- The best traders had excellent communication skills
- Good technical skills and able to learn new technology quickly.
- Ability to think quickly and act decisively.
- Very competitive. Attracts quite a few ex college jocks.
- School and degree don't matter as much as for analyst positions.
- A Masters is always useful, but not really necessary as a trader.
If you are in the northeast, look at Bentley Univ in Waltham, MA. They have the only on campus trading room. Interesting for those who want to trade or develop technology for trading. Link below.
The job market is very competitive so a Master's degree is going to make you more marketable for the position. Any of the Ivy League schools would look good but there are good public schools as well. UCLA has a good reputation. To save cost I would just do my graduates at one of the top schools because employers look at where you ended. They also look for strong work experience in the field to validate that you are capable for the job. You need to balance your education and work experience background. I would suggest a degree in Finance and Math.
Why would you do that?
First off, equity traders are nearly all short-termers. I have fired countless numbers of them. It is an impossible job to do and remain ethical and legal. Everyone who does well at it in hedge funds or banks spends their life worrying about when their game is going to end.
Go to school and study Plato, quantum mechanics, Michelangelo, complex analysis and become an equity trader only if you have to. It is a completely awful job.
It's important to note that, no matter what degree(s) you have, unless you have practical experience, no corporation will allow you to trade for them or their clients. They don't want people who can't actually earn money, unless you're strictly becoming a customer service representative who helps enter manual trades, and nothing more.
And if you can earn money, then you probably wouldn't be working at a company, anyway.
opinion: math degree
every night read for one hour about investing for those 4 years.
My goal is to break into equity trading at a big bank or a hedge fund...
However my question is what is the best shools and degree to break into equity trading.
If anyone know several good schools for it, feel free to mention them al ;)
