Graham Capital Management comes to CDS

This Friday, Graham Capital Management (GCM) introduced our CDS students to the career opportunities available for them in financial investing.

Established in 1994, GCM is a leading macro-oriented investment firm based in Connecticut, with another office located in London, UK. The firm manages their clients’ portfolios in one of two ways: discretionary or quantitative strategies. The discretionary approach is where industry experts in the firm are given considerable free reign to manage individual portfolios.

But the quantitative strategies are where the data scientists are needed. While several financial firms believe in efficient market analysis, GCM applies innovative scientific research to consistently generate strong returns. They collect a range of financial data like price action, macroeconomic data, volatility, supply and demand records, and market sentiments. Then, they design trading strategies that run money systematically for their clients on over 100 different markets. GCM’s data-driven approach has continually given them—and their clients—a major advantage, especially during the financial crisis in 2008.

Central to their continual success is prioritizing quality over quantity when it comes to recruitment. Although they only have roughly 200 personnel, their staff comprises of talented individuals with advanced degrees in computer science, machine learning, economics and, of course, data science. Unsurprisingly, then, GCM’s office culture is a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary one.

Interestingly, GCM’s talented employees frequently borrow from academic practices to improve their own research, like emphasizing teamwork, peer review, and holding internal conferences. They also keep a close eye on the research produced by technology giants like Google and Facebook so that they can adopt new techniques into their trading strategies.

As a data-driven investment firm, GCM always seeks graduates whom, like our CDS students, have demonstrated quantitative competency and developed some financial acumen. Located in a marvelous mansion in Connecticut (with a free gym and cafeteria!), GCM is a promising option for our graduates.

by Cherrie Kwok