BY Penelope Bennett
In Chicago, a city famous for its financial transactions all over the world, countless financial practitioners with dreams shuttle between high-rise buildings in pursuit of their own success. The 26-year-old Nathan Xu is one of the outstanding people. He is now a key trader of Old Mission, a well-known market maker company in Chicago, handling millions to tens of millions of dollars of fixed-income ETF fixed income primary activities. His growth track-from a teenager in a math competition in the High School Affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai to an industry practitioner who now handles transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars-describes the legendary transformation of a new generation of quantitative traders from academic halls to financial battlefields. His story is not only a model of the perfect integration of mathematical thinking and financial practice, but also a microcosm of contemporary youth breaking the waves in the global financial tide.
Looking back at Nathan Xu’s growing process, mathematics has always been his most valuable asset. Nathan Xu’s talent in mathematics emerged as early as his youth. When he was studying in the Competition Class of the Lansheng Fudan Middle School, he won many prizes in various mathematics competitions. With excellent results and outstanding comprehensive qualities, he was admitted to the advanced academic track at High School Affiliated to Fudan University of Liberal Arts and Sciences through the principal when he graduated from junior high school, which started the way of systematic academic training. At the undergraduate stage, he chose the University of Wisconsin–Madison as his major in mathematics and actuarial science, and worked hard in the fields of probability and statistics, financial modeling and so on, and actively participated in investment practice. Graduate students majored in financial mathematics at the University of Chicago, and further transformed the theory into practical quantitative finance applications. During this period, he also passed eight actuarial examinations. This solid academic training laid a solid foundation for his future career development.
On the actual combat stage of Old Mission, Nathan Xu proved the value of academic accumulation with actual performance. In August, 2023, Nathan Xu joined Old Mission with ardent longing for the financial market. Like a well-calibrated component in a fast-moving financial engine, Nathan Xu stood out with the first overall score in the three-month training, and quickly took over the work of ETF net asset value (NAV) evaluation and maintenance after he officially took up his post. Later, he deeply studied the related business processes of ETF creation/redemption, actively participated in the building and improvement of the team basket selection process, and was responsible for the future operation and maintenance of the system. This system has now become the core tool of fixed income trading, and contributed roughly 30% of the team’s trading profits in 2024.
The real test comes from the actual cooperation with industry giants. In the collaboration with BlackRock’s iShares team in early 2025, Nathan Xu fully demonstrated his outstanding professional ability. With profound mathematical analysis skills and keen market insight, he led the team to complete the system integration project efficiently. Through rigorous testing process and continuous optimization and adjustment, the cooperation goal was finally achieved smoothly. This cooperation not only demonstrates Nathan Xu’s excellent project management ability, but also confirms his professionalism in complex financial scenarios. With his meticulous logical thinking and pragmatic work style, he won high recognition from his partners and established a long-term and stable cooperative relationship between them.
Placed in the competitive field of global trading, Nathan Xu has formed a unique work philosophy. In the fast-paced competition of Chicago Financial Circle, Nathan Xu has always adhered to the creed of “Always ask questions and keep learning”. When building the basket running process, he was frustrated by technical problems, but he finally broke through the bottleneck by breaking down the problem, coding the process, and collaborating closely with the team. He believes that the fast-paced environment of Chicago’s financial market is full of pressure, but every challenge is an opportunity for growth.
Looking ahead, the young trader has a clear roadmap. At present, Nathan Xu plans to further optimize trading strategies and deepen cooperation with issuers. He believes that stable market-making behavior can not only create value for the company, but also promote the long-term healthy development of the bond market. After work, he releases pressure through Muay Thai and soccer, and maintains the balance of “calmness and enthusiasm coexist”. For the future, he expects to continue to deepen in the field of quantitative trading and contribute to improving the industry ecosystem. As he often said: “The market is always changing, but a solid foundation and an open mind are the real confidence to meet the challenges.” Just like the never-ending electronic screen of the Chicago Board of Trade, his career journey is also extending to a broader market.
