Vital Stats
HOMETOWN: Philadelphia
Master's Program:University of California at Berkeley (Haas School of Business), Master in Financial Engineering
Undergraduate Degree:B.A. in economics from Columbia University
Internships: I have an internship with a proprietary trading firm in Chicago, Spot Trading, that starts Oct. 27. I also had two internships while I was an undergrad -- one was a summer internship working for crude oil traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The traders worked for one of the clearinghouses [MBF Clearing Corp.] on the exchange. I had a second internship with the clearing firm and came on as a full-time employee there after graduation for almost two years.
Mentor: The first guy I came to work for, Michael Anastasio. He was an independent trader. He's not trading anymore, but he traded crude oil in the ring. He was very influential and helpful in giving me a start, and he got me interested in the business.
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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 the University of California at Berkeley's program?
Chromiak: First of all, the location -- I'd never been out to the West Coast -- and it's been the top program in the country for many years now. I only applied to this program, so I was very excited when I got in. The reason I applied to this type of program is that I had been around markets and trading in my internships and prior job (with MBF Clearing Corp.), but I didn't feel I had the tools needed to go further, to move up the ladder, so I wanted to go back and get the necessary programming tools and understanding of all the different financial markets. I thought the M.F.E. program was great to exploit the use of computers to build models. This program is a one-year, intensive program. I'll still be young when I graduate. I think it's a great program.
AT: What is your math background? Do you have any programming experience?
Chromiak: I don't have a formal math background. In my undergraduate studies at Columbia, the highest-level math I took was Calculus 3, which was multivariate calculus. But most of the math I've had to learn in the M.F.E. program.
The strength I have is an economics degree. Columbia is a very <MISSING ADJ?> liberal arts school; as a result I have a wide knowledge and a good intuition that were my strength coming into the M.F.E. program. Some people in the program are math-savvy and they're good programmers, but they studied physics and electronic engineering, and they didn't know the finance. I had the financial background and lacked the math skills.
I did programming at my job (with MBF Clearing Corp.). I did a lot of things in Excel and DBA. I had self-taught programming experience in DBA. Once you learn the basics of any programming language, it's learning syntax after that. I was able to use Google to learn the syntax of DBA.
AT: What classes are you taking that will be essential to helping you be more prepared for a job on Wall Street?
Chromiak: The company I'm going to do my internship with, Spot Trading, trades equity and equity derivatives. We took a course last term with Mark Rubinstein on derivatives that was very helpful. Also, we took a course in quantitative methods. We use C++ and MATLABS to perform simulations. I'm taking the advanced part of that class, Advanced Computational Methods, and that's really going to help. I think those classes, especially for me -- to get the skills and practice, and learning the math behind complex derivatives -- will definitely help.
The cool thing is that you're being taught by a lot of people who are pioneers in the industry. We're getting a course in risk management by Philippe Jorion -- he wrote the book "Value at Risk[: The New Benchmark for Managing Financial Risk]". It's come under scrutiny now. That's what banks have used in the past 10 years to gauge the risk of trades.
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AT: What first interested you in Wall Street?
Chromiak: I didn't become interested until I got the internship on the New York Mercantile Exchange. I was actually on the exchange. This is back when it was open outcry. It was crazy. It looked like a very exciting, fast-paced environment -- I was young, I played sports, and it was kind of like sports. It was like a competition every day. That's kind of what drew me into the field. But that only can take you so far without having any knowledge base. That's why I'm here now; I'm trying to get that foundation so I can look to further my career.
AT: How would you rate your knowledge of the business of financial services, on a scale of 1 to 10?
Chromiak: As far as the need of businesses and why people have to trade and hedging, I have a pretty good idea of that. I'd rate myself at least an 8 on the understanding of business on a high level.
AT: Discuss your training in statistics and your ability to analyze data.
Chromiak: I took economics as an undergraduate. I took the foundation in econometrics and data analysis. That is actually one of my strengths. Those skills I definitely have from undergrad. I did take a class in statistics; it was introductory-level. So I wasn't strong coming into the M.F.E. program, but now I'm definitely up-to-pace with statistics, coming from this program.
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AT: Why did you choose to pursue a career on Wall Street?
Chromiak: Honestly, I don't want to work on Wall Street, per se. Wall Street doesn't exist anymore. Even still, I don't see myself working at a big bank. I don't want to get lost in the corporate arena. The company I worked for had less than 100 people. The company I'm going to [Spot Trading] is half that size.
