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Masterclass

Masterclass: Building and Leading a Quant Research Team

A leadership masterclass for senior quants, systematic fund manager aspirants and prop desk leads who are about to build or take over a quant research team. Strategy design is assumed; this course is about the organisation around it. You work through the mandate and economics of a research team inside an Indian prop desk, SEBI Category III AIF or PMS, the roles and team topologies that work, how to hire and pay quants from the IIT, ISI and industry talent pool, the data and research platform a team needs before its first signal, a research process built on pre-registration, holdouts and a multiple-testing budget, how to lead PhDs and engineers without killing intellectual honesty, the model risk, SEBI algo and data licensing obligations a head of research owns, and what breaks when the team scales from three to thirty. The course runs on a hypothetical fund, Mahanadi Systematic, from its first hire to a multi-strategy desk, and closes with a 90-day plan and a scorecard for a new head of quant research.

Quant Team DesignHiring QuantsResearch ProcessResearch InfrastructurePoint-in-Time DataModel Risk ManagementSEBI Algo FrameworkCategory III AIFResearch LeadershipCompensation and IncentivesScaling a Quant DeskHead of Research Playbook

MODULES

8

DURATION

~6 hrs

TRACK

Quantitative Finance

What You'll Master

Define the mandate, cost base and capacity economics of a quant research team inside an Indian prop desk, Category III AIF or PMS

Choose a team topology and role mix that fits your capital, strategy horizon and asset classes

Source, interview and pay quant researchers and data engineers in the Indian talent market without overpaying for pedigree

Specify the data, backtesting and compute stack a team needs, and decide what to build versus buy

Run a research process with pre-registration, holdouts, a multiple-testing budget and explicit promotion and sunset rules

Lead researchers through one-on-ones, research reviews and a culture that surfaces bad news early

Own model risk, SEBI algo trading and AIF obligations, information barriers and data licensing as a head of research

Scale the team from three to thirty and write your own 90-day plan and head of research scorecard

Access Level

LEARNER

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Everything included

Full Text Playbooks

Actionable Exercises

Mobile Reading Mode

Lifetime Updates

Curriculum Breakdown

Chapter 1: The Mandate and Economics of a Quant Research Team

4 Lessons

What a Quant Research Team Is For, and What It Is Not9 min read

The Economics of a Quant Team in India: Cost Base, Capacity and Fee Math11 min read

Choosing the Vehicle: Prop Desk, Category III AIF, PMS or Research Advisory11 min read

From Fund Mandate to Research Agenda: The Pipeline of Questions10 min read

Chapter 2: Team Design, Hiring and Compensation

5 Lessons

The Roles: Alpha Research, Portfolio Construction, Execution Research, Data Engineering and Risk11 min read

Team Topologies: Pods, Central Research and the Hybrid Model10 min read

Hiring Quants in India: IITs, ISI, CMI, IIMs and the Industry Pool11 min read

The Quant Interview: Take-Homes, Probability Rounds and Research Presentations12 min read

Paying Quants: Base, Bonus Pools, PnL Attribution and Deferral11 min read

Chapter 3: Research Infrastructure Before the First Signal

4 Lessons

Data Strategy: Vendors, Point-in-Time Databases and the Corporate Actions Problem12 min read

The Research Platform: Backtesting Engine, Feature Store and Compute11 min read

Code as a Team Asset: Version Control, Review and Reproducibility10 min read

Build Versus Buy for an Indian Quant Shop10 min read

Chapter 4: The Research Process

5 Lessons

The Idea Pipeline: Sourcing, Triage and Prioritising Hypotheses10 min read

Research Protocol: Pre-Registration, Holdouts and the Multiple-Testing Budget12 min read

Running a Signal Review Meeting That Actually Rejects Things10 min read

From Signal to Production: Promotion Criteria and the Handoff to Trading11 min read

Killing Research: Sunset Rules and Managing a Portfolio of Bets10 min read

Chapter 5: Leading Researchers

4 Lessons

Managing PhDs and Engineers: Autonomy, Feedback and Intellectual Honesty11 min read

One-on-Ones, Research Journals and Measuring Researcher Output10 min read

Building a Team Culture That Surfaces Bad News Early10 min read

Retention, Burnout and the Non-Compete Reality in India10 min read

Chapter 6: Risk, Governance and Compliance for a Head of Research

4 Lessons

Model Risk Management: Inventories, Validation and Model Owners11 min read

SEBI's Rulebook for Systematic Managers: Algo Trading, AIF and PMS Obligations12 min read

Information Barriers, MNPI and Data Licensing Compliance10 min read

Kill Switches, Incident Response and Post-Mortems as a Team Ritual11 min read

Chapter 7: Scaling the Team

4 Lessons

From Three to Thirty: What Breaks at Each Stage11 min read

Extending Research Across Cash Equities, F&O, Commodities and Currencies11 min read

Working With the Business: Capital Allocation, Investors and the CIO Relationship10 min read

Knowledge Management: Signal Libraries, Research Wikis and Institutional Memory10 min read

Chapter 8: Capstone: The Head of Research Playbook

3 Lessons

Case Study: Mahanadi Systematic From Zero, the First 18 Months13 min read

The 90-Day Plan for a New Head of Quant Research11 min read

The Head of Research Scorecard: Metrics, Reviews and Your Own Post-Mortem11 min read