London is establishing itself as a major centre for quantitative finance, with several UK-based trading firms and hedge funds including XTX and Qube, generating multibillion-pound revenues and attracting top talent, according to a report by the FT.
XTX, Qube, and Quadrature each posted over £1bn in revenues last year, underscoring the capital’s growing prominence despite broader questions about its status as a global financial hub. These firms rely on data-driven models, machine learning, and high-performance computing to identify pricing inefficiencies and market opportunities, with relatively limited human input compared to traditional trading desks.
XTX, led by billionaire Alexander Gerko, generated £2.7bn in revenues and £1.3bn in profits after tax, up 36% and 54% respectively from 2023, and is investing over €1bn in a new data centre in Finland. Qube, specialising in market making and statistical arbitrage, saw UK revenues rise to £2bn, nearly seven times 2020 levels, while Quadrature’s revenues increased almost fivefold to £1.2bn over the same period.
Research firm G-Research, which provides modelling and IT support for quant strategies, reported combined revenues of £712m over 15 months to the end of 2023.
Experts attribute London’s growth as a quant hub to a deep pipeline of highly skilled graduates, strong universities, a supportive regulatory framework, and a tradition of algorithmic trading dating back to firms like AHL, Winton, and Aspect. Firms actively recruit from computing and mathematics programs, sponsoring hackathons, student societies, and PhD initiatives, offering salaries ranging from £250,000 to £800,000.
