Aquatic Capital Management Interview Process & Prep

Founded in 2018 by Jonathan Graham (13+ years at Citadel, Partner and Senior Managing Director leading Global Quantitative Strategies), Aquatic runs systematic global strategies; mission: "building the world's best prediction machine."

Candidate-reported stages: recruiter call → online assessment → take-home / data exercise → two quant interviews → virtual onsite → leadership call. Four confirmed Aquatic-reported questions so far, two of them from 2026 phone and final rounds; treat the round detail as directional, not verified.

Quant ResearcherSoftware EngineerSystems Engineer

The Aquatic Capital Management interview funnel

1. Recruiter / HR Call

Phone · background + fit

An intro call covering background, motivation and logistics. Candidate-reported as the entry point for both research and engineering tracks.

2. Online Assessment

Timed · online (candidate-reported)

Candidates report an online assessment before the interview rounds; on the engineering side a Python assessment via CodeSignal is mentioned. We have no reliable public description of the research-track OA contents, so this round is editorial-only. We have not reconstructed a problem set we cannot source.

3. Take-Home — Theory + Data Exercise

Take-home · theory questions + a data task (candidate-reported)

One candidate account describes a take-home split into a theoretical portion and a data exercise, with the theory centred on linear regression. Regression theory is the single most concrete piece of Aquatic-specific intel we have, so make it the priority.

4. Quant Interviews (×2)

2 rounds · with researchers (candidate-reported)

Two quant interviews follow the assessment. Round contents are not publicly documented, so this set is exactly the questions in our bank stamped as Aquatic-reported for these rounds:

  • a Chebyshev bound on a bivariate-normal difference
  • the variance of an exponentiated gamma
  • from a 2026 phone round, what OLS estimates when the slope's sign is a hidden coin flip

It is deliberately not padded out with generic problems.

5. Virtual Onsite

Virtual onsite · multiple rounds (candidate-reported)

A virtual onsite follows the quant interviews. We have no sourced breakdown of who you meet or how many rounds. Expect the hardest variants of the research stack plus a deep-dive on your own work; Aquatic's postings stress independent research and originating research topics over time.

One 2026 candidate reports a final-round question on maximum entropy: over all densities on [0, 1], minimize the integral of f log f. That question is the practice set below.

6. Leadership Call

Conversational · senior leadership (candidate-reported)

The reported final step is a leadership call. Aquatic is small and founder-led, so treat this as a real gate on judgement and fit rather than a formality.

Aquatic Capital Management interview — FAQ

What is the Aquatic Capital Management interview process?

Founded in 2018 by Jonathan Graham (13+ years at Citadel, Partner and Senior Managing Director leading Global Quantitative Strategies), Aquatic runs systematic global strategies; mission: "building the world's best prediction machine." Candidate-reported stages: recruiter call → online assessment → take-home / data exercise → two quant interviews → virtual onsite → leadership call. Four confirmed Aquatic-reported questions so far, two of them from 2026 phone and final rounds; treat the round detail as directional, not verified. The loop runs 6 stages: Recruiter / HR Call, Online Assessment, Take-Home — Theory + Data Exercise, Quant Interviews (×2), Virtual Onsite, Leadership Call.

How many rounds does Aquatic Capital Management have?

6 stages in total, starting with the Recruiter / HR Call and ending with the Leadership Call.

How do I prepare for the Aquatic Capital Management interview?

Work the stage notes above, then drill the Aquatic Capital Management interview-questions set and the Aquatic Capital Management online-assessment practice — each problem has a full worked solution.

Aquatic Capital Management round-by-round guides