I really like the small, independent shop-type feel. I want to have a lot of room for growth. I want to learn from the top execs; I have a lot to learn. I want to be in a situation where I'm going to be able to think for myself and not get caught up in the specific way the bank works, like the politics. And I definitely want to go to Chicago. I was in New York for undergraduate school and a few years after school. I'm definitely over that.
AT: In what type of role would you like to start?
Chromiak: Exactly the type of role I landed at Spot Trading. It's called a financial engineer; basically we work on building models to create value for the company. They are trading models, but they are more long-term projects. You're not under the stresses of day-to-day trading activity; you're working on longer-term, value-added projects. You're able to use programming skills and think more creatively. In my last job I got bogged down in the day-to-day trading activity; I found that got monotonous. In this job I'll be able to think more creatively. It's not like I'm managing risk day-to-day -- "Oh, I have to get these 10 trades off today."
AT: What do you see yourself doing in two years? In 10 years?
Chromiak: First of all I really want to learn a lot more about other markets. I worked in the commodity market for a few years, and I really enjoyed that, but I want to branch out. Hopefully I'll be working for Spot Trading and learning about equity and equity derivatives. I want to just keep learning about financial markets in general. I want to see myself progress.
And in 10 years, who knows? The skills you get in this program are definitely a competitive advantage. But financial engineering is going to evolve. It's not going to be pricing exotic derivatives for investment banks anymore; consulting firms are going to need to price exotics. The government is going to hire somebody to price all this stuff it is getting stuck with on its books. You can see how the field will evolve in a few years or so. There's always going to be a need for quants, it's just that role is always going to change. Everything is about how you're going to evolve.
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AT: Name three firms you'd like to work for.
Chromiak: I can tell you one: Spot Trading. I really think it's a perfect fit for me. There's really nowhere else I'd want to be.
AT: What sets you apart from other quant candidates?
Chromiak: I'm definitely a very passionate person and an extremely hard worker. I didn't have the math skills or the programming skills, but I've worked very hard to gain those skills. Now, when we're in our groups, I'm programming the projects. I definitely have a very good ability to learn what I know I'm not good at. And the fact that I'm very passionate and intense, just coming from a trading job in New York -- everyone thought I was always stressed over there, but it's just the pace of New York.
AT: What three questions would you ask a prospective employer?
Chromiak: What is the corporate culture? The working environment has always been important to me -- you can love your job, but if you don't like the people you work with it can be a difficult experience. The types of firms I've been interviewing with are trading firms, so I always want to know the models they use. If a firm trades fixed income, I want to know how they model the volatility surface, for example. How do you see the firm's position long term? What are the long-term goals of the company? Given all the turmoil right now, I'd want to know what kind of risk management practices the firm has in place.
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AT: Do you trade at all? Have you ever built any algorithmic models for trading?
Chromiak: I did trade at my job when I worked for the clearing corporation. It was a trading firm -- you worked there for X number of years or months, and then they gave you the opportunity to trade. I traded oil futures. I developed my own models, and I had a certain model that I traded off of. At the time I didn't build any algorithmic models.
[In the M.F.E. program,] there's really not enough time to build algorithmic models. I have a few stocks; they're really index stocks [ETFs]. I'm not actively trading -- I don't have enough time to trade, and my wife won't let me.
AT: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Chromiak: I played football in college. I definitely like to play sports and watch sports. My wife and I run a co-ed soccer league. Sundays are no-work days for me -- they're football days. I also play music and enjoy spending time with friends and family.
AT: Name one thing you did this summer for fun.
Chromiak: I got married. That was definitely the highlight of my summer. We took classes all summer; there wasn't much time for a break. But right in between, we got married on Aug. 2. And then we went to the Riviera Maya in Mexico, about 30 miles south of Cancun. That was a wonderful break, and it was an awesome time.
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AT: Describe one of your personal goals beyond a career on Wall Street.
Chromiak: I want to find a nice place in Chicago, and be able to buy a house with my wife and settle down and have kids. That's one of my goals in a few years if we can save up some money.
AT: Is there anything else you feel is important that you want to mention?
Chromiak: To me, work is important but family is equally as important. Having a work/family balance is definitely something I keep at the very top of the list. I do want to have a successful career, and I will work hard at my job, but I will make all the necessary time for family.
AT: Choose one word to describe yourself.
Chromiak: Passionate.
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