UK
Banks queasy over quants
28 March 2007
Anonymous
Are London’s quants pricing themselves out of the market?
One senior financial services consultant says the price of a good quant in the City of London is so high that some non-French banks have started shifting quant teams out of London and into Paris.
“The price of a quant has risen so much that some firms have shifted quant teams to Continental Europe, where mathematical skills come more readily – and are cheaper,” he tells us.
French quants are certainly far cheaper than their UK counterparts. While a fresh-faced PhD can now command a £59k base salary plus a £59k bonus by joining a top US bank in the City, his counterpart in Paris is earning a salary of £40k to £55k, plus bonus of 50% to 100%, according to recruitment firm Robert Walters.
The discrepancy increases with time. After five years, a quant in London will be on around £400k, while his or her Paris counterpart will have to scrape by on no more than £170k.
“Quants are twice as cheap in France,” says Antoine Morgaut, director of Robert Walters’ Paris office. “If I were running a quant desk I’d put it here – it’s cheaper and easier to develop a team.”
Morgaut confirms that some US banks are looking to grow French quant teams – to the possible detriment of their London counterparts. However, Rachel Biernacka, head of the quant desk at recruitment firm Huxley Associates, disputes this: “If anything, everyone’s trying to centralise their exotic quant space in London,” she says.
Biernacka confirms that quants are getting pricier, however: “Because they’re an integral part of the business with the structurers and traders, they now have a direct line to the bonus pool.”
If London quants get too costly, Parisian rivals may not be the only ones vying for banks’ attention. “Mumbai is another alternative,” says Morgaut. “Quants are even cheaper there.”
That article is rubbish. A quant with 5 years experience doesn't earn £400K ,but something like £200K, and a quant in paris doesn't earn that much either...I don't know where people get information....
Anyway companies like to outsource , and I feel in a few years most companies will be based in India and Africa ,and all migrants will stay home.
Anonymous 29 Mar 2007
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