The scope of High-Frequency Trading in India
“Algo trading is here to stay and it is the future of trading”
Said Deena Mehta, Chairperson of the capital market committee of the IMC and former director of the Bombay Stock Exchange.
High-frequency trading is a subset of Algo trading which involves buying and selling of a huge number of stocks in very less time. High-frequency trading is a program used as a trading platform. It uses powerful computers for the transaction of a large number of data in a matter of seconds. The complex algorithms used in this program make it feasible to analyze multiple markets simultaneously and execute orders based on market conditions. The execution speed plays the key role in these transactions. The more the speed, the more is the profit gained by the trader. High-frequency trading has been in-demand as exchanges have started offering incentives for companies to add liquidity to the market. Market liquidity proves to be the biggest advantage of HFT. HFT involves buying and selling securities in a very small time frame and profiting from the small margins involved.
High-frequency trading has penetrated into the Indian finance sector pretty well by now. The persistence of its growth should be duly considered. The High-frequency trading realm is getting crowded day by day with companies like:
Tower Research (Gurgaon)
Goldman Sachs | India (Bangalore/Mumbai)
Morgan Stanley in India (Mumbai)
Way2Wealth Illuminati Securities Private Limited (Bangalore/Mumbai)
iRageCapital (Mumbai)
Estee Advisors (Gurgaon)
Quadeye (Gurgaon)
Acceletrade Technologies
Dolat Group (Mumbai)
Edelweiss (Mumbai)
APT (Gurgaon)
Open Futures (Delhi)
WorldQuant LLC
Samssara Capital Technologies
Inclusive of banks and brokerage houses like ICICI Securities, Kotak etc., which do the execution side HFT.
High-frequency trading has given way to several job profiles around the globe. In India, companies hunt for skilled individuals to fill up positions like quant analyst, strategy developer, Trader and Networks/System Administrator.
A Quant Analyst is a role revolving around the proficiency of quantitative skills with working knowledge of using quant tools such as R, Python, and Matlab. This is a field which is attractive to individuals who are interested in building their own financial models.
A Strategy Developer, as the name suggests, involves coding new strategies or modify existing ones. They are required to code strategies into a trading model developed by a quant analyst.
An individual who seeks thrills in solving puzzles and complexities of the financial world will definitely be enticed by a trading role. This is a position that goes on to test your problem-solving abilities.
Algo trading and HFT exist in good volumes in India offering really high-paying and promising job roles. Although still occupying just one-third of the Indian financial sector, but this technology has a promising future and worth making a career in.
To get a piece of this exciting field, check out Udacity’s ‘Artificial Intelligence for Trading’ Nanodegree program. This program was built in collaboration with WorldQuant, and top professionals from leading financial institutions, to ensure your long-term success in quantitative finance. The skills you learn will prepare you for a wide range of quant finance jobs in hedge funds, investment banks, and FinTech startups.
