“As an undergraduate at UCLA, I envisioned my future in a Trading career. Instead of studying business, I received a degree in Computer Science, and always assumed I would transition to the financial industry after pursuing an MBA.

My plans changed when I first heard about the Berkeley MFE program from a co-worker at Oracle. I was already applying to MBA programs, but the MFE immediately seemed like a better fit based on my quantitative background, programming skills, and my aspirations.

Once in the MFE, I realized that the curriculum was challenging, but also very practical. I recall a key moment for me when, in a group interview at my New York-based winter internship, I was asked to solve problem after problem alongside five other MFE students from different universities. It quickly became clear how well-prepared I was to answer these questions after completing just three terms at Haas. It was at that point that I felt empowered to speak up and apply my knowledge of quantitative analysis to every job going forward.

I graduated from the MFE program in 2008 at the start of the financial crisis. At the time, it felt as though I had the most unfortunate timing and that the state of the market would forever impact my career. Instead, this turned out to be a fantastic opportunity where I joined Spot Trading, a smaller proprietary trading firm in Chicago. As a Financial Engineer, I was able to observe how a successful Option Trading firm was run, and I was given a tremendous amount of freedom to make enhancements to processes where I saw fit. Within just a few months at Spot, I had developed an automated stock trading system that was gradually released throughout the firm. After a year and a half at Spot, I moved to the new Market Making group, where I transitioned from a Financial Engineer algorithmically trading stock to an Algorithmic Option Trader in a group of ten traders and technology professionals.

My big break came in 2011, when Parallax Volatility Advisers brought me on as a Portfolio Manager to San Francisco to manage all aspects of a Volatility Arbitrage book, from valuation to execution to delta hedging. It was there that my background as a Software Developer, Quant, and Trader all came together. Since 2011, I have continued to work on my Option Trading, at Parallax and now at Walleye, in what continues to be a very enjoyable and fulfilling career. I always wanted a career in Trading and the Berkeley MFE program brought together my programming background and my interest in finance. The Berkeley MFE gave me the practical skills I needed to transition from a Software Developer to a Volatility Arbitrage Portfolio Manager in just four years.”