High frequency shops poaching talent

There's a lot of angst over high frequency trading these days. But Wall Street has little doubt that the movement is here to stay.

An obvious indicator of that is the stepped-up hiring of people with expertise in this area by proprietary trading outfits. Advanced Trading notes, "Most of the candidates coveted by the high-frequency trading firms have backgrounds in technology and quantitative trading. Many have experience building electronic trading systems for the equity markets."

Hedge funds are certainly hungry for proven talent. Obviously, given the bonus angst at the bulge bracket broker dealers, there's a significant lure. Bonuses are not an issue at most hedge funds, as they are tied to individual P&Ls, not the total P&L or a unit or even the entire firm. Here's a typical job notice--not the "uncapped bonus potential."

This mini-boom is also affecting other areas. Marketing pros seem to be in heavy demand as well. We'll see how this progresses.

For more:
- here's the Advanced Trading article

Related Articles:
Buyside perspective on high-frequency trading
Big bonus test coming