Most of what goes wrong in trading research goes wrong before the first trade: a test that flatters the strategy, costs left out, a result that owed everything to luck. Good habits can be taught, and most people in this field never get the chance to learn them properly. Our founder co-founded the Institute of Algorithmic Trading and Applied Computational Finance, IATACF, to teach them: how to research a strategy, test it honestly, size it, execute it and control its risk.
Anyone can start for free. IATACF’s eight open courses add up to 44 hours of material, from an introduction to quantitative finance and algorithmic trading to drawdowns and Monte Carlo simulation. See all courses.
Mentorship in the senior programmes
If you want your own work guided and judged by experienced practitioners, we invite you to apply for one of IATACF's senior programmes. Each ends in a substantial piece of your own work, read closely by the faculty and answered in writing. Our founder is among the faculty who assess it.
- Fellowship in Computational Finance
For researchers.
A dissertation on a research question you propose, supervised in writing by a faculty member through the proposal, two drafts and the final text, then examined by two faculty.
- Professional Diploma in Algorithmic Trading
For people who build trading systems.
A complete systematic trading operation on paper, from research to execution and risk limits, examined by two faculty who return a written report.
- Diploma in Professional Trading
For discretionary and systematic traders.
Six months running a trading business on a simulated account, assessed by two faculty who return a written report on the plan, the tests, the risk control and the honesty of the conclusions.