Frequently Asked Questions

Quantitative Strategies Group is a private quantitative trading firm based in New York City, focused primarily on systematic trading in U.S. equities.

QSG trades firm capital within a principal trading structure, with centrally managed risk and performance-based trader compensation, without taking trader capital contributions or managing separate client accounts.

QSG is built for technically strong, self-directed people who want to be traders because they're entrepreneurial, they enjoy building, and they see an opportunity in markets.

QSG's operations span trading, research, data and engineering, but the firm does not publish a headcount or public roster, and public profiles should not be treated as a measure of its size.

Traders use firm capital and do not contribute personal capital, pay training fees or purchase access to a desk.

Capital allocation begins conservatively and can grow with demonstrated performance, discipline and risk management, while capital may be reduced or reallocated when results do not justify continued deployment.

Traders are accountable for their research, decisions and results, with reproducible work, explainable decisions and collaboration that strengthens individual judgment.

The roadmap describes roughly 8 to 10 weeks of initial research, followed by 2 to 4 weeks at test size when strategies are ready, with timing determined by the work rather than a guaranteed schedule.

QSG uses performance-based profit sharing to align trader and firm outcomes. QSG offers trading roles as independent-contractor (1099) engagements. Compensation is performance-based profit share from net trading performance, with a $0 base pay/rate and no guaranteed earnings. QSG does not offer W-2 employment for these roles or provide visa sponsorship.

No. Traders trade with QSG as independent contractors under a written agreement. They decide what to build and how, and they're paid only from a share of the net trading profit in their account, while QSG provides the capital, the platform and the risk limits every strategy trades within.

It can take a couple of years to find out whether the seat works for you. When it isn't the right fit, the firm has lost money on the trader's portfolio, the trader has lost time, and both sides have lost on opportunity cost. Capital is reduced or reallocated when results don't justify it, and because our confidentiality terms generally don't allow traders to name the relationship publicly, that time usually won't appear on a resume.

QSG provides in-house research and trading software, colocated market connectivity, dedicated research compute and shared data. A development team runs the software stack, and traders work through the software rather than directly with the developers.

QSG focuses primarily on systematic U.S. equities strategies with horizons from seconds to days, including relative value, arbitrage, liquidity provision and event-driven trading.

QSG's in-house platform connects research, testing, monitoring and deployment, with initial live trading at test size used to evaluate strategy behavior and the surrounding production setup.

No. The Quantitative Trader path is for people already building strategies on their own, and a backtest counts. We look for an annualized Sharpe ratio of 2.5 or higher, computed from daily returns. You don't need to have traded it live or have your own trading capital. Students who are still exploring markets can apply to the Academic Trader path without already having a strategy.

Yes. Analytical rigor, computational skills and independent research experience can transfer to systematic trading, and a finance degree or PhD is not required. The Academic Trader path is for students beginning to build a trading business. The Quantitative Trader path is for people already building strategies on their own, including students with a qualifying backtest.

QSG places greater weight on how candidates think, build, explain their work and respond to feedback than on credentials or polished interview performance alone.

Where and when you work is your call. Traders who use the New York floor regularly tend to learn faster, so we strongly prefer candidates who plan to be in New York, and academic traders typically work remotely during the academic year.

If you'd be just as happy in a salaried quant or data role, then that's the better path. We're looking for the people who can't imagine themselves not participating in the upside and not spending their time building. It isn't for someone who wants to be told what to trade, because what you build here is your call. Quantitative Trader candidates need a strategy with a qualifying record; Academic Trader candidates don't need a strategy yet.

The Academic Trader path is for students beginning to build a trading business; you don't need a strategy yet. The next start is June 7, 2027, for students graduating in December 2027 or spring 2028. The Quantitative Trader path is for people already building strategies on their own, including students with a qualifying backtest. We look for an annualized Sharpe ratio of 2.5 or higher, computed from daily returns.

No. Graduating Academic Traders start like any other trader: they build strategies, take them live and run their own trading business from the first summer, as independent contractors. The aim is to graduate with a business that's already running instead of starting from scratch.

Both tracks start with an application. Selected Academic candidates receive a letter about the opportunity and write a two-year plan for building their trading business, including where they'd start and why. They don't need a strategy yet. Quantitative Traders apply with their strategy's record and, if it fits, write a two-year plan built around that strategy. Candidates whose plans fit receive the full details of the seat. Academic candidates then have a 20 minute call with one of our traders about the plan; Quantitative Traders present their strategy and plan at an in-person round table with a few of our traders. Both tracks finish with an intro interview and Q&A, followed by a final interview.

Aim for approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words, excluding charts and tables. Tell us what you'd do and why, how you'd know it was working, and what would make you change course. This guidance applies to both tracks. The plan is requested after the initial application; it is not an extra document required with your initial resume and overview.

The interview process usually takes 4 to 6 weeks, depending on scheduling and when you send your plan. We usually communicate next steps within 1 to 2 weeks. For the Academic Trader role, we communicate next steps to all candidates simultaneously. Academic Trader Summer 2027 final decisions are due by February 12, 2027, with a June 7, 2027 start date. These dates are separate from the typical duration of an individual interview process.

An annualized Sharpe ratio of 2.5 or higher, computed from daily returns, on a strategy you own. Tell us whether it comes from live trading, paper trading or a backtest, the period it covers and the capital it ran on or assumed. A backtest counts; explain how you tested it and the assumptions behind the record. We don't tend to deploy capital to strategies below a Sharpe of 3, but traders grow, and we want to be there to invest in a trader's business as it does.

Not before you join. We ask for the record's numbers and a two-year plan built around the strategy, in as much detail as you're comfortable giving, and at the round table you decide how much of the rules to share. A record from an employer's account counts, described only at the level your obligations allow, and you should never send code, rules or trading records that belong to a current or former employer.

Both tracks write a plan for building their business as a trader over the first two years. Our candidate project isn't a quant-skills test: we test those skills later, and candidates who get this far already have them. Treat it as a pitch, because it is one: you're looking for an investor to back your new business, and that's what we are. Academic candidates can describe the markets or kinds of ideas they'd start with; Quantitative Traders build the plan around their strategy. You'll need to defend every claim in the conversations that follow.

Work of their own that holds up when it's challenged, and a thoughtful plan for building a trading business. Academic candidates can discuss things they've built independently, including what failed, the markets or kinds of ideas they'd explore first, and how they'd respond if nothing had earned real size six months in. They don't need a strategy yet. Quantitative Traders bring a record they can explain, with its edge, assumptions, capacity, risks and limits, and what they'd build next. Both should explain how they'd know the plan was working and what would make them change course.