Thread by @SAH16928046

Does a PhD degree in mathematics or statistics give me an edge over someone with just a bachelor's degree in economics if I want to work in a hedge fund or an investment bank (especially in the current changing field)?

PhD degree can be helpful if you are interested in working as a Quantitative Risk/ Trading Analyst.
I personally feel that Economics and Finance have been hijacked by Physicists, Mathematicians and Statisticians.

There’s too much #Charlatanism in the subject.
Economics is the envy of Physics these days.

So, I think financial companies prefer to hire grads with second to none quantitative knowledge.
It is not just #statistics, but a new beast has emerged out of quantitative methods, & that happens to be Data Science.

So, why not go for a PhD in Data Science, or Business (Financial/Risk) Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning Models or Machine Learning?

Which essentially is an admixture of Mathematics, Coding, and Statistics, which includes generally Computational Operations Research and Statistics, 4GL Programming(deep learning etc) using R or Python, Database Management and Engineering, Cloud Computing,

AI- Artificial Intelligence Models, BI(Business Intelligence), Decision Sciences, Heuristics, Predictive Analytics, Mathematical Optimization Methods, SQL, NoSQL, etc.

That can surely land you in a much better job at either Hedge Funds/Mutual Funds /Pension Funds and/or Investment Banks instead of doing a Doctorate in Economics or General Statistics.

Bachelors Degree in Economics cannot be compared with a PhD in Statistics.

They are different qualification levels.