Hedge Fund Trader Jobs

Traders are responsible for the actual buying and selling of financial products, as well as certain aspects of the research, analysis, and due diligence required for profitable transactions. The hedge fund trader is the person who executes the firm's overall investment strategy. Traders must maintain relationships with other brokers and firms, have a good understanding of the market and a thorough mastery of the areas in which they specialize, and have a strong awareness of issues, trends, and events currently impacting the financial industry.

Hedge fund traders are at the center of the investment firm. Quantitative analysts (also known as "Quants") work alongside traders, building trading models using computational mathematics and complex financial modeling. Trading jobs often require experience in portfolio management and various risk and financial models. Although nothing beats outstanding trading success, many hedge fund trading jobs require a background in statistics and those from the top MBA and Financial Engineering programs tend to get first pick of the available hedge fund offers.

Hedge fund trading jobs typically require either a business degree from an accredited university, or successful hedge fund experience, with a strong preparation in statistics being extremely beneficial. Trader salaries vary greatly depending on what company they work for and in which city they work, but base salary ranges reach between $40,000 and $80,000. Upper salary ranges for successful traders may range into the millions, with performance bonuses adding significantly to a trader's compensation package.