Quantitative Analyst : Bonds

Prescient; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 350 000 - 450 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment firm in Cape Town is seeking a young quantitative professional to join their Bonds team. This role offers an opportunity to engage in high-impact research and portfolio management. You will be responsible for applying advanced quantitative techniques to fixed income markets, contributing to strategic insights and portfolio optimization. Ideal candidates hold an honours degree in a quantitative discipline and have programming skills in Python or similar languages. Join a dynamic environment and influence investment decisions directly.

Qualifications

• 0-2 years' experience in financial markets or asset management.
• Proven ability to design and implement quantitative models.
• Eager to begin a career with outstanding academic achievements.

Responsibilities

• Ownership of research, modelling, and strategic insights.
• Contribute to research on economic trends and market flows.
• Play an active role in portfolio construction and risk management.

Skills

Quantitative research

Model development

Programming in Python

Financial analysis

Statistical analysis

Education

Honours degree in a quantitative discipline

Mathematics and Statistics (2 years)

Tools

Python

R

Matlab

C++

C#

Job description

Purpose of role: Join our Bonds team and gain exposure to every aspect of interest-bearing research and portfolio management.

This is a high-impact analytical role where you will take ownership of research, modelling, and strategic insights on fixed income markets using both quantitative and fundamental techniques. You will contribute to research on economic trends, market flows, duration positioning, yield enhancement, and derivatives, helping to define fair value across money and bond markets. Alongside research, you will play an active role in portfolio construction, risk management, and implementation, ensuring ideas are translated into performance. This is an ideal role for an aspiring quantitative professional with exceptional academics who wants to apply advanced actuarial, mathematical, or financial mathematics skills in the real world of markets, research, and portfolio management.

Interest-Bearing Research

• Objective: Push the boundaries of research quality and innovation to generate alpha.
• Build and expand quantitative strategies and models to deepen market coverage.
• Research and test derivatives, yield enhancement, and duration strategies.
• Translate academic concepts into real-world market applications.
• Document and publish research, models, and processes for scalability.
• Contribute content to the Bond Portal and internal knowledge sharing.
• Be proactive in generating new research ideas and challenging conventional thinking.

Interest-Bearing Portfolio Management & Implementation

• Objective: Turn research into results by maintaining and optimising bond portfolios.
• Oversee and maintain bond model portfolios with disciplined execution.
• Manage cashflow implementation and bond dealing.
• Ensure compliance with mandates and risk parameters.
• Contribute to portfolio strategy, including: Asset allocation decisions, duration positioning, yield enhancement opportunities, currency insights, risk management using derivatives.

Team Interaction

• Objective: Work collaboratively in a high-performance, idea-driven environment.
• Embrace a team culture that values debate, innovation, and shared success.
• Contribute actively in discussions and bring fresh perspectives from your academic background.
• Suggest and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency.
• Share insights that can add value to client engagement and thought leadership.

Required Skills and Experience

• Actuarial Science, Financial Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or related fields (Honours or MSc level).
• 0-2 years' experience in a financial markets or asset management environment or graduates with outstanding academic achievements who are eager to begin their careers.
• Coding ability in Python, R, Matlab, C++, C# or similar; essential.
• Proven ability to design and implement quantitative models and apply them in a practical context.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum: Honours degree in a quantitative discipline (Actuarial Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or similar).
• Must include at least 2 years of Mathematics and Statistics at undergraduate level.
• Additional professional qualifications (CFA, CQF, or in progress) would be an advantage.

Key Competencies

• Exceptional quantitative and analytical ability.
• Ability to generate and test new ideas with logical rigour.
• Strong programming and modelling skills.
• High accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Team player with strong interpersonal skills and intellectual curiosity.
• Organised, structured, and able to perform under pressure.
• Ambitious, motivated, and driven to achieve results.

Why this role: This is a unique opportunity for a young quantitative with exceptional academic training to apply their skills in a market-facing investment role.

You will work on cutting-edge research and portfolio strategies, gain exposure to every aspect of bond markets and risk management, and directly influence investment decisions. It's a role that combines academic rigour with market application — and offers a great opportunity to grow.