2026 Institutional Equities Quantitative Finance Full Time Associate (London)

The Morgan Stanley Quantitative Finance Off-Cycle Internship Program in London runs for six months and is aimed at students who are required to complete a long-term internship as part of their studies or have already graduated. It is designed to help you explore opportunities within Quantitative Finance by working with desk strategists to evolve into an integral member of the team.

Quantitative Finance Interns are placed in a Strategists (‘strats’) team related to their specialism, but will typically be partnered with particular business lines or desks to work on specific projects or models. You can expect to take on significant responsibility as soon as you start. You will work directly with desks at a senior level, applying your skills and subject-matter expertise, to help them make strategic decisions, develop quantitative edge, drive efficiencies and effect changes.

TRAINING PROGRAM

Training includes on-the-job training and one-on-one sessions to familiarize yourself with the Firm's data resources, models, analytical tools, and AIML capability. The curriculum covers market and product knowledge as well as technical training. Throughout the program, you will be continually exposed to management, and you will benefit from networking opportunities with peers and colleagues. You will also be assigned a mentor to ease your transition into the corporate environment by offering career guidance, serving as a sounding board, and helping connect you to the broader Morgan Stanley network. Your co-workers are a diverse group who are motivated experienced industry leaders as well as graduates from top Universities that enjoy solving interesting problems in a collaborative environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategists typically work very closely with desks across business lines, are commercially driven and revenue focussed. The below four profiles describe the different categories of roles available within Strats. In many cases an individual role will encompass aspects of each:

• Electronic Trading Strategists are financial and software engineers who design, implement, back-test, deploy and measure sophisticated automated trading components and systematic trading strategies.
• Desk Strategists use statistical techniques and machine learning to develop and optimise trading strategies, tools, components and flows.
• Modelling Strategists use applied probability and numerical analysis to create pricing models and hedging strategies that drive trading decisions.
• Data Strategists use advanced big data, machine learning and AI techniques to facilitate data usage, analysis and commercialisation.

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS/REQS

• Curiosity, creativity, willingness to bring new ideas to the table, and approach problems differently.
• Background in mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science, or related field in an academic setting.
• You have a keen interest in the financial markets and the drive and desire to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.
• Pragmatic approach to ensuring delivery on a timely basis.
• You will possess practical problem solving skills with a great attention to detail.
• You are able to communicate effectively in both written and verbal English.
• You have or are studying towards a Masters or PhD level degree and graduated in 2025 or graduating in 2026.

Please only submit a CV and Covering Letter in English only as part of your application. You may be required to do a coding assessment as part of your application (you will be notified if this is required).