“To know a little about a lot.” - Robert T. Kiyosaki, Author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad
This quote explains Raj’s passion for learning and developing his knowledge and skills. He is an engineer who was fascinated by the world of Finance. He has a dynamic career in banking, technology, and Finance.
While pursuing a degree in Engineering he worked as a part-time trader and later combined his learning with a passion to create unique opportunities for himself. This is his journey into the world of Algorithmic Trading.
Hi Raj, tell us about yourself!
Hi, I am Raj Mahajan, I reside in Wilmington city, Delaware, USA. I am working as a Process Manager for client invoicing service at Blackrock. I am a lead and am responsible for billing, primary billing, production, and oversight of our North American clients.
I’m an engineer with an inclination toward Finance. I am also pursuing CFA since I want to develop my skills and learn more about Finance. In my spare time, I read books and newspapers. I like to keep myself up-to-date with various trends and growing cultures.
How did your journey go from Banking, Edtech, Technology to now Finance?
I wanted to build my career in the technology sector and I went on to pursue my bachelor’s in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering.
During my bachelor’s, I realised that I had an interest in Finance. I began reading books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and was mesmerised by Warren Buffet, and started following him to understand his journey while carving mine.
I surrounded myself with friends and mentors who would invest in the stock market. This helped create an environment for me to learn more about financial markets and brokerage firms. I also started trading by investing in the stock markets.
After my degree in engineering, I completed my MBA in Finance and discovered my fascination with understanding the technical side of finance.
I pursued a master’s program in Financial Engineering from Temple University where I learned about the new branches like derivative markets within the financial market. FinTech Companies were growing at a rapid pace and I aspired to pursue a career in Financial Engineering, so I started researching in-depth about them, various trading strategies and multiple trading techniques.
While exploring, I stumbled upon the EPAT course which is exclusive to Algo Trading and found the modules and curriculum to be quite comprehensive. Thus, I reached out to the team and enrolled in EPAT.
Your take on the role of Technology in Finance!
I have been trading for almost ten years and I knew of the processes like investing, doing ratio analysis, researching and reading financial books and newspapers. Today, I can say that the role of technology in finance has been tremendous. Investing in derivative markets is easier now.
Programming languages are being used to build trading strategies. Previously, we used C++, and now Python has taken over, with most industries working in Python. Many startups have already started adopting Machine Learning and Deep Learning in trading.
I'm currently working on machine learning and a few projects exploring the implementation of machine learning in the credit card industry as well as fraud detection using Python.
Why did you choose EPAT to learn algorithmic trading?
While looking for a course that focused on Algo trading, I came across EPAT.
Although it is a six months course, these are some of the features that make the EPAT course unique and worthwhile:
- Python programming for trading
- An opportunity to learn and implement machine learning and NLP in trading
- Experienced traders and industry experts as mentors - provide guidance, course assessment and top-notch teaching
- A well-designed coursework
- Placement opportunities - providing internships or jobs irrespective of the country that you are in
- A Global presence
- Their association with GARP - a body that conducts financial risk management
- Live online courses
- The support team - quickly resolve any sort of queries
- After a session is over, a doubt-solving session is conducted to resolve the queries of the students. This is with the faculty themselves.
Overall, it was a nice learning experience at EPAT, and I would definitely recommend it.
What comes next for you?
Currently, with my job at Blackrock, I am doing a course in Robotic Process Automation along with the CFA course. Moreover, Blackrock is sponsoring the course as we are working with my team in the American region on automating different processes.
My plan includes working for the next three or four years in the USA and probably returning to India. And I look forward to establishing my trading desk and building my startup in Algorithmic Trading.
What would be your message to all the aspiring Algo Traders out there?
Over the years, I have a realisation that people want to go into the domain of algorithmic trading, and they are actively looking for opportunities, in terms of jobs or building a startup. But more often, they think that the course is very tough or certain domains are too technical.
I believe the journey becomes easier once you gain some knowledge about the courses and build a desire to complete courses. You can also pursue the free courses on Quantra and speak to the mentors.
This is exactly what I did, I kept on learning new courses over the years. I developed my skills and that helped me pursue a career in Algo Trading.
Thank you for sharing such intrinsic details about your journey and your learnings through your extensive career. Your passion for learning and growing will help you achieve your goals. We wish you the best in your future endeavours.
Technology, as we see it, has a great impact on the world of trading. It is pivotal for any aspiring trader to learn and develop with the technology. Algorithmic Trading Courses are built for individuals who wish to develop skills to pursue the growing opportunities in the world of Trading.
If you too wish to begin your career and develop skills to become an algorithmic trader, this algo trading course is your key to success. This course covers topics like Statistics & Econometrics, Financial Computing & Technology, and Machine Learning. It helps you prepare for a career in trading with incredible mentorship through the EPAT programme.
Disclaimer: In order to assist individuals who are considering pursuing a career in algorithmic and quantitative trading, this success story has been collated based on the personal experiences of a student or alumni from QuantInsti’s EPAT programme. Success stories are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be used for investment purposes. The results achieved post-completion of the EPAT programme may not be uniform for all individuals.
