There is a big demand on the buy side for data scientists, according to recruitment specialists.
‘We are seeing this demand across a number of different client types, including traditional investment managers, hedge funds, quant funds, fintech firms and big and small technology firms,’ says Reshma Ketkar, director of recruiting practice Glocap Search. ‘Data scientists make sense of insights found in big data and can use it to make better decisions.’
Pete Cherecwich, the head of global fund services and the Americas institutional business at Northern Trust, agrees. He believes data will become the critical area of focus this year and beyond, both for service providers and asset managers.
‘From my perspective, anyone who has an educational background in data analytics or a subject area such as engineering or math that leads to that kind of role will be well placed,’ Cherecwich says. ‘As the industry becomes more automated, it’s all about understanding all of the data available to you and being able to make business decisions from it.’
Buy-side firms want to hire people who understand the mathematics behind the data analytics using complex algorithms and can come up with new ways of looking at data to generate alpha.
‘You can teach people how the market works – but can they look at data, come up with a hypothesis, look at the structure behind that and test it?’ Cherecwich asks. ‘If you can come up with your own theories and generate alpha, you’ll be in demand.’
