Fund management and financial services give physicist Ben Peters an insight into a highly uncertain world.

After completing a PhD at the University of Oxford, exploring single molecule transistors, Ben Peters moved into financial services. Here he describes his transition from academia.

Click here to read about how Peters pursued fund management as a career.

{credit}Image credit: Ben Peters{/credit}

Why did you decide to leave academia?

Job security is a big thing for a postdoctoral researcher. Having to reapply for funding every few years didn’t much appeal to me at the time, particularly as I’d just had a child.

But as it happened, I had become interested in the world of investment and investment management through my brother in law, Hugh, who I now in fact work with. So I had an ‘in’ to the industry, and I had an idea of where I wanted to look.

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned since starting out in fund management?

In theoretical physics you derive an equation and you get a result. With experimental physics you do an experiment and within the boundaries of error, you get a result. You don’t really get one in this field in terms of finishing a project or getting a precise answer. Continue reading →