Vital Stats
HOMETOWN: Romainville, France
Master's Program:New York University (Courant Institute), Master of Science of Mathematics in Finance
Undergraduate Degree:Major in economics and applied mathematics from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. It is almost similar to getting a master's degree because in France we do three years in the prep school and then another three at the Ecole Polytechnique. In September 2007 I came to New York to start the NYU master's program.
Internships: I had an internship with Lehman Brothers in London, and this summer I had an internship with Barclays.
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- Qualifications and Background
- Aspirations
- Beyond the Numbers
Advanced Trading: Why did you choose to pursue a master's degree in finance, and why did you choose New York University's program?
Drogoul: In my last year at Polytechnique, I had two majors -- economics and applied mathematics. I learned a little about the financial engineering master's program, and I thought it would be a good mix of something quite technical, coupled with research. I liked the idea that you could work for a real business and earn money to do this. It is a good trade-off between intellect and mathematics. I don't want to be an academic.
The other reason is because students who go to Ecole Polytechnique are required to get a master's degree, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go abroad. I thought about the U.S., and when you think about the U.S., you think about New York. And when I thought about New York, I thought about NYU or Columbia. The programs are similar, but I liked the location of NYU and the fact that it was a three-semester program rather than two, which is how Columbia is structured. I liked the idea of having a summer internship and then starting to think about where I would work, rather than having to focus on future employment right away if I went to a shorter program, like Columbia's.
AT: Have you had any internships in financial services?
Drogoul: I had an internship in London in July 2007 at Lehman Brothers before attending NYU. I was in the fixed-income division working on the quantitative portfolio strategies team. I created a portfolio optimizer that was used for client portfolios. You could put in 500 to 1,000 assets on which you wanted to base your portfolio, measure the risk, etc. I was working on Lehman's trading floor in London and it was a good experience to see how things work.
This summer I interned at Barclays Capital in the fixed-income division. I worked on the quant team supporting and developing software for traders. The internship was only 10 weeks long, but they gave me a model to develop based on the BMA index, a municipal bond index. I developed a stochastic model to price options, and the model may be used to price exotic options. I got experience working as a quant supporting an options trading desk. I finished in mid-August -- well before the deal was announced with Lehman Brothers.
AT: What is your math background? Do you have any prior programming experience?
Drogoul: I have a very solid math background. I had a lot of math during my three years of prep school, and then at Polytechnique I had 14 hours per week of math -- after 10 hours of physics. I did some things I hadn't done before, such as statistics, probability and stochastic calculus. Quants are very developed in France.
I did some programming and some computer science courses in prep school and at Polytechnique. I was able to program in MATLAB. It was not as if I had a bachelor's degree in programming, but it was not completely new for me. And I programmed the optimizer at Lehman. But I am not a programmer by training.
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AT: What classes are you taking that will be essential to helping you be more prepared for a job on Wall Street?
Drogoul: My training in France gave me a lot of the skills that I would need to do the quant work at a large sell-side firm. But the NYU master's program is more focused on the buy side, statistical arbitrage, algorithmic trading, etc.
Algorithmic trading and quantitative strategies was a very good course. There were also other courses that gave us a good overview of the industry -- how to do portfolio optimization, how to trade keeping in mind transaction cost analysis, etc. The courses are very focused on trading -- and it will help me determine whether I want to be on the buy or sell side. You can't really be trained to be a trader -- you almost have to learn that on the job -- but the program provides a way to know what it is like to be a trader. We can get closer to the market with this program rather than just learning pure math and calculus.
AT: What first interested you in Wall Street?
Drogoul: I had always thought finance and banking were only for people who went to business school, but when I went to prep school I realized that someone with my background could work in a bank. The first thought was that I can use my math -- because I like math -- and work at these sexy firms. I realized it's a good way to use my math, have the social recognition of working at a bank and earn a good living. It was quite pragmatic.
AT: How would you rate your knowledge of the business of financial services on a scale of 1 to 10?
Drogoul: I think the potential of what you can learn is more important than what you know or are able to do right now. If I work for people interested in training me, that will be important to the development of my knowledge.
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AT: In what type of role would you like to start?
Drogoul: I'd want to begin working as a quant on a trading desk, perhaps on an options desk. After a year or two I might think about moving into trading. At that point I'd have the experience to know if I would want to be a quant or if I'd prefer trading. If I moved to trading, I'd have the quant background and could speak with the quants. I'm not sure that [traders and quants] generally speak the same language.
AT: Do you have a preference -- buy side or sell side?
Drogoul: It's hard to know. The market is a bit crazy right now so you cannot be too demanding. The sell side -- working for a big bank helps put a recognizable name on your resume, which I think is important for someone starting out. If you worked for a smaller hedge fund and then that hedge fund got into trouble, you may have a tougher time selling yourself. I guess if you worked for a large hedge fund, you'd have that recognition, too, but I think it's easier if you begin at a big bank.
I think it would be equally interesting working for either the buy or sell side. Every company is different and every desk is different, so it really depends on the opportunity.
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AT: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
Drogoul: It is very hard to know what financial services will look like in 10 years. Many students think about having their own firm or hedge fund in 10 years -- maybe it would be more like 20 years. Being more independent at that point could be a good thing, or being a successful head of a quant group or trading desk or even a successful portfolio manager.
AT: Name three firms you'd like to work for.
Drogoul: Barclays, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and BNP Paribas. Hedge funds such as DE Shaw, Citadel or Renaissance could also be interesting.
AT: What sets you apart from other quant candidates?
Drogoul: I have a solid background in the field, and I've had two internships. I know what it's like to work on a trading floor. Because I've worked on a trading floor, I understand that working there is about being efficient and doing the job; it's not just the sexy part of being on a trading floor and being amazed by the many screens the traders have, etc. I am also a hard worker and I want to succeed.
AT: What three questions would you ask a prospective employer?
Drogoul: My first question would be about the specifics of the job and what my responsibilities would be. What is the relationship between the desk I'd be working for and the other trading desks as well as the larger business? I'd want to find out if my superior is someone who would be a good mentor, someone who would be interested in training me and helping me to develop my skills and a career at the firm.
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AT: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Drogoul: I'm experiencing the nightlife a lot in New York City. The courses are in the evening. I work on my course work during the day, go to class and then we go out. I like to visit with friends. I also used to swim a lot, so I do a bit of that here, too, as we have access to the gym at NYU.
AT: Name one thing you did this summer for fun.
Drogoul: I went on vacation in Corsica. We go to this place every summer. I did a lot of waterskiing. I love it.
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AT: Describe one of your personal goals beyond a career on Wall Street.
Drogoul: I'd like to be able to understand the world and how it works -- to be conscious of how things work. I don't want to just live in this world and be focused on my own life. I want to have an understanding of different religions, sociology, psychology. ... There is not any one thing that explains how humanity is working.
AT: Choose one word to describe yourself.
Drogoul: Open-minded.
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