Ben Ross's Weblog

I am hiring a Recruiter

Ben Ross — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:51:44 +0000

Are you comfortable speaking to strangers and I don’t mean to proselytize. Can you make the connection between seemingly disparate things? Has your intelligence and talent gone unrecognized? Are you tired of having no control over your career and seeing other people succeed off your hard work? We should meet.

I am looking for exceptionally smart and motivated individuals to work in a fast paced Technology and Quant recruitment environment. My clientele includes Top Investment Banks, High Frequency Trading Firms, Algorithmic Trading Firms and Web Startups, utilizing best of breed technologies. It is advantageous if you have a technology, finance or sales background, but I will consider individuals who are hungry, adaptable and willing to learn. While experience is preferred, I will consider exceptional individuals who are recent graduates.

We can offer you the training and tools to succeed in business and make 75K year 1, 100K year 2, 150K year 3 and 200K year 4 – these skills will be portable beyond just recruiting. This role can be like earning and MBA without going 100K in debt. Your efforts will have a direct link to the compensation you earn in a lucrative commission structure.

We expect intellectual curiosity, drive, fearlessness and a bunch of other clichéd traits. This is definitely not for most people, but most things in life worth doing are rarely easy.

Director, Emerging Markets RAD Development

Ben Ross — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:08:12 +0000

Send emails to bross@forrestsolutions.com – Only people with Financial Products will be considered. If you have not worked on a trading desk, you need to have superior product knowledge. This will be managing 3-4 ppl on the Emerging Markets Credit Desk.

Director, Emerging Markets Credit Technology Manager

Job Specification

Business and Team overview:

The Emerging Markets (EM) business trades credit products ranging from bonds to CDS to structured credit, as well as some FX and Rates products. New York office covers primarily Latin America region and some Asia/Pacific Rim, while London office covers EMEA. The EM business segments include Flow, Retail, Structured, and Distressed. Global technology team develops and supports a combination of strategic and tactical solutions to provide pricing, analytics, risk and PnL to the trading desk, as well as tools for Operations, Finance, Market Risk, Research, and other groups within the organization.

Leadership Skills:

10+ years of experience in financial services industry
3+ years of technology management experience, preferably for front office applications
Experience working with multiple stakeholders
Ability to lead a global team and develop junior resources
Strong problem-solving, analytical and communication skills
High energy and ability to work under pressure
Experience with system design and architecture
Experience with RAD and/or Agile development methodologies

Business Skills:

Solid understanding of Credit products, including bonds and CDS; experience with exotic credit products a plus
Basic understanding of vanilla Rates and FX products
Familiarity with Middle Office and Market Risk processes

Technical Skills:

Familiarity with Excel and VBA
Experience with object-oriented design, .NET a big plus
Experience with databases and client-server architecture
Experience with presentation and productivity tools (PowerPoint, Visio, MS Project)

Quant Job Market

Ben Ross — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:15:16 +0000

This is a recent article from Securities Industries News

http://www.securitiesindustry.com/issues/19_101/-23775-1.html. I am quoted on Page 2

My 2 cents on the market

Ben Ross — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:07:38 +0000

The use of Market Capitalization in Public Equity markets as a measure of growth is idiotic. Very often valuations have had almost nothing to do with things that add to intrinsic value like actual revenue growth and future earnings and share prices are dominated by popular sentiment leading to volatility. In this era of convoluted accounting where businesses are allowed to keep separate books, one public and one for internal controls, unwitting investors are duped into a sense of false security. In turn, bullish sentiment prevails and we have escalating valuations as investors see their on paper worth increasing and add to the fervor. With the aggregation and quick deployment of liquidity through the use of Algorithmic execution and Automated trading, prop trading firms are able to increase volatility and push up prices. The retail investor who must rely on poor sell side research are lambs walking into a slaughter. In periods of crisis, when public sentiment turns, the opposite effect occurs where stocks are trading well below their intrinsic value. Much of the volatility is caused by trading firms sending out “false” data that is then acted upon by the legion of Neural Networks and CEP systems that must abide by preset rules and further cloud what happens. My belief is that with enough desire, one can create an algorithm that applies to any situation except for the one that eventually comes – market irrationality

Re Gators Football and the state of athletics

Ben Ross — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:46:49 +0000

Below is an excerpt from ESPN with comments from Urban Meyer and Jesse “most people know me as the bachelor” Palmer. Is anyone else getting tired of apologists for athletes? Don’t get me wrong, no one loves sports more than I do, but I am getting disgusted with the lack of accountability. While I agree while most athletes are if not model citizens, good citizens, there is a surprising number that are problems. They need to understand that they are automatically under more scrutiny, like any other star would be – if you don’t want the scrutiny/notoriety, don’t play. The following statements are saddening because it shows a complete lack of accountability.

