Trading

Trading firms make money by taking positions in financial markets and managing the risk of those positions. Market makers provide liquidity by continuously quoting buy and sell prices, profiting from the spread between them. Proprietary trading firms take directional positions based on quantitative models or market views. Commodity traders buy and sell physical or financial commodity contracts.

The daily work is fast-paced and data-intensive. Quantitative researchers develop and test trading strategies using historical market data. Traders execute strategies and manage live positions. Risk managers monitor exposure and make sure positions stay within limits. Engineers build the systems that execute trades at speed. At many firms, the boundary between researcher and engineer is narrow.

The main tools are Python and C++ for research and systems development. Statistical methods from time series analysis and machine learning are widely applied. Bloomberg and proprietary data feeds are standard. Speed and reliability matter enormously, and many firms invest heavily in low-latency infrastructure.

The sector is highly performance-driven. Results are visible and measured directly. In the Netherlands, Amsterdam hosts a concentration of electronic market-making and quantitative trading firms. The sector connects closely to the Banking and Asset Management sectors, and roles here overlap with Quantitative Analyst, Trader, and Data Scientist roles.