000. ... For non-business risks, see risk or the disambiguation page risk analysis. ... Investment banks assist corporations in raising funds in the public markets (both equity and debt), as well as provide strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions and other types of transactions. ... A hedge fund is a private investment fund charging a performance fee and typically open to only a limited range of qualified investors. ...


The disciplines of finance, mathematics, statistics and computer science are now linked. A corporation whose risk management policy compels it to lock in a foreign exchange rate must deal with a foreign currency derivatives trader. The trader bases his pricing and hedging decisions on the behavior of a Brownian motion, determined by statistical estimation of parameters and simulated under probabilities that differ from those of the real world, a simulation justified by the profound mathematical and financial dual ideas of change-of-measure and risk-neutral pricing. For non-business risks, see risk or the disambiguation page risk analysis. ... Three different views of Brownian motion, with 32 steps, 256 steps, and 2048 steps denoted by progressively lighter colors. ... There are many different ways of discussing statistical estimation. ...


Although the original "quants" were concerned with risk management and derivatives pricing, the meaning of the term has expanded over time to include those individuals involved in almost any application of mathematics in finance. An example is statistical arbitrage. In the world of finance and investments Statistical arbitrage is used in two related but distinct ways: In the academic literature Statistical arbitrage is opposed to (deterministic) arbitrage. ...

Contents

Education

Quants often come from physics and mathematics backgrounds rather than finance related fields, and quants are a major source of employment for people with physics, mathematics, and engineering Ph.D's. Typically a quant will also need extensive skills in computer programming. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ...


This demand for quants has led to the creation of specialized Masters and PhD courses in mathematical finance, computational finance, and/or financial reinsurance. In particular, Masters degrees in financial engineering and financial analysis are becoming more popular with students and with employers. Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, which created the Masters degree in financial engineering, reported a 21% increase in applicants to their MS in Computational Finance program, which is on top of a 48% increase in the year before[1]. The University of California Berkeley's program in Financial Engineering through their Haas School of Business admits 60 students each year. Other well known programs are provided by the University of Chicago, Cornell University, Indiana University, Columbia University, Purdue University, and New York University. This surge in popularity has led other schools (the University of California at Los Angeles, Rutgers University, Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota) and the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) to add Masters level degrees. These Masters level programs are generally one year in length and more focused than the broader MBA degree. Mathematical finance is the branch of applied mathematics concerned with the financial markets. ... Computational finance (also known as financial engineering) is a cross-disciplinary field which relies on mathematical finance, numerical methods and computer simulations to make trading, hedging and investment decisions, as well as facilitating the risk management of those decisions. ... Financial Reinsurance, also known as fin re, is a form of reinsurance which is focused more on capital management than on risk transfer. ... Financial engineering is the application of science-based mathematical and statistical models to make a better decision about managing financial risks, investing, borrowing, lending, and saving. ... Financial analysis refers to an assessment of the viability, stability and profitability of a business, sub-business or project. ... The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consistently ranks among the top business schools in the world[4][5]. It is also consistently among the leaders in a wide range of specializations, such as Finance, Entrepreneurship, Operations Management and Information Technology. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ... Eastern entrance The Walter A. Haas School of Business, better known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. ... For other uses, see University of Chicago (disambiguation). ... Cornell redirects here. ... Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... Purdue redirects here. ... New York University (NYU) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in New York City. ... The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university situated in the neighborhood of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... “Rutgers” redirects here. ... The term polytechnic, from the Greek πολύ polú meaning many and τεχνικός tekhnikós meaning arts, is commonly used in many countries to describe an institution that delivers technical education, other countries do not use the term and use alternative... The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (U of M, UM or simply Michigan) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Michigan. ... This article is about the oldest and largest campus of the University of Minnesota. ... Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a tertiary degree in business management. ...


History

Quantitative finance started in the U.S. in the 1930s as some astute investors began using mathematical formulas to price stocks and bonds.


