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#Best Cities for Quantitative Finance Careers
<!-- @@@ -->Quantitative finance is one of the most profitable areas on Wall Street. Due to the challenging nature of their work, quants often have excellent educational backgrounds and deep expertise in statistics, mathematical modeling, and computer science. If you're interested in a career in quantitative finance, you may be wondering where these opportunities are concentrated.
This article will analyze the distribution of the quantitative industry from a geographical perspective and provide you with some suggestions to help you choose a suitable city to live in so that you can better move towards a career as a quantitative analyst. Please note that this article is primarily focused on quants who wish to reside within the United States.
Proprietary trading refers to the buying and selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies and other financial instruments conducted by financial institutions in order to directly obtain market returns. This approach often replaces the traditional model of earning commissions by trading for clients. Proprietary trading firms often need quantitative analysts to uncover statistical arbitrage opportunities and build complex mathematical models to help the firm achieve excess returns. Here are some of the top proprietary trading firms and where they are headquartered.
| Company name | Location | Headquarters address |
|---|---|---|
| Renaissance Technologies | New York | 600 Route 25A. East Setauket, New York 11733 |
| Jane Street | New York | 250 Vesey Street New York, NY 10281 United States |
| Citadel Securities | Miami, FL | Southeast Financial Center 200 South Biscayne Boulevard Miami, FL 33131 |
| IMC Trading | Chicago, IL | Willis Tower 233 South Wacker Avenue, Suite 4300 Chicago, IL 60606, United States |
| Optiver | Chicago, IL | 130 East Randolph, Suite 1400 Chicago, IL 60601, United States |
| Akuna Capital | Chicago, IL | CNA Center, 333 South Wabash Avenue, 26th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604 |
| DRW | Chicago, IL | 540 West Madison Street, Suite 2500 Chicago, IL 60661 |
| Chicago Trading Company (CTC) | Chicago, IL | 425 South Financial Plaza, 4th Floor Chicago, IL 60605 |
| SIG | Philadelphia, PA | 401 City Ave. Balaswing, PA 19004 |
| TransMarket Group | Chicago, IL | 550 West Jackson Avenue, Suite 1300 Chicago, IL 60661 |
| Old Mission Capital | Chicago, IL | 1 North Dearborn Street, 8th Floor Chicago, IL 60602 |
| Five Rings | New York | 225 Liberty Street New York, NY 10281 |
| Radix Trading | Chicago, IL | 353 North Clark Street, Suite 1600 Chicago, IL 60654 |
| 3Red Partners | Chicago, IL | 200 West Monroe Street Chicago, IL 60606 |
| XTX Markets | New York | 50 Hudson Yards, 64th Floor New York, NY 10001, United States |
| Sunrise | Chicago, IL | 30 South Wacker Avenue, Suite 1706 Chicago, IL 60606 |
| Volant | New York | 250 Vesey Street New York, NY 10281 |
| Belvedere | Chicago, IL | 10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000 Chicago, IL 60606 |
| Wolverine | Chicago, IL | 175 West Jackson Avenue, Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60604 |
| Jump Trading | Chicago, IL | 600 West Chicago Avenue, Suite 825 Chicago, IL 60654 |
| Virtu Financial | New York | 1633 Broadway, 41st Floor New York, NY 10019, United States |
| Headlands | Chicago, IL | 444 West Lake Street, Suite 4650 Chicago, IL 60606, United States |
| HAP | New York | 395 Hudson Street, Suite 701 New York, NY 10014, United States |
| Tower Research Capital | New York | 395 Hudson Street, Suite 701 New York, NY 10014, United States |
| Hudson River Trading | New York | 175 Greenwich Street, 76th Floor New York, NY 10007, United States |
| Flow Traders | New York | 1140 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Floor New York City, NY 10001, United States |
| Overall, proprietary trading firms are mostly concentrated in Chicago and New York, with Chicago having slightly more firms than New York. Additionally, some of the top companies have offices in other cities, such as Austin, Texas, and San Francisco. For example, Citadel has decided to move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami. |
Hedge funds focus on managing the funds of private investors and their goal is to help investors achieve returns that exceed the market average by developing a series of strategies. Typically, these companies hire quantitative analysts to use statistical techniques to make investment decisions and trade executions. Here are some of the top quant hedge funds and where they are headquartered.
| Company name | Location | Headquarters address |
|---|---|---|
| Citadel | Miami, FL | Southeast Financial Center 200 S. Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33131 |
| Millenium | New York | 399 Park Avenue New York, NY 10022 United States |
| Two Sigma | New York | 100 Avenue of the Americas 16th Floor New York, NY 10013 |
| D.E Shaw | New York | The D. E. Shaw Group Headquarters 1166 Avenue of the Americas Ninth Floor New York, NY 10036 |
| Point 72 | Stamford, Connecticut | 72 Cummings Point Road Stamford, CT 06902 |
| Schonfeld | New York | 590 Madison Ave, New York, 10022, United States |
| Square Point Capital | New York | New York, New York 10019, United States |
Unsurprisingly, most quant hedge funds are headquartered in New York rather than Chicago. New York is known as the "hedge fund capital of the world", which is fully reflected in the table above.
Overall, the data shows that both New York and Chicago are great places to find a job in the quantitative finance industry. If you are interested in a proprietary trading firm, Chicago may be your top choice. And if you are more inclined to work in a hedge fund, New York may be more suitable for you.
Thanks for reading this article. Hopefully this information will help you choose the city that’s best for your quantitative finance career.
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