From Curiosity to the Trading Desk

What was your path to DRW?

My path to DRW began in college at University of Chicago, where I studied Public Policy and Philosophy. DRW’s deep ties to UChicago helped connect me with my current boss who was also an alumnus. I began trading on my own in college and continued to develop my approach, ultimately turning that interest into a career in trading at DRW. The biggest takeaways from my journey are pursuing curiosity around markets relentlessly, continually learning and refining my trading playbook, and investing in relationships - especially finding an excellent mentor!

What does a typical day look like for you?

Every trading day in Equities presents a new challenge and puzzle to solve. The first thing I do when preparing for the trading day is catch up on all market moves and important news that happened in the afterhours session and overnight. Having a clear picture of what is going on outside of my time on the desk is essential to prepare for the day. I try to get to the desk as early as possible and we prepare as a team for the day discussing in-play tickers and situations. During market hours we are constantly iterating our strategy as a team and looking to optimize our trading. From 8:30am – 3pm we are fully focused on everything going on in the equity markets. At the end of the day, we review our trades and different scenarios we encountered, whether good or bad. Reflecting on our trading is crucial to development and refining our process. After work, I enjoy spending time with my family and my dog, staying active, and overall maintaining a strong work life balance, which I think is crucial to success in trading!

How do you collaborate with other teams?

Collaboration across teams is an integral part of what makes DRW special. We work closely with our developers in order to optimize our systems and trading. Beyond the trading desk, I love to collaborate with the Learning and Development team to support the education and training of new traders, developers and quants, as well as working with the DRW Foundation to give back to the community in Chicago. I’m passionate about working with high schoolers and college students to prepare them for their next steps.

How do you distinguish noise from information in fast-moving markets?

Distinguishing the signal from the noise is the most important part of my job description. Equity markets are highly efficient, but there are moments of repricing where we are looking for an edge using our technology and trading strategies. However, the key to trading is understanding which new pieces of information will reprice a stock higher or lower. How do you structure this trade? How do you unwind a position you have taken? These are the questions and problems we look to solve every day in markets.

At a high level, how do you think about the balance between human discretion and systematic signals on your desk?

Human discretion and systematic signals are both crucial for our trading. Equity markets are ultra-competitive and thus our desk aims to be on the bleeding edge of both styles of position taking. Some trades require sophisticated technology to be competitive while others rely on human intuition and deep research to understand the complexities and nuances of situations.

What advice would you give someone interested in becoming a trader?

I would recommend someone interested in trading to focus on developing a strong understanding of how markets work and how different products trade. Building technical skills in math, statistics, data science, and increasingly AI is also important, but discretionary trading especially rewards intellectual curiosity, strong judgment, and a genuine passion for markets. Staying informed about global events and reading widely are essential parts of the process.

One of the things I value most when speaking to candidates is whether they are taking the initiative to trade on their own. Hands-on experience is a powerful way to build intuition and confidence, and it often raises the question: if you’re not trading yet, what’s holding you back?