About the Role
DRW Asset Management is seeking a Fundamental Researcher to develop investment views on compute markets and the infrastructure that supports them. You will research the economics of compute supply and demand, form views on the macro forces shaping the market, and translate them into investment recommendations for a compute derivatives strategy.
- You will work alongside a quantitative researcher who owns the pricing models; your contribution is an independent, fundamental perspective, testing their assumptions against what is happening in the market and flagging when the market has moved ahead of them.
- This is a founding seat on a small investment team.
- Develop macro and fundamental views on compute, tracking supply and demand drivers such as AI training and inference demand, hyperscaler and neocloud capital expenditure, chip supply and generational transitions, data center capacity, power availability, financing conditions and policy.
- Translate compute pricing across contract terms and chip generations into investment views, identifying where prices diverge from fundamentals.
- Build supply-and-demand balances, unit economics and scenarios with documented, testable assumptions.
- Assess counterparties and assets with a credit investor's discipline, evaluating revenue quality, utilization, cost structure, customer concentration, contractual commitments, leverage, liquidity and refinancing risk.
- Make clear recommendations to the Portfolio Manager and Investment Committee, and build a network of industry contacts and data sources across hardware, cloud, data center and power markets.
Responsibilities
- Develop macro and fundamental views on compute by tracking and interpreting the forces driving supply and demand: AI training and inference demand, hyperscaler and neocloud capital expenditure, chip supply and generational transitions, data center capacity, power availability, financing conditions and policy, including export controls
- Assess what compute pricing across contract terms and chip generations implies about demand, capacity and scarcity, identify where prices diverge from fundamentals, and recommend how to express those views
- Develop a working understanding of the pricing models and supply the fundamental evidence behind their key inputs, including supply pipeline, utilization, workload mix and the pace of price declines across hardware generations
- Build research models: supply-and-demand balances, unit economics and scenarios that connect fundamental drivers to compute pricing and investment outcomes, with assumptions documented and testable
- Assess counterparties and assets with a credit investor's discipline: revenue quality, utilization, cost structure, customer concentration, contractual commitments, leverage, liquidity and refinancing risk
- Present to the Portfolio Manager and Investment Committee, setting out the investment thesis, valuation framework, catalysts, risks and the evidence that would change the view
- Build differentiated information sources by developing a network of industry contacts and data sources across hardware, cloud, data center and power markets
Requirements
- 5 to 7 years of fundamental investment research experience, ideally in credit research or investing (including structured or asset-backed finance), commodities (particularly power and energy), or buy-side or sell-side coverage of semiconductors and digital infrastructure
- A demonstrated ability to turn complex or incomplete information into a clear investment judgment
- Strong financial modeling skills and a thorough understanding of cash flow analysis, capital structures and downside scenarios
- Enough quantitative fluency to engage with pricing models: understand how they work, interrogate their inputs and judge whether their outputs are consistent with the market
- An understanding of how a fundamental view translates into a derivatives position such as a forward or swap, or the ability to learn this quickly
- The ability to distinguish structural trends from temporary supply-and-demand imbalances and to assess what is already reflected in pricing
- A strong interest in compute markets and the drive to build expertise across hardware, cloud services, data centers and power infrastructure
- Clear written and verbal communication, intellectual independence, and a willingness to challenge assumptions and revise views as evidence changes