For years, hedge funds and prop-trading firms have relied on massive amounts of data and the workers who analyze it to beat the market.
But the promise of generative AI has kicked off a new talent war for AI workers who can level up hedge funds’ quantitative strategies with a new generation of transformative technology. Firms are hiring AI experts to sit within their trading teams and on teams dedicated to building and deploying AI tools.
Firms are looking to use the technology to increase worker productivity, but above all, their goal is to drive better investment returns. Some, like Bridgewater Associates, have even developed an “artificial investor” to manage clients’ money, while others are using the technology to create more accurate and complex models to test their investment theories.
Hedge funds and prop trading firms, privately owned firms that excel at high-speed market making and hedge-fund-style quant trading strategies, are willing to pay for these workers, but so are companies across the economy. As a result, these workers aren’t cheap, but there’s also not a lot of data about how much they stand to get paid in this corner of the financial sector.
To get a look at these secretive firms’ AI hiring practices, Business Insider pulled data from the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s 2023 disclosure data for H1-B and similar visa holders for hedge funds and prop trading firms. We pulled data for roles containing keywords like “AI,” “machine learning,” and “prompt.”
This data shows the salaries that hedge funds expect to pay foreign AI workers in 2023, and its disclosure is part of their visa terms. This data does not include signing or performance bonuses or stock-based compensation, but it is the best publicly available data on base pay at these firms, which are known for doling out bonuses for personal and fund performance.
BI also analyzed recent job listings at major hedge fund and prop trading firms to identify what they’re paying AI workers. New state laws in places like New York require job listings to include a range of salaries offered for the role, providing further insight into AI workers’ salaries.
Most firms declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment.
Check out the visa and job listing salaries below. The firms are listed in alphabetical order.
