Indian high-frequency trading (HFT) firms are offering interns as much as Rs 3 million ($31,346) a month — or Rs 6 million for a typical two-month internship — amid a fierce competition for quantitative talent, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg in a Business Today report.
The packages are aimed at students at some of India's leading engineering colleges, the report said. The money targets engineers who build mathematical models, trading strategies, and systems capable of identifying and executing trades at high speed. Gurgaon-based Quadeye is offering about four times what it paid for internships a year earlier, while Graviton Research Capital LLP raised its two-month package to about Rs 5 million from around Rs 1.6 million previously.
Global HFT firms raise campus offers
Global HFT firms are also lifting their offers, the report said. Amsterdam-based IMC Trading BV has doubled its two-month internship package to about Rs 5 million, and Optiver Holding BV is offering around Rs 6 million. The increases reflect the intensifying battle to hire straight from college campuses.
| Firm | Two-month internship package | Prior level / change |
|---|---|---|
| Quadeye | About Rs 6 million (Rs 3 million/month) | About four times year-earlier level |
| Graviton Research Capital LLP | About Rs 5 million | Up from about Rs 1.6 million |
| IMC Trading BV | About Rs 5 million | Doubled |
| Optiver Holding BV | About Rs 6 million | Not disclosed |
“There is increasing aggression from global HFTs to hire straight from campus,” said Daniel Vaz, a partner at recruitment firm Aquis Search.
Vaz said firms prefer to train young engineers from the ground up rather than recruit them later.
Derivatives slowdown accompanies pay surge
The hiring push comes as India's derivatives market faces tighter regulation and declining trading activity, according to the report. The average daily notional turnover in futures and options listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell to a 17-month low in July. A market regulator study published in August found that proprietary trading firms, including HFTs, saw their gross profit decline 3% in the year ended March from a year earlier, as reported by Bloomberg.
Indian HFT firms are also expanding into other asset classes and overseas markets, the report noted, increasing demand for skilled engineers. “Global firms are not finding candidates with adequate depth in lateral hiring for junior to mid-level roles,” Vaz said.
What it means for capital markets and treasury teams
For finance executives tracking Indian capital markets, the report's data points — a 17-month low in July derivatives turnover, a 3% year-on-year drop in proprietary trading gross profit, and multimillion-rupee intern packages — show rising human-capital costs and shrinking volumes in the HFT sector. The compensation escalation, sourced to Bloomberg, signals that trading firms are betting on long-term growth even as regulatory pressure and declining activity squeeze current profitability. The shortage of quantitatively skilled engineers, highlighted by Vaz, also points to persistent recruiting costs for firms that provide liquidity to institutional clients in Indian equity and derivatives markets.
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