Xiao Qiao Interview - Chat With Traders Episode 153

Hi everyone, I hope you’re doing well. Once again, welcome to the Chat With Traders podcast.

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Xiao Qiao at Quantcon in New York City this year. He’s a research analyst focused on trading commodity futures for a Connecticut-based hedge fund.

Before this point, he finished a PhD in Finance and was renowned economist Eugene Fama’s teaching assistant. He’s also worked directly with Blair Hull, the trading legend on two quantitative research projects. Specifically, ones that concern return predictability and market timing. If you’re interested, white papers for both of these are linked up in the show notes at chatwithtraders.com/153.

Xiao and I mainly talk about is what you need to learn when it comes to how a research analyst thinks about stuff directly related to research. Also, the ways that traders can do better market research.

Not only that, but based on Xiao’s experience, he shares a number of tips for traders who really want to pursue studies but unsure of what they want to do. He also mention differences he’s seen between working as a practitioner and the world of academia.

Let’s get to today’s episode with Xiao Qiao.

What’s Covered in This Interview:

Key lessons Xiao learned from Eugene Fama and Lars Hansen, both economists.
Tips for anyone who is unsure on what they want to study.
What does it really mean to be a research analyst.
How research analysts can use preliminary testing models and techniques, coming up with new ideas and nuances versus different asset classes.
How he got the opportunity to work with the legendary Blair Hull on a research project.
Advice for researchers who are less experienced, including how to measure for accuracy and why you can get insight from data without the need for sophisticated tools.