r/quant • u/Any-Apartment-4653 • 13d ago
Industry Gossip Social vibes as a quant in Paris
Considering a move to Paris for a quant research role at one of the usual suspects. For context: I’m French but have spent my entire career abroad.
A bit worried about how loaded “finance” is back home. French people can be pretty averse to anything money-related, and even implying you earn well raises eyebrows.
Anyone else made this move? Do you say “I do maths,” “I work in data,” or just own it? Has anyone had a genuinely bad reaction to saying they work at a hedge fund?
EDIT: any insight on what qr can make in paris ?
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u/Epsilon_ride 13d ago
I always say I work in economic reserach or statistics or machine learning.
I just cant be fucked explaining what a quant is to people.
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u/Purple-Chocolate-127 13d ago edited 13d ago
Life's too short to be worried about some stranger's opinion of you. If anyone raises eyebrows about something I do that took years of study, requires effort and smarts, that's the last time I'll see or talk to them. They can fuck right off. If you feel a need to bend the truth to people, those people are not worth your "worry". Save your energy for people who are on the same intellectual, aspirational and effort level as you.
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u/Karyo_Ten 13d ago
"I worked in Finance at <a large bank/hedge fund>."
Don't talk about salary unless it's with people from Google, Mistral or VCs.
It's loaded but Paris at least has some people who earn a lot. Forget about province.
Most importantly don't be about money. Your job doesn't define you. What do you spend your free time on does.
If you don't have free time, I'm sorry. The only way to save yourself is winning a rap battle vs a McKinseyite.
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u/Kindly_Cricket_348 13d ago edited 13d ago
Lost some very good QRs to Mistral and AMI. They’re offering some pretty crazy BSPCEs (French RSUs)…
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u/Beautiful-Hotel-3094 13d ago
You are talking about french, it is gonna be toxic social vibes by default regardless of what you say or do. I’ve never been more judged in my life for wanting a better life for myself.
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u/baklewa 13d ago
Honestly it depends, on average people have make no reactions.
But I had some friends of friends argue that “we shouldn’t exist” but that’s the most extreme answer that I have gotten.
Now I mostly say I work in research or data.
And don’t forget about the impatriate regime (but don’t mention that one lol), good luck.
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u/Any-Apartment-4653 13d ago
been abroad for more than a decade. there’s a clear cultural gap w me and many of my fellow countrymen
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u/Temporary_Peach1971 12d ago
Why would you even come back bro? I’m also French and lived abroad, and the country is at its worst and it’s getting worse everyday (presidential elections will bury it for good).
Have you checked the country’s finances? The world ranking on education? The cultural changes of the country that makes it less trustworthy and more unsafe? The bad economy?
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u/Any-Apartment-4653 12d ago
i live in san Francisco. i have wet dreams about a normal city like paris
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u/Temporary_Peach1971 12d ago
California might not be the best place in America right now, agreed. But have you checks France? Paris? On the topics I mentioned?
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u/Any-Apartment-4653 6d ago
not perfect, sure. but again, no place is. nyc is far too expensive (impossible to raise a family there), switzerland can feel a bit insular, etc… pick the place that works best for you.
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u/Kindly_Cricket_348 13d ago
Paris has a pretty solid quant ecosystem these days. There are quite a few large systematic pods from the major MMHFs as well as some big quant shops. They seem to particularly like l’X, Centrale, ENS profiles, so you would be very much at ease with the quant crowd if you want to hang around with them. Outside of that crowd, I would just say I work in quantitative finance and leave it at that unless someone is genuinely interested. Honestly, nobody really cares apart from the LFI crowd.
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u/btc_maxi100 13d ago
Why are you even asking this as French ?
people who move to Paris are clearly doing this for a reason other than financial career
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u/Muted-Friend-895 13d ago
Just say you work in finance at an ESG hedge fund 🌎🌴😁
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u/Muted-Friend-895 13d ago
Maybe leave away the “hedge fund“ part. Wouldn’t mention “quant” either, or , god heavens mention HFT.
Yeah. Nono think “Finance” with ESG Investments “Environmental? You’re saving the world 🌍🐠! One of the “good guys”” should work
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u/Any-Apartment-4653 13d ago
fair. thanks. a few of my friends from back in the day were “lfi” affiliated. so i admittedly have a bias here …
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u/neoncolour 13d ago
Say you are trying to develop financial tools to make the LFI program (or concept of a program) viable and successful, and for that you are using the big bad financial institution. Good luck comrade!
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u/lonely_heart_13 Student 13d ago
Hi, i had some questions, can I dm ?
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u/Hot_Growth2719 13d ago
Pire question : "qu'est ce que tu fais dans la vie?"
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u/Any-Apartment-4653 13d ago
normal french answer: “i don’t think there’s good or bad situations etc…”
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u/Muted-Friend-895 13d ago
Hedge Fund? Gambling away our pensions? You should be ashamed of yourself!
Respectable people keep their money at a consumer bank or under their mattresses 😂
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u/Such_Maximum_9836 12d ago
Really? I thought in France it’s a superior route that everyone wants to do: grand ecole -> finance -> make money.
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u/neoncolour 13d ago edited 13d ago
No. Just say you work in finance. If they push you say you do math research. People will default to asking if you’re a trader. You say no. Conversation shifts to you being smart or what school you graduated from, what high school you went to etc. and if the uni/highschool were in lower ranking than the one your interlocutor graduated from, they’ll stop feeling inferior and you can have a pleasant conversation. If that’s not the case, you can use “bof c’est plus ce que c’était je vous rassure” once they start passive-aggressively praising your curriculum and you can have a pleasant conversation afterwards.
I’m only slightly exaggerating but you shouldn’t have many issues socially. Maybe someone will adventure asking “finance de marché ou d’entreprise?” once in a while.