I wouldn't want to poop on PhD quants... but when it comes to trading... the only math you really need is arithmetic. You do, however, need to be able to "observe and deduce". KISS, baby!
Nobody is irreplaceable, there are dozens like him. That doesn't make a HF profitable... LTCM was full of geniuses...
IMV, a good trade can be explained to a your grandmother in 10 words. (Yes, that simple! OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration... but only slightly.)
. "The only difference between math and maths is where they're used. Math is the preferred term in the United States and Canada. Maths is the preferred term in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and other English-"
I turn down hedge fund recruiters about once a month . Terry Tao is a sharp guy but I made advancement on the Riemann hypothesis by adding dynamics to zeta . In a blog comment he said he couldn't figure out how to do it. Either he snubbed me or mail went to spam folder. Either way, unimpressed. https://github.com/crowlogic/arb4j/blob/master/docs/X.pdf Also the way you people blather on about what you think other people do and what their motivation is, is quite ludicrous
My CS professor was instrumental in building google's core search algorithm. In 2001 they offered in a job. He opted to stay in academics. He left billions of net worth on the table, while google still managed to dominate search without him.