In this episode of mChats, Ross Garon, Global Head of Quantitative Strategies, discusses the roles within quantitative investment teams, the expertise they bring and how Millennium provides the tools and support for them to innovate.
How did you discover quantitative investing?
I always knew I wanted to be in finance. My first job as a kid (back in the early ‘80s) was teaching coding to other children. In college, my primary intellectual interest was studying human decision-making, and the markets seemed like a giant petri dish for studying just that. One summer I worked at a large bank on a project focused on quantitative investment strategies and I was intrigued. After college, I was lucky enough to work with an amazing team of people at a firm that focused on systematic trading strategies. Quantitative finance combined my academic and business-building interests and gave me the opportunity to work with many brilliant people. More than 30 years later, I am working with an incredibly impressive team here at Millennium and learning new things about the markets and the world every day.
Fun fact: I now work in the same building where I had that summer internship.
How have you seen quantitative strategies evolve over your career?
I believe that the dramatic increase in the availability of data and the availability of powerful compute resource has lowered barriers to entry in systematic trading. At the same time, the ready availability of resources and the increased competition that it has enabled means the bar for success is even higher. To thrive in this environment requires not only access to data and compute, but a deep, intense focus on innovation.
What roles make up a quantitative strategies team? What skillsets do they each bring?
While each team is different, broadly speaking the major vector of differentiation is Quantitative Researchers versus Quantitative Developers. Researchers tend to be trained more as statisticians than engineers, often with significant experience in markets. Developers tend to be trained as engineers with a deep understanding of how to build robust, high throughput infrastructure for both research and trading.
How does Millennium support its quant investment teams?
At Millennium, we seek to deliver the resources our teams need to thrive. In addition to capital, technology infrastructure and market access, we also provide data, risk models and execution algorithms. We also support teams with hiring when they are seeking to expand. And finally, we provide advice, so that teams can try to avoid mistakes that we’ve seen others make in the past.
What’s your favorite activity you enjoy outside of work?
I have a farm upstate which is a passion project. Like work at Millennium, it requires planning, patience, attention to detail and it rewards caring deeply about what you are doing. Unlike Millennium though, that reward comes in the form of fruits and vegetables.
