Team
There is no “Spark type”, except smart. We hire the best person for the job, regardless of their background, path, or philosophy. As a result, Spark is home to people with all kinds of personalities, interests, and goals. Many of the people here were not considering working in a securities trading firm prior to encountering Spark. Others were career financial professionals.
Our team of approximately twenty includes math and science gold medal winners, along with prizewinners in other areas such as political theory and a Carnegie Hall soloist.
We hail from all over the United States and the world. About one-quarter of the team has a PhD, and this holds for management as well. Because of the company’s small size and lean operation, each individual can make unique contributions and has a significant impact.
How We Work Together
Spark is a small firm. People often work in more than one area on a temporary or permanent basis. The company can be broken down into three overall functions:
General Management
Works with the company as a whole: setting policy, moving the company into new areas, and creating growth. This group includes Strategic Planning.
Portfolio Management
Creates the models that generate theoretically desirable trades in financial instruments, along with the framework to produce those trades consistently and accurately from price and other data.
Technology and Execution
Generates our profits by converting theoretical trades into real-world market activity that impacts the bottom line.
This breakdown cuts across reporting lines.