Curiosity often compels a person to explore more and find answers and solutions to questions, thus equipping one with desired information. With the right set of skills and knowledge, one can achieve his dreams and can gain expertise in any field of one’s choice.
Mr Srinivas Hosur, a Compliance and Risk Analyst at iRageCapital, pursued his dream of getting a job in an HFT firm through his constant determination and focus to learn and upgrade his knowledge about the field of trading.
Let’s read what Srinivas has to say about his journey!
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Hi Srinivas, tell us about yourself?
I’m from Hyderabad, India. I have completed my MBA in Finance and my first job was in a trading firm. That is where I got introduced to manual and algorithmic trading. I’m a very curious person. I like improving my knowledge on a variety of topics.
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Being an Algo Trader, what motivated you to choose EPAT to explore this domain further?
I had no experience in MS Excel or any other statistical or programming language. But I soon felt the limitations of manual trading and started reading about systematic and automated trading. Excel had its limitations and I soon felt the need to move to a statistical language.
But I had very few projects in hand to experiment with what I had learned from books and the internet. I wanted to pick up all the relevant skills that an algo trader is expected to have. I started searching for courses online and that’s when I came to know about EPAT. It covered most of the things that I was looking for.
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How was your experience with EPAT?
I found the EPAT course very exhaustive, just the thing I was looking for. It covered a lot of topics, the pace was good, lectures and notes were very well designed. The one thing that I’ll be forever thankful to EPAT, is that I was introduced to Machine Learning. In four months time, I learnt most of the things, knowledge about prevailing industry methods, mathematical models, coding, backtesting, using various statistical and programming tools etc. I was able to apply a few mathematical models to build momentum, mean reverting etc. strategies.
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How did EPAT help you in achieving your objectives?
One of the reasons to join EPAT was a hope to join an HFT firm. And it was only because of EPAT that I could get a job in an HFT firm. There was absolutely no other way I could think of to achieve this.
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How are you applying the concepts learnt in EPAT in your trading?
After EPAT, the way I work has become a lot more refined and efficient. The OOP part of coding in Python is one of the things I use a lot after I’ve learnt the techniques, and it is beneficial for me in my day-to-day tasks. Successfully applying Machine Learning techniques and building a strategy is what I’m aiming at in the near future.
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What message would you like to give to the aspiring Quant/Algo traders?
Try to find ways to keep up with the pace at which the trading industry is moving, only after that your work will be relevant. Till then anything you do would’ve already been done by a lot of people. In this zero-sum game, the one with the edge always wins. The only way to achieve an edge is to innovate, be a first mover.
Srinivas’s journey sets an example of how one can achieve their ultimate goal through perseverance and a thirst for knowledge.
You, too, can start your quest to upgrade your knowledge of Algorithmic Trading through EPAT, which ensures that you are equipped with the requisite knowledge, and enhances your Algorithmic Trading skills. EPAT is a comprehensive course covering 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.