“It is a continual part of our program to mentor and guide our players and it is not an exact process. Although we have been very successful with most, we are by no means perfect. We are disappointed when we encounter some issues along the way, but we are going to continue to educate and teach our players.”

ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer, who played quarterback at Florida from 1997 until 2000, defended Meyer in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. “[Urban] can’t be out at the clubs at 1 a.m. monitoring these guys,” Palmer told the Sentinel. “I think it’s an internal accountability issue where these players might think they are invincible after the national title. Everybody’s patting them on the back and you feel like you can do anything.”

A retort to Jesse Palmer is that no Urban cannot be at the clubs, but what he can do is instill a more disciplined culture. At my school, the coach took a hard line stance that players WERE NOT allowed to party at the bars in season and anyone embarassing the program in that manner would be GONE. We are asking all sectors of our culture to become more accountable and I think it is only fair that athletes do their part. It is a privilege to play D 1 athletics. Just my two cents.

Twitter and Google

Ben Ross — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:49:06 +0000

The founders of Twitter are insane not for selling to the highest bidder. They are in the same Quandary as Facebook. They have a great platform with little way to capitalize. Traditional methods of adserving are withering away because they are no longer profitable. It costs them more to run the webservices than the ad revenue they could generate.

Irrationality of Equities Markets

Ben Ross — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:40:21 +0000

Have we all lost our minds? Why has this current crop of earnings reports from Wall St buoyed our hopes. Only in Equities can you lose less money than you expected and have that be a positive. In most businesses, losing money, even if it was less than expected is still not a good thing.

Also have we forgotten the fact that some of the profits were generated by changes in FAS 157? While Citi may have booked a 1.9 BB in profits, in my mind they were still -900 MM for the quarter. There need to be serious reforms in Valuation methods as well as accounting principals. Maybe part of the problem is that most assets at this point are completely notional in value and there is little connection between the notional values and intrinsic values. In our current capital markets system, we are forgetting the basic principals of P+L and instead are looking for any loosely correlated circumstances to value assets. Thanks to decimalization, there is no longer an emphasis on creation of value – only the drive to speculate on inefficiencies in market systems.

Why David Stern and the rest of the NBA brass are incompetent jackasses

Ben Ross — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:59:00 +0000

I remember before the NBA season started, that due to the contraction of the US Economy and the expected declines in ticket / concession / memorabilia / merchandise / advertising / any other kind of Sales, the NBA was going to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce. What Stern, nor the other gutless wonders that make up the board of governors failed to realize was that owners like Mark Cuban and players like Charlie Villanueva, “The Big Hairless” would adopt new technologies like Twitter and adapt them to their marketing/self-promotion and create a whole new source of revenue for the league so Stern wouldn’t have to decide between laying off hard working people or going for his weekly manicure/pedicure and choosing what Rolex projected the image of success without rubbing it in people’s faces. Had David Stern left his ancient mindset for a second, he would have found ways to not only curb Cuban’s so-called disruptive and disrespectful behavior, but also help promote the sport, rather than being the butt end of rants such as this one – but I digress.

A moment on “Twitter” – I must admit that being a technology and finance recruiter, a take a great interest in web companies and wonder how they generate incredible excitement and somehow raise money (Facebook, thank you Microsoft) , while offering little intrinsic value to an investor except possibly hoping to raise ad revenues by serving a targeted ad that asks me if I want to enlarge my member or find the next great real estate deal. Twitter, on the other hand, has potential because thanks to texting and presidents who can neither pronounce the word “Nuclear,” nor pronounce any of the names of the leaders of the countries we fear amassing “Nuclear” arms, it is ok to now communicate in 140 characters and nonsensical quips. Twitter has tapped into the ADD of the nation.

Twitter has become the best tool for TheRealShaq (Shaq), the Big Hairless (Villanueva) and the Big Mouth (Cuban). The NBA has clamped down on the 1st amendment and has been fining Cuban and anyone else who doesn’t comply with their bland brand. Cuban should just write a blank check and Twitter away. While this is an unintended consequence, Twitter has become integral to the fundraising for Stern and his cronies. Had Stern been more of a technofile, he could have forseen this development and wouldn’t have had to lay off those hard working people who rely on the NBA for their subsistence. Now, instead of pocketing the money that comes from Cuban’s wallet, I think we should all challenge the NBA to give back, and not in a shamelessly self-promotional way (on camera). They should put all fines coming from Twitter related incidents into a scholarship fund for technosavvy individuals. Just my 2 cents.

New link for Country Al Ross

Ben Ross — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:03:53 +0000

http://power-pickers.com/

Great Primary Account on American Folk Music from the 60s

Ben Ross — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:15:12 +0000

Hey everyone this is my father’s site. It is filled with many great primary accounts that cover American folk and bluegrass music, with accounts of his interaction with Jerry Garcia, Johnny Cash among others.

http://www.countryalross.com/home/