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by orojackson 2668 days ago
> I work in HFT, and I'll be contrary and suggest that if you want the most value from your time, focus on learning as much maths and probability as possible.

Why not go even further and just not bother with algotrading, dumping money into index funds like VTI instead? It certainly gives a lot more value for your time.
1 comments
logicchains 2668 days ago
I'm not sure what you mean here by algotrading, but HFT at least can achieve much better returns than index funds, like 2-5x more at least.
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orojackson 2668 days ago
I was just going by the post title; thanks for the correction. Also, I was mostly responding to the value/time efficiency part of your comment. By putting in nearly zero effort, you would get the gains of the total market.

While we're here, though, I'm genuinely curious: how accessible is HFT to the average retail investor, let alone those who aren't investing at all? Lastly, can HFT consistently beat a total stock market index like SPTMI year-over-year?

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1e-9 2668 days ago
HFT is not accessible to an average retail investor or even one who is far above average. It requires extensive technological expertise, expensive equipment, and a professional infrastructure. Yes, good automated trading systems can consistently beat any index. With that said, there are bad systems that actually look good for a long period of time until an unusual situation occurs and wipes out all past profits or even brings down an entire firm. Risk management is a key component.
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orojackson 2668 days ago
Has there been any serious push to get HFT accessible to the average retail investor in the same way that Vanguard did with the S&P 500?

As for beating indexes, it goes back to the age-old question of being able to identify the great automated trading systems.

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1e-9 2668 days ago
Not that I am aware of. HFT firms generally don't need outside capital, so they have no motivation to deal with the headaches of running a fund. Funds exist for capital-intensive strategies where receiving fees provides a higher risk-adjusted return than the actual strategy.
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orojackson 2668 days ago
I figured HFT firms exist in their own bubble away from most people. So from the perspective of the average joe, they only indirectly exist as a tiny market force that does price discovery.

As for the funds you mentioned, are there any that have a minimum investment of less than $1,000?

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