The banking and finance world is still in turmoil, but quantitative analysts are anchored in relatively calm waters. Quants have mathematical skills that are standing them in good stead in banking and funds management, and which also make them desirable in other industries.

In asset management, quants have greater job security than the more costly and less versatile active equity analysts, says Hisashi Kato, a banking and finance consultant at Legal Futures.

“In addition, their skills are transferable to roles such as strategists, fund managers, fund performance analysts, product developers, quant system engineers, and portfolio risk managers, so companies like to keep them around if possible,” Kato says.

In the banking sector, Kato says quantitative skills are always needed for credit analysis, portfolio risk analysis, fixed income investment and actuary roles. And with the pool of quant analysts being comparatively small, he adds that quants remain a rare commodity, even in the bad times.

Not everything, however, is rosy in the world of quantitative analysis. Although quants seem to be escaping the worst of the job cuts, several recruiters said they weren’t in a position to comment on the market because their clients’ quant hiring needs had dried up.

Anyone that can’t find a new quant job in banking and finance could try a different industry. Highly-skilled mathematicians like quants are needed in sectors such as IT, marketing and aviation.

But it's not always easy to move between the banking and corporate sectors. “Only young quant candidates have the chance to go into finance from non-finance, and moving the other way is also difficult, though not impossible,” says Kato.