Last month, Tower Chief Investment Officer, John Cogman returned to his alma mater to speak with Warwick Finance Societies, one of the largest and most active student groups at Warwick University. Drawing on a career that has spanned banking, electronic trading, and quantitative finance, John shared practical advice on building a career in the capital markets.
At Tower, we make it a priority to engage with the next generation of talent – not just to introduce students to quantitative trading, but to pass along the lessons, habits, and perspectives that can help shape their careers over time. Here are three takeaways from John’s presentation.
#1: Stay Open Early in Your Career
Careers do not always begin with a master plan. In John’s case, they began with broad interest, experimentation, and a willingness to follow what caught his attention.
At Warwick, he studied law and business rather than a traditional quant discipline. But as he learned more about capital markets, he applied widely, explored different functions, and used his early roles to figure out what actually fit. That openness ultimately led him into trading, technology and, eventually, quantitative finance.
“I really had no idea what all the divisions at these banks did, so I decided to apply to a different division at each bank and just see what happens.”
The takeaway: your specific academic path matters less than being curious, getting exposure, and paying attention to the kinds of work that genuinely engage you.
#2: Find What You Enjoy and Build Your Expertise Around It
John highlighted the idea that career momentum often comes from leaning into the work that feels natural and rewarding to you.
As trading became more technology-driven, he found himself drawn to the analytical side of the desk. He taught himself new tools, built spreadsheets that solved real problems, and gradually developed expertise that set him apart. He wasn’t following any specific curriculum. His edge came from noticing what he liked and getting better at it.
“I’ve always been a bit of a nerd and I wasn’t as confident as most of the other traders and salespeople around me, so I just kept my head down and cranked out spreadsheets.”
The takeaway: your advantage does not have to look like someone else’s. For those considering a career in finance or technology, sometimes the best path forward is to identify the work you are most energized by and then keep sharpening that advantage over time.
#3: Once You’ve Decided, Go Deep
John’s career also reflects the value of depth. As markets evolved, he kept moving closer to the parts of the business that fascinated him most: electronic trading, market structure, and the technologies that underpin quantitative trading.
Rather than staying broad forever, he went deeper, learning the ins and outs of a highly specialized space. That depth helped open doors across product, sales, and leadership roles.
“I moved into a very specialized sales role in a new segment of the market: quantitative hedge funds and proprietary trading firms. This was around 2009. At this point they had grown to be fairly significant but many people on Wall Street still didn’t know who they were or what they were doing. The nerdy side of me was happy talking about market microstructure, hardware acceleration, and microseconds of latency.”
The takeaway: breadth is useful at the beginning, but real differentiation often comes from going deep on something, whether that’s coding, data, market structure, research, or another area where you can develop a rare level of understanding over time.
John’s talk offered a strong message for students thinking about careers in finance: stay open, pay attention to what excites you, and do not be afraid to go deep once you find it. At Tower, we are proud to support conversations like this, and to help the next generation of quants, technologists, and market professionals see the many paths that can lead into the industry.
For those still forging their path, learn about quantitative trading and engineering internships at Tower.