High School

In high school, take classes in business, economics, statistics, accounting, mathematics, software programming (if you want to work in electronic trading), database management, English, and speech.

Postsecondary Education

A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business, mathematics, finance, quantitative finance, accounting, or economics from a top-tier college is often required to work as a trader, but these rules aren’t hard and fast. Some traders are financial whizzes, but lack college degrees. Others may be highly-skilled and successful, but did not attend a prestigious college. Some traders have degrees in the humanities.   

Many quantitative traders have master’s degrees in financial engineering, financial mathematics, or computational finance. The International Association for Quantitative Finance offers a list of colleges and universities that offer degree in these areas at https://www.iaqf.org/academic-programs. Others have graduate degrees in computer science, statistics, physics, computer programming, or electrical engineering.

Some banks such as Goldman Sachs and UBS provide extensive on-the-job training, which is delivered in a variety of ways: classroom instruction, webinars, or self-paced individual learning.

Other Education or Training

The Algorithmic Trader’s Association offers webinars such as Introduction to Systematic Trading, Simulated Trading, Optimization, and Performance and Robustness. The CFA Institute, Futures Industry Association, International Association for Quantitative Finance, Market Technicians Association, and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association also provide continuing education classes, webinars, and workshops. Contact these organizations for more information.

Certification

Colleges and universities provide certificates in investment banking, trading, and related areas. For example, the University of Pittsburgh offers an Investments and Trading Certificate Program. Certificate-seekers must complete four required classes (Investments and Capital Markets, Markets and Trading, Fixed Income, and Forecasting) and elective courses. The University of Houston, City University of New York-Baruch College, Johns Hopkins University, and other colleges offer related programs. Contact schools in your area to learn about what types of educational opportunities are available. Additionally, Fitch Learning (which offers continuing education opportunities to individuals and corporations) offers a certificate in quantitative finance. Visit http://www.cqf.com for more information.  

Certification or Licensing

The Algorithmic Trader’s Association offers the certified algorithmic trader credential to those who complete a 14-unit educational program. Some traders earn the chartered financial analyst credential (which is offered by the CFA Institute), chartered market technician certification (CMT Association), or certified public accountant designation (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants).

Investment banks require that traders who make investment recommendations to clients have or eventually receive their Series 7 (General Securities Representative) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law) credentials from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory arm of the investment industry. Traders must also be licensed by regulators in the state in which their company does business. 

Aspiring associates must have at least one to two years of experience (internship, analyst program, employment) in trading or sales.

Traders must be able to process and act on information quickly, as well as possess strong mathematical and computational skills. Other important traits include excellent communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to multitask, a detail-oriented personality, integrity and ethics, and strong risk management skills. Traders must be extremely proficient in the use of trading systems and software such as Bloomberg Sell-Side Execution and Order Management Solutions and Bloomberg Trade Order Management Solutions. Quantitative traders must have expertise in algorithmic trading software such as TradeStation, MultiCharts, NinjaTrader, Deltix, and OpenQuant, as well as knowledge of programming languages such as Python, C++, MQL4, and C#.