Citadel EQR (Equity Quantitative Research) - Research Findings
Overview
Citadel’s Equity Quantitative Research (EQR) division sits at the intersection of fundamental investment approach and quantitative rigor and discipline. Teams of quantitative researchers and developers work together to build and scale one of the largest equities portfolios in the market by optimizing various aspects of the investment, risk management, portfolio construction, and trade execution lifecycle.^[1]
Core Function & Structure
Mission
- Build and scale one of the largest equities portfolios globally
- Optimize investment, risk management, portfolio construction, and trade execution lifecycle
- Bridge fundamental investment approaches with quantitative discipline
Team Structure
- Small, highly collaborative teams^[1]
- Each member makes meaningful contributions to research agenda and direction
- Visible impact in Citadel’s investments
- Roughly 50% Engineers, 50% Quantitative Researchers (per recruiter guidance)
- No separation between roles - everyone sits together
EMR (Equity Model Research) Team
The Equity Model Research team is responsible for:
- Tools and analytics required for portfolio construction, risk management, and hedging of Citadel’s equities portfolios^[1]
- Customized risk models and hedging framework development
- Central to Citadel’s ability to manage business and provide competitive advantage to investment teams
Key Responsibilities
Research & Development
- Research portfolio construction and optimization in the context of large complex equity portfolios^[7]
- Apply cutting edge computational techniques and statistical methods to solve complex problems
- Build proprietary risk models for both fundamental and quant equity long-short strategies
- Develop econometric and mathematical models to define stress scenarios and estimate statistical properties of drawdowns
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Work closely with Portfolio Managers and Risk Managers to understand and incorporate risk metrics and methodologies within the investment process^[7]
- Engage with variety of engineering and research teams to implement analytics in production
- Leverage economic models and financial analysis to define fundamental factors driving cross-section of stock returns
Continuous Innovation
- Stay up to date on latest academic and industry research
- Challenge and continually improve existing methodologies
- Explore new and alternative data sources while developing deep understanding of market dynamics
Technical Requirements
Programming & Tools
- Experience using statistical packages (e.g. Matlab, R)^[1]
- Programming & scripting languages (e.g. Python, C/C++)
- Previous exposure to quantitative research role with exposure to equity factor models preferred
Skills
- Expertise in portfolio construction and optimization
- Knowledge of econometric and mathematical modeling
- Understanding of fundamental factors in equity markets
- Risk management and hedging frameworks
Compensation & Benefits
Base Salary
- Range: 300,000^[1]
- Discretionary incentive compensation program
- Wide array of benefit programs including medical, life insurance, retirement, tax-free savings plans
Culture & Values
Learning Environment
- Over 30 years of cultivated culture of learning and collaboration^[1]
- Among most talented and accomplished investment professionals, researchers and engineers globally
- Colleagues empowered to test ideas and develop commercial solutions that accelerate growth and drive real impact
Collaboration Philosophy
- Frequent iteration rather than building to specification^[60]
- Cooperation with other teams to quickly discover and resolve roadblocks
- Provide necessary analytics, tools, and data that enable risk takers to identify imbalances in global markets
- Give engineering and mathematical expertise needed to craft custom solutions to extremely complex analysis projects
Meritocracy
- Emphasis on meritocracy - credited based on contributions
- Very low attrition
- Great startup feel within large systematic equities business
- Internal mobility and growth opportunities
- Fast-paced/dynamic environment
Employee Satisfaction
Ratings (Glassdoor)
- Overall rating: 4.3/5 stars (43 reviews)^[58]
- 99% would recommend employer to a friend^[58]
- Culture and values: 4.3/5
- Work-life balance: 3.4/5
- Diversity and inclusion: 3.6/5
- Career opportunities: 3.8/5
- Compensation and benefits: 3.8/5
Employee Feedback
- “Excellent employee experience while working for them (work environment, collaborative culture, food, well being, etc)”^[65]
- “Working along the best and brightest in a fast-paced collegiate environment at the forefront of investment management and technological progress”^[65]
- “Portfolio Managers are best in breed, and the market-making side teaches you so much so quickly”^[65]
- “Every hedge fund will want to hire you should you decide to leave Citadel”^[65]
Challenges
- “Lots of work without much downtime”^[65]
- “Growth opportunity for non-investment professionals is unclear”^[65]
Context Within Citadel
Performance
- Most profitable hedge fund in history with $74 billion in net gains since 1990^[24]
- 2024 flagship Wellington fund returned 15.1%^[23]
- All five core strategies (commodities, equities, fixed income, credit, quantitative) were positive in 2024
Scale
- $66 billion in assets under management as of December 2024^[23]
- Over 2,900 employees globally
- Headquarters in Miami, Florida with offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe
Sources
[1] Citadel EQR Job Posting - June 2025 [7] American Economic Association Job Listing - 2024 [23] CNBC - Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund climbs 15.1% in 2024 [24] Wikipedia - Citadel LLC [58] Glassdoor - Citadel Quantitative Researcher Reviews [60] Built In - Citadel EQR Job Posting [65] Glassdoor - Citadel Quantitative Researcher Reviews (Employee Comments)