rawrschach
Experienced member
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looks good
IIRC it's called "International Securities, Investment and Banking". I looked at this as an option closely (about 7 or 8 years ago); from what I can remember, they teach all things finanical markets. It is very specialised, and on this I turned down the offer and plumped for Warwick .More accurately, my Parents convinced me. I was dead keen to go to the ISMA centre, so much that I took both parents to see it (on seperate occasions, you'll understand). I have to say they were right, IMO unless you want to be a Doctor or a Lawyer then get a generic degree, rather than something that will limit your options down the line.
It's a swish building though, with some excellent facilities. A little removed from the main body of students I think because of the difference in academic requirements, somethink like AAB (ISMA) over BBC (most courses).
ICMA Centre Reading UK | Business School | Finance Degrees | Executive Education | Consultancy
OK, I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but I do think that is the best thing for you to be doing (
)
You could do your SII now, but what on earth for? The way I see it, the first hurlde you have is getting into a top uni, getting a job comes after that. So, you should be trying to do whatever it is that will make your Uni application stronger, not your CV for an interviewer - do some voluntary work, get an interesting job for the summer - maybe even try and work abroad????
IMO you have a better chance of getting the type of job you want if you jump through the hoops. Academic Excellence is a pre-requisite for the uni's you want to be looking at - and to get the best grades you can in your A'levels, you really need to be taking a break and having some fun over summer. It might sound a bit "mystic meg", but it's the truth. You are too young to be putting yourself through some regime that'll stress you out - and probably impair your future performance in college.
Instead, it would be better to spend your time doing something you enjoy doing, and will give you something to talk about when it comes to Uni interviews - D of E, voluntary work, travelling, and so on... when push comes to shove, there will inevitably be some chinese kid who has twice as many qualifications as you do, so you've got to give yourself something else.
Do all that, get into Uni, then think about your CV.
)You could do your SII now, but what on earth for? The way I see it, the first hurlde you have is getting into a top uni, getting a job comes after that. So, you should be trying to do whatever it is that will make your Uni application stronger, not your CV for an interviewer - do some voluntary work, get an interesting job for the summer - maybe even try and work abroad????
IMO you have a better chance of getting the type of job you want if you jump through the hoops. Academic Excellence is a pre-requisite for the uni's you want to be looking at - and to get the best grades you can in your A'levels, you really need to be taking a break and having some fun over summer. It might sound a bit "mystic meg", but it's the truth. You are too young to be putting yourself through some regime that'll stress you out - and probably impair your future performance in college.
Instead, it would be better to spend your time doing something you enjoy doing, and will give you something to talk about when it comes to Uni interviews - D of E, voluntary work, travelling, and so on... when push comes to shove, there will inevitably be some chinese kid who has twice as many qualifications as you do, so you've got to give yourself something else.
Do all that, get into Uni, then think about your CV.
I'd be a bit skeptical about having the Reading University brand name on my CV in general given that they aren't particularly well rated and don't seem to be bothered or embarrassed by employing a computer science lecturer who doesn't really understand mathematics:
BBC - Berkshire - Features - 1200-year-old problem 'easy'
Also there are far better options than acturial science for people wanting to work in derivatives - a masters in financial engineering or mathematical finance would be a much better fit. Applied maths & physics are well liked too.
BBC - Berkshire - Features - 1200-year-old problem 'easy'
Also there are far better options than acturial science for people wanting to work in derivatives - a masters in financial engineering or mathematical finance would be a much better fit. Applied maths & physics are well liked too.
Mr Gecko thanks for your ideas. I am completing silver D of E, in about 2 weeks, starting gold next year. I do voluntary work on a weekly basis at a local statly home. I will be njoying myself over the summer. I am also going to be doing a glidign qualification over the summer. I may start teaching myself some of the As Level courses so i am ahead in september. but I really want a qaulification that will express my interest in this future career. And I will tell you my GCSE grades when they come out. haha.
I've been curious about where IB Prop desk strategy differs with the Prop Shop (not arcade!).
From what I gather Prop Shops work primarily with short-term intra day strategies and reading tape / internalizing market patterns. IB's on the other hand are making longer-term macro bets and front-running?
From what I gather Prop Shops work primarily with short-term intra day strategies and reading tape / internalizing market patterns. IB's on the other hand are making longer-term macro bets and front-running?
KillPhil08
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Good read.
How did your exams go?
How did your exams go?
