
Why Data Nerds Struggle to Gain Power at Hedge Funds - anonu
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-15/point72-shows-how-firms-face-culture-clash-on-road-to-quantland
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castle-bravo
I'd like some perspective on this. Are "data nerds" (i.e. scientists)
marginalized in finance because of cultural differences with the incumbent
traders, because expectations are unreasonably high, or because most quants'
models aren't significantly better than the trained intuition of their bosses?
Why is it so hard to get trading firms to put engineering high on their list
of priorities?

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paulddraper
My guess is the last reason.

It's the same reason stastical models aren't used heavily in sports
recruiting/trading.

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kevinwang
aren't they used heavily in sports, though? That was my impression of the
NBA/MLB, at least.

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paulddraper
Yes, sort of. They are used like they are in finance.

They can make lots of cheap, low precision decisions, but at the end of the
day, humans make important decisions about other humans.

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cjbenedikt
Not surprising at all. What's needed are quants that can or understand trade.
A rare breed. And even they sometimes throw in the towel like NN Taleb in
2003. When I started to use quant algos in prop trading I was first met with
ridicule, then curiosity, then respect and finally with fear. Not always fun.

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anonu
I've noticed this issue firsthand - not just at hedge funds but also at big
banks and smaller financial firms. For all the talk and chatter about
blockchain, electronic payments, robo-advisors... technology still has long
ways to go to revolutionize and democratize access to markets, data, trading,
etc..

