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Comment by webmascon | Hacker News Reader

I've been working in the industry in Tokyo for 15 years. And why should we care how everyone else uses the terms if we are professionals? Even the document's title says Automated trading.

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How would someone who enjoys algorithms but without a trading background get into the Tokyo HFT/Algorithmic trading industry? For example, do I need to be fluent in Japanese?

It depends on your employer. International banks are present in all major cities. So English is mainstream. And you do not need to be in Tokyo for that. The most important thing is where your trading computers are. Plus mind that hft and algorithmic trading are not the same things. Hft is proptrading which is now mostly forbidden for large international banks by Volker rule.

Thanks for mentioning HFT is not the same as algorithmic trading. Actually, I don't mind learning Japanese at all so may be you have some advice on what skills are needed in that part of the world to land a trading job as well as where to look? Also, is it just international banks that hire HFT traders?

Note that the HFT business is most competitive Amstersam, New York, and Chicago. These places are like Silicon Valey in terms of the people that circulate between firms and know each other. There are good firms in Asia but for the most part they’re not considered top tier in terms of technology or competitiveness.

It’s not uncommon to take an HFT trade that is competitive in the US or German markets and go around applying it to markets like Tokyo, London, Singapore, Etc. But the converse is not usually as successful.

So if you start in Tokyo, it might be harder to move up and out just due to more restrictive regulatory frameworks and less efficient markets there.

That's good to know. What kind of companies hire HFT traders in those parts of the world you mentioned?

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