Head to head
Citadel / Citadel Securities vs Two Sigma
Citadel / Citadel Securities or Two Sigma?
Citadel / Citadel Securities is a multi-strategy platform headquartered in Miami; Two Sigma is a systematic manager headquartered in New York. On indicative total compensation Citadel / Citadel Securities sits roughly 15 percentage points higher against the market median. The larger difference for most candidates is the work itself: multi-strategy and market making at Citadel / Citadel Securities, versus ml-driven alpha and statistical arbitrage at Two Sigma.
| Citadel / Citadel Securities | Two Sigma | |
|---|---|---|
| Business model | Multi-strategy platform | Systematic manager |
| Headquarters | Miami | New York |
| Founded | 1990 | 2001 |
| Comp vs market median | +30% | +15% |
| Offices | New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Paris, Dubai / Abu Dhabi | New York, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco |
| Strategies | Multi-strategy, Market making, Equities, Commodities, Fixed income | ML-driven alpha, Statistical arbitrage, Alternative data, Systematic macro |
| Hires for | Quant Researcher, Quant Developer, Quant Trader, Systematic Portfolio Manager | Quant Researcher, Quant Developer |
| Interview stages | 4 | 4 |
| Typical backgrounds | PhD research, Top-tier engineering, Lateral hires from peer platforms | Machine learning PhDs, Statistics and physics research, Senior software engineers |
Compensation by role
Indicative mid-level total compensation, US dollars, New York reference market.
| Role | Citadel / Citadel Securities | Two Sigma |
|---|---|---|
| Quant Researcher | $625k | $550k |
| Quant Trader | $600k | — |
| Quant Developer | $475k | $430k |
| Systematic Portfolio Manager | $2.0m | — |
A dash means we hold no indicative figure for that role at that firm. It is recorded as unknown rather than estimated.
Citadel / Citadel Securities
Two connected businesses — the hedge fund and the market-making arm — that between them cover almost every quantitative discipline. Compensation is top of market and the performance bar is correspondingly high. The most common destination for senior researchers and portfolio managers changing platform.
Interview process
- 1. Recruiter screenBackground, motivation and compensation expectations.
- 2. Technical screenRole-specific: statistics and modelling for research, systems and C++ for engineering.
- 3. Case / projectOften a data exercise or take-home research problem.
- 4. Super daySequential interviews with researchers, engineers and business stakeholders.
Two Sigma
Technology-company culture applied to systematic investing, with heavy use of machine learning and alternative data. Competes with AI labs and large technology firms as much as with other funds.
Interview process
- 1. ScreenRecruiter and technical background review.
- 2. Technical roundsStatistics, machine learning and coding.
- 3. Research discussionPresentation or deep dive on prior research work.
- 4. On-siteCross-team panel.
Markets where both compete for talent
Other comparisons
Methodology
Figures are expressed as annual total compensation (base salary plus expected performance bonus) in the reference market's local currency, converted from a US dollar base. They describe typical market ranges rather than any individual offer, and exclude sign-on payments, deferred equity and carried interest. Portfolio-manager figures reflect formulaic profit-share arrangements and are therefore far more dispersed than any other role.
KnowQaunt 2026.1 · Updated September 2026
These are indicative ranges pending first-party verification. They will be replaced by verified submissions as the Quant Salary Index dataset builds.