AI skills overtake degrees in quant investing recruitment
Bloomberg research finds City employers increasingly value AI skills over traditional academic qualifications in quant recruitment
AI fluency is becoming a more important requirement than a degree in mathematics, physics or engineering for candidates seeking quantitative investment roles in the City, according to new research from Bloomberg.
Almost half (48%) the 500 London-based financial services professionals surveyed considered AI proficiency a requirement for entering quant investing, compared with just 39% for whom a degree in mathematics, physics, engineering or computer science is essential.
Employers are becoming more willing to recruit candidates from outside traditional finance, according to the survey. Among respondents responsible for final hiring decisions, 94% said they would consider someone without a conventional finance or quant background for an analytical or quantitative position if they demonstrated strong AI and coding skills, while more than half (54%) had already hired someone on this basis.
However, while more than half of respondents (51%) believed AI was widening the range of backgrounds from which quant professionals could be recruited, just 18% thought specialist grounding was no longer necessary.
James Jarvis, head of go-to-market for BQuant Product at Bloomberg, said AI was "democratising the talent pool", allowing people with a wider range of backgrounds, including arts degrees, to enter roles that previously demanded highly specialised skills.
However, he cautioned that the technology did not remove the need for human judgement, critical thinking and expertise in applying AI tools effectively.
Traditional technical knowledge still has a key role to play, with almost a third (32%) saying strong numerical or analytical abilities remain essential. Nonetheless, a key minority (13%) surveyed believed entering the profession had become harder because candidates now needed AI expertise alongside existing technical skills.