Harry Markowitz's 1952 Ph.D thesis "Portfolio Selection" was one of the first papers to formally adapt mathematical concepts to finance. Markowitz formalized a notion of mean return and covariances for common stocks which allowed him to quantify the concept of "diversification" in a market. He showed how to compute the mean return and variance for a given portfolio and argued that investors should hold only those portfolios whose variance is minimal among all portfolios with a given mean return. Although the language of finance now involves Ito calculus, minimization of risk in a quantifiable manner underlies much of the modern theory. Harry Max Markowitz (born August 24, 1927) is an influential economist at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. ... Itô calculus, named after Kiyoshi Itô, treats mathematical operations on stochastic processes. ...


In 1969 Robert Merton introduced stochastic calculus into the study of finance. Merton was motivated by the desire to understand how prices are set in financial markets, which is the classical economics question of "equilibrium," and in later papers he used the machinery of stochastic calculus to begin investigation of this issue. Robert C. Merton (born July 31, 1944), a leading scholar in the field of finance, was one of three men who, in the early 1970s, developed the mathematics of the stock options markets. ... Stochastic calculus is a branch of mathematics that operates on stochastic processes. ...


At the same time as Merton's work and with Merton's assistance, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes were developing their option pricing formula, which led to winning the 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics. It provided a solution for a practical problem, that of finding a fair price for a European call option, i.e., the right to buy one share of a given stock at a specified price and time. Such options are frequently purchased by investors as a risk-hedging device. In 1981, Harrison and Pliska used the general theory of continuous-time stochastic processes to put the Black-Scholes option pricing formula on a solid theoretical basis, and as a result, showed how to price numerous other "derivative" securities. Fischer Black (1938 - August 30, 1995) was an American economist, best known as one of the authors of the famous Black-Scholes equation. ... Myron S. Scholes (born July 1, 1941) is one of the authors of the famous Black-Scholes equation. ... The Nobel Prize (Swedish: ) was established in Alfred Nobels will in 1895, and it was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901. ... The Black-Scholes model, often simply called Black-Scholes, is a model of the varying price over time of financial instruments, and in particular stocks. ...


Famous quants

Emanuel Derman is a South African academic and businessman. ... David X. Li is a quantitative analyst who pioneered the use of Gaussian copula models for the pricing of collateralized debt obligations. ...

See also

For an overview of the activities conducted by a quant see computational finance and derivative (finance). Computational finance (also known as financial engineering) is a cross-disciplinary field which relies on mathematical finance, numerical methods and computer simulations to make trading, hedging and investment decisions, as well as facilitating the risk management of those decisions. ... Derivatives traders at the Chicago Board of Trade. ...

Quantitative Analysis Software is a relatively new method of investing which uses computerized Artificial Intelligence algorithms to make decisions on the buying or selling of stocks, bonds, or other financial assets. ... Electronic trading is a mode of trading that uses information technology to bring together a buyer and a seller through electronic media to create a virtual market place. ... In electronic financial markets, algorithmic trading, also known as algo, automated, black-box, or robo trading, is the use of computer programs for entering trading orders with the computer algorithm deciding on certain aspects of the order such as the timing, price, or even the final quantity of the order. ... Topics in finance include: // Finance an overview Arbitrage Capital (economics) Capital asset pricing model Cash flow Cash flow matching Debt Default Consumer debt Debt consolidation Debt settlement Credit counseling Bankruptcy Debt diet Debt-snowball method Discounted cash flow Financial capital Funding Financial modeling Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship Fixed income analysis Gap financing... Modeling without Programming refers to a systematic approach developed by Lin Chen to implement advanced algorithms and models in financial engineering, computational finance and actuaries in Excel spreadsheets using Excel’s functions only, without VBA coding. ...

References


  Results from FactBites:
 
Quantitative analyst - Definition from Investor Dictionary - Define meaning of the word Quantitative analyst (260 words)
Quantitative analyst - Definition from Investor Dictionary - Define meaning of the word Quantitative analyst
A quantitative analyst is a person who works in the financial markets developing mathematical models to assist the activities of traders and risk managers within banks and other large corporate institutes.
Improving the Investment Decision Process: Quantitative Assistance for the Practitioner And...
  More results at FactBites »


 

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