What if we told you that we are about to share the story of an entrepreneur who just wanted to learn how to get better at his trading, but eventually emerged at the top 2 of the EPAT Exam? Unbelievable? Well, it’s true.
He is a person on the path to consuming knowledge to feed his hunger of learning more and more. We connected with this successful Innovator, Entrepreneur, and a proud Algorithmic Trader - EPAT Alumnus, Narciso Perez.
Here’s our discussion with him:
Hi Narciso! Could you tell us about yourself?
Hi! I’m Narciso Perez, I’m based in Argentina. I am passionate about Integral Human Development, innovation and technology. I have a small firm ‘TrioIngenieria’ dedicated to making software for the automotive industry, so I programme PLC, PC and S.c.a.d.a. Systems.
- I’ve automated several important machines and assembly lines, some have even been robotized. All in the automotive industry.
- Another project of mine in another market was reverse-engineering an electromedicine machine to do lymphatic drainage by electro-stimulation.
- I’ve also innovated and sold an automatic machine to wash kegs of beer.
Despite this, I have not evolved economically and professionally as I would. This prompted me to enter and study trading.
I’m a system’s engineer by education. After secondary school - I became an electronic technician, and later did my engineering. When I was finishing engineering I took a specialization in Artificial Intelligence.
2007 - I did a Systems’ Embedded Masters Course from Instituto Universitario Aeronáutico (Aeronautical University Institute)
2011 - I studied Masters in innovation and development entrepreneur at Salamanca University. It helped me a lot to evaluate new entrepreneurship opportunities, personal characteristics, professional skills, the environment, and all fallacies of an entrepreneur. It only lacked to present my thesis.
Late 2011 - I signed up as a freelancer and started working for the automotive industry which demanded a lot of effort, dealing generally in bad payments, high taxes and great economic depreciation.
I’m a teacher in a secondary technician school and technique Institute, where I teach computer networks, statistics, programming languages and database.
I'm happily married and I have two children, Francisco is sixteen and Valentina is thirteen.
My dog is an important family’s member. I like to exercise regularly and I love studying. I would like to help other people achieve their objectives and well-being.
I have had a good job and it was in the electric power company, from which I retired with a voluntary retirement, but it was not the ideal job, I wanted to study engineering. Today, I’ve become an entrepreneur out of necessity, considering that the economic situation in my country is not good. For that, I think that algo trading is a good option.
Could you share with us your journey into Algorithmic Trading?
Algorithmic Trading - It is a career that I didn't know about. I started with a MetaTrader demo account and I have been trading since. I think my style is scalping.
I never knew that I could utilise the knowledge of the topics that I like - like Programming, Machine Learning, Finance, Economy, etc. develop the ability and skills for analysing and resolving problems. I came across the EPAT course while seeking information on entrepreneurship in trading on Google.
Now I understand many topics and I am learning. After EPAT I now have a real account with U$S30 gifted in XM. How? I started on January 20, I performed 39 all positive operations with a 2.07 Sharpe, zero negative. I know some might find this funny, but I was and I still am very committed.
I wish to learn more and understand much more. I’d love to teach about Algorithmic and Quantitative Trading!
I’m very proud to be a QuantInsti member and extremely determined to become a reference and live following my passion. My time at EPAT was an excellent experience and still continues to be. In fact, I’m still learning more, studying Machine Learning. And I would like to get a job through QuantInsti’s Placement Cell itself.
What's next for you?
I’m now moving towards trading with a real account using more capital and investment and I hope to mint some profits. I wish to become an excellent algorithmic trader and make it my life’s style.
Which feature of EPAT did you like the most?
Excellence, the love for excellence.
But I also believe that QuantInsti is very honest about what you do, and therefore QuantInsti does very well.
At the beginning of the course, I didn't think I could finish, and it helped me a lot that Afrin and Dionne from QuantInsti motivated me. Then I relaxed and put on my best. I finished second in scoring in the EPAT Exams!
I would have liked to send a greeting and congratulations to Balamurugan Ganesan who finished first, and to Krunal Vyas who finished third. We were with them throughout the course guarding the tip.
Do you have any message for the aspiring Quants out there?
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.”
- Henry Ford
Try to achieve what you desire. Put in your efforts, heart and soul into it. If you don’t think you’ll be able to achieve what you want, you will never achieve it. It is all in your mind.
Thank you for taking out the time for this interview, Narciso. We really appreciate it. Thank you for your kind words about QuantInsti and EPAT. We wish you the best for your growth in Algorithmic Trading.
In one's quest to upgrade the knowledge of Algorithmic Trading, one needs to be equipped with the requisite knowledge and the necessary skills. Our Executive Programme in Algorithmic Trading (EPAT), is a comprehensive course that helps you achieve your learning goals. It covers topics ranging from Statistics & Econometrics to Financial Computing & Technology including Machine Learning and more.
Disclaimer: In order to assist individuals who are considering pursuing a career in algorithmic and quantitative trading, this case study has been collated based on the personal experiences of a student or alumni from QuantInsti’s EPAT® programme. Case studies 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.