IB prop vs Prop shop strategy varies markedly mainly due to products traded. Prop shop = electronic trading (be it shares, futures or options). IB = anything that is of interest ( i have even heard of one guy who took six months off to buy a number of farms (pre food price spike) which was subsequently sold off for a large profit. (time frame is on the whole much larger for IB prop desks vs prop shops) Obviously a lot of the overall goals when trading products will be the same however, think about swaptions, swaps, bonds etc, the arbitrage between them is a lot more complex than a futures/options arb strat.
In regards to prop shop vs IB, if you want to make a lot of money i.e 8 figures a year plus, the only way to go (if you can get in there) is an IB......evidenced by the fact that the ratio of hedge fund managers who made their name in the IB world vs those who made their name in the prop shop world is (ahem) significantly skewed towards IB experience and lets face it, the top traders are hedge fund traders/managers (I don't know any bank traders who have taken home $3 yards in one yr!)......even given the poor performance of Citadel!!! lol
In regards to prop shop vs IB, if you want to make a lot of money i.e 8 figures a year plus, the only way to go (if you can get in there) is an IB......evidenced by the fact that the ratio of hedge fund managers who made their name in the IB world vs those who made their name in the prop shop world is (ahem) significantly skewed towards IB experience and lets face it, the top traders are hedge fund traders/managers (I don't know any bank traders who have taken home $3 yards in one yr!)......even given the poor performance of Citadel!!! lol
guardiangel
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problem is IB prop desks require a ton of experience. and they do hire a lot from prop shops. I was at a career fair and i asked a few top IB recruiting personnel about IB sales and trading. they knew what i was looking for and they gave me a very consistent "we would prefer many years of experience" and trust me 5 years of experience don't make the cut. they won't even look at your trade records/performance. even if u get in u might be put into the sales division or just run the orders rather than be taught in a hardcore crash course like prop shops do.
so in some ways i don't agree with the idea that just because you started in a prop shop u can't rival IB prop desks because that is also a route in the future.
just my own 2c but
if a prop shop trader just utilizes the strategies and knowledge bestowed on him by his "mentors" and do not think of creative ways to improve his trading whether by changing part of the strategy or whatsoever, he will forever stay as a prop shop trader, while the ones who take the next step go on to be hedge fund managers and your so called "8 figure" IB. i didn't know IB makes that much, how many years does it take just curious
so in some ways i don't agree with the idea that just because you started in a prop shop u can't rival IB prop desks because that is also a route in the future.
just my own 2c but
if a prop shop trader just utilizes the strategies and knowledge bestowed on him by his "mentors" and do not think of creative ways to improve his trading whether by changing part of the strategy or whatsoever, he will forever stay as a prop shop trader, while the ones who take the next step go on to be hedge fund managers and your so called "8 figure" IB. i didn't know IB makes that much, how many years does it take just curious
MY point was that IB's do recruit from prop shops but the number of occassions this will happen is extremely small. It is not even neccessarily experience that sets you apart, for example, IB Prop desks (which i hasten to add are a dying or shrinking breed) do take on fresh recruits however, you will need an extremely speciailised masters or phd. And that is my point, the complexity of trading within IB prop desks is much greater than prop shops on the whole owing to the greater variety of products used i.e i am pretty sure, there were very few (if any) prop shops trading CDS OTC or ribs etc and that point goes to the heart of the issue. Prop shop trading is vastly different.....why? because it is predominantly electronic as opposed to OTC. How many yrs it takes to get to high salaries is very subjective as it depends how good you are and where you are, e.g you can do it within 5 yrs but that is probably more the exception than the rule.
it's all very subjective though, some prop traders have become successful fund managers etc however, that does not tend to be pattern and as such, whilst some IB's may take a prop shop trader, generally they do not.
aww where'd the guy go he's the only person i've seen around 15/16 on these forums bar myself .
wonder how he did in his GCSEs, i go to a grammar school to and do economics and predicted A* and As in about 6 of them but german, english,english lit and physics i'd be fine with a B.
This guy seems a LOT smarter than any 16 year old iv'e even seen...
.wonder how he did in his GCSEs, i go to a grammar school to and do economics and predicted A* and As in about 6 of them but german, english,english lit and physics i'd be fine with a B.
This guy seems a LOT smarter than any 16 year old iv'e even seen...
mb325
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I think there was a 15/16 year old over on Etrader a year or so ago, trading commodities if i remember correctly. Think he called his journal 'youngtrader', or maybe that was his username...
I think this is the vaguest post I've ever made!
Edit: Link to his journal http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100007&perpage=6&pagenumber=91
I think this is the vaguest post I've ever made!
Edit: Link to his journal http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100007&perpage=6&pagenumber=91
