We analysed, the academic backgrounds of employees at 90 hedge funds and prop trading firms (see appendix). The analysis is based on public data and covers 82% of the population. We should also caveat that we assigned only one University Alumni per head based on final qualifying institute.
The top 10, by number of alumni, contains 8 American Universities (unsurprising considering that’s where 56% of our target population is based) however the UK also features, with Cambridge and Imperial making it onto the list.
With further analysis we broke down the faculty for the top 10.
Social Sciences (which includes Statistics & Finance) were the largest category in half of the top ten. Engineering and Technology was the second largest, followed closely by Natura Sciences (Maths & Physics).
FYI - we categorised faculty as follows :
We then decided to break down by University Alumni in an investment focused role. This didn't change the top ten significantly with only Illinois, Imperial and Carnegie Mellon being replaced by Princeton, Oxford and Stanford
We did the same with alumni in a tech focused role and the list looked a bit different with a surprise entry at 7th for Drexel University (fuelled mostly by Susquehanna who make up almost 90% of the alumni).
The regional picture was a lot more interesting....
North America
Europe
Asia
Australia
Conclusion
Whoever your alma mater (including the University of Life), the hedge fund industry is filled with very capable individuals who have worked hard throughout their academic and professional years. That said, there can only be one... hundred... and they are listed below.
Top 100 by # of Alumni
Appendix
