Testimonies from former interns

Alexandre Cothereau (X-Mines 2006 -DEA P7, 2009):

I did a research internship at a start-up called Arbitragis Trading that specializes in high frequency trading. During those five months, I developed an order book model to optimize “market making” strategies and find new ones, enhanced the in-house highly multi-threaded software, and helped develop high-frequency technical indicators. It was a fantastic experience: this assignment was an eye-opener on the fact that advanced mathematics can have a direct impact on every day approaches. Team work is very important and synergies are catalyzed everyday. My determination to seek a career in quantitative finance has been strengthened by this experience.

I loved the working methodology : team-work was essential in the problem-solving process, learning of new techniques (IT-wise and math-wise) was fascinating, and the open-science attitude of the firm was a definite plus : with the firm, we attended Theoretical Finance seminars at Ecole Polytechnique and presented  part of our results to Quantative Finance researchers to high-profile academia.

I strongly recommend to other students of Polytechnique to  work for Arbitragis Trading if they like challenges and are interested in Quantitative Finance and in Computational Trading.

Antoine Colas (X-Ponts 2006) :

Mehdi,  (X-Telecom-DEA El Karoui, 2002):

I designed a high-frequency trading strategy that was implemented on the markets. This innovative challenge requiring skills in signal processing was a significant boost to my career. From a human perspective, having the opportunity to work with very smart people was a great experience: each team member was very specialized and sharing our knowledge was a great way to generate new ideas. My internship with Arbitragis exceeded all my expectations.

Michael Martos (Ecole Centrale Paris, 2008):
I applied techniques used in the study of  earthquakes to predict financial crashes. I uncovered log-periodic signatures within stock prices. Right after my study, the subprime crisis occured and showed the relevance of my research.
I also programmed significantly in C++, using techniques such as design patterns, multi-threading, optimization. I learned a lot of things and had the opportunity to trade the capital of the firm: I suggested strategies to the senior trader and we took positions on implied volatility. This constituted a formidable experience for me to see how Computer Science and Applied Mathematics could be used in equity derivatives trading.
I appreciated the fact that the firm trusted me enough to let me trade within a very short time.

Joaquin Fernandez (X 2009 - MII P 6)
I programmed proprietary models  derived on the latest results of academic research into our trading engines, and I used state-of-the art technology in order to compute results.

Among the things I really liked at Arbitragis Trading, was the way  real-life trading issues were solved with applied mathematics. The firm is permanently in contact with several researchers in France and abroad, and that allows us to have an in-depth thought on our work. Working with people who were really excellent in mathematics and computer science was for me a formidable experience. The atmosphere in the firm is really friendly because there is a permanent communication with other staff members, and constructive criticism from my peers really enriched me will undoubtadly serve me throughout my career in Quantitative Finance.

Khiem Nguyen (X-Telecom, 2002):
I was looking for a first experience in financial markets and I helped apply signal processing  to algorithmic trading and  put the foundation of the trading engine that I wrote in C++.
I  used design patterns and extreme programming techniques. The high level of technicity of the firm allowed me to orient my career towards IT.

Ronan Le Costaouec (Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées 2006, MII):
I worked on a robust calibration of local volatility models and option pricing based on exponential Levy laws. This research was led by the well-known non-gaussian behaviour of asset prices.
This quantitative research was extremely interesting and challenging.
Arbitragis is a very interesting place for students of Grandes Ecoles who want to have a career in financial markets: research subjects are at the edge of what is known in quantitative finance and the wealth of various backgrounds is definitely a plus (very competent computer scientists allowed me to gain a lot of time while implementating the models) and the atmosphere is very  friendly. This was a fascinating experience.

Laurent Schatz (Telecom Paris 2007):
I developped an automated trading system in C++ which traded by itself according to a set of parameters that had been calculated by a quantitative system. I enjoyed the very friendly and challenging atmosphere in the firm.
 

Fabien Charbonnel (ECP 2008)

I worked on a scientific seminar jointly run with Ecole Centrale Paris on the replication of hedge fund trend following strategies with lookback options. I really liked the extremely original and innovative ideas that were bounced back across the firm based on my work and I felt that my work was really used by traders. I have really improved my knowledge of quantitative finance and of programming languages. I strongly advise other Centraliens to come and work at Arbitragis where  key points are : a laid back atmosphere, an intellectually challenging environment and strong innovation.

 Paul Dieras (INSA Lyon, 2007):
Coming from an Artificial Intelligence background, I came to help develop the trading robot that trades autonomously on the markets. The diversity of  backgrounds in the firm and the high-tech spirit makes an internship here a unique experience. I definitely recommend to other INSAliens to come and work here.