Manhattan University’s Quant Society gathers for their first weekly meeting.
Brooke Della Rocco, News Editor
Manhattan University’s new Quant Society held their introductory meeting this past Wednesday, with a major focus on skill development within quantitative finance.
Quantitative finance explores the intersection of both finance and mathematics by using mathematical models, statistics and programming to analyze financial markets. Because quantitative finance is the foundation of modern trading, it requires data-driven decision making in order to help dissect pricing assets, manage risk and optimize portfolios.
Co-founder and President Nathan Noble, as well as co-founder and Vice President Robert Reatz, are both double-majors in mathematics and finance. During their opening presentation, they discussed why a student may be interested in pursuing a career in quantitative finance.
“I would say the thing that pops out to people immediately is the high earning potential,” Reatz said. “It’s one of the most profitable parts of the financial world. For that reason, the people who are really good at this; really good at trading, quantitative strategies, make a lot of money [and] very competitive salaries.”
The high earning potential and diverse career path opportunities create an environment that is stimulating and exciting for new and upcoming graduates.
As a club, the Quant Society will be working on new projects ranging every two to four weeks, as well as meeting weekly to discuss the implementation of both mathematics and the financial theory in code.
“We want to give you guys a chance, and for us as well, to actually develop these hard skills,” Noble said. “Get good at programming, practice some math [and] data science. Maybe we’ll do some machine learning stuff. The possibilities are pretty endless with this, but we really want to give people an opportunity to develop some applied skills.”
Additionally, the Quant Society has arranged for certain networking events to take place throughout the semester in order to allow for the opportunity to speak with people in the industry. While networking, the club also wants to implement simple social events such as a poker tournament or a chess tournament.
The founders arranged for two speakers to attend the introductory meeting and speak with the students about their path within quantitative finance. Joeseph Chionchio and Jack Kelly, both 2020 alumni from Manhattan University, spoke intuitively about how they found their way into this sector of finance.
“Actually, my first introduction to data [was how] Joe and I started a company during the pandemic called Smart Shop, and it was just a pickup on excess online grocery delivery demand,” Kelly said. “We were on the news, and it was pretty awesome…We jerry-rigged Google sheets into our reporting and used that as our reporting infrastructure. Like I said, super jerry-rigged, but it was my first introduction to real reporting and somewhat of a quantitative analysis.”
Kelly went on to receive his master’s degree in 2021 with a concentration in finance, and secured a job working with Morgan Stanley as a business analyst. He notably remembered how Morgan Stanley’s managing director just so happened to be at his jury duty, and was impressed by his ability to convince one juror that the subject was not guilty, offering him a job on the spot.
“That’s when my data career really just took off,” Kelly said. “I got first hand experience with huge data sets, like billions and trillions of rows. I got to see who Morgan Stanley is doing business with and how much AUM (assets under management) there is, how much net new assets there are and how many net acquired assets there are.”
Kelly left Morgan Stanley earlier in the year and went to work for a smaller insurance company in Westchester County as a data consultant.
Following the introduction from both guest speakers, students were able to participate in a Q&A to ask for advice or knowledge on the subject.
The Quant Society has opened up a whole new sector of the finance and mathematics majors at MU, and Kelly went on to praise Noble and Reatz for their idea in establishing it.
“The whole world is going this way,” Kelly said. “So the quantitative finance club is a huge addition to Manhattan University, I don’t want to understate that. It’s truly an amazing and lifelong skill that you guys can learn by joining a club like this. So take it and run with it.”
Reatz also went on to share why he feels so passionate about this topic and why he wanted to contribute to the establishment of this club.
“For me personally, what drew me to it was [that] it’s intellectually challenging,” Reatz said. “Every day, you’re using mathematics, you’re using computer science, to handle complex problems…It’s something that will challenge you, keep you stimulated. And you’re not going to get bored.”
Both founders wanted to stress that the club was not just for finance or mathematics majors, but open to all students of all majors.
“If you feel you don’t have the greatest programming skills, or if you don’t know any programming, we still encourage you to come,” Noble said. “This is not an exclusive thing by any means. It’s a chance to learn. That’s kind of what we’re here for.”