Own index research project

Open role

• Arithmos

Help us build the index methodology that retail investors will use to allocate billions — under the eye of a founding research team.

London (hybrid) or Remote (UK/EU) Internship

• 10–12 weeks (summer)£120,000–£144,000 base
• — equity
• £10,000–£12,000 monthly stipend
• return-offer bonus on conversion to full-time

Arithmos is building the retail layer for direct indexing. We turn a plain-English idea into a transparent, rule-based portfolio with institutional-grade backtesting and analytics. Our goal is to make structured investing accessible to millions.

The role

Arithmos lets retail investors describe an index in plain English and get back a transparent, rules-based portfolio with a real backtest. The quality of those indices — universe selection, factor definitions, weighting schemes, rebalance rules, survivorship handling — is the product. As an MBA Finance Intern you will work directly on that methodology layer, not adjacent to it.

Own an index research project

• Pick a theme (e.g. quality compounders, low-vol developed-markets, sovereign-AI semis) and build the methodology end-to-end
• Define the universe, screens, factor weights, rebalance cadence, and exclusions
• Write the methodology document — the same standard MSCI / S&P would publish
• Ship it as a live, public Arithmos index that users can clone

• Stress-test methodology choices against survivorship-bias-adjusted history
• Compare against established benchmarks (S&P 500, MSCI World, factor ETFs)
• Produce attribution: where does the alpha (or tracking error) come from?
• Document costs, slippage, turnover — the honest version, not the marketing version

• Read the AQR / Alpha Architect / Research Affiliates literature and translate it into product
• Map the competitive landscape (Black Rock Aladdin Wealth, Composer,  Themes, etc.)
• Write up findings as memos the founding team can act on

• Currently enrolled in a top-tier MBA programme with a finance concentration (or equivalent specialism)
• Pre-MBA experience in equity research, asset management, quant, hedge fund, or investment banking
• Strong fluency with factor investing, portfolio construction, and the ETF / index-fund landscape
• Comfort in Excel + Python (pandas) or R — you'll be running your own backtests
• Intellectual honesty about backtesting pitfalls (survivorship, look-ahead, overfitting)

• CFA candidate (any level) or CAIA
• Worked on a real index methodology, smart-beta product, or systematic strategy
• Comfortable with SQL and reading from Postgres directly
• Familiar with FMP, Tiingo, Polygon, Finnhub or similar market-data APIs
• Personal investing track record or research blog

• Your methodology will ship to real users with real money — not a class project
• Direct mentorship from the founding research team, with no PM layer between you and the work
• Exposure to the full pipeline: research → engineering → product → distribution
• Strong return-offer pathway into a founding Research Engineer or Index Methodologist role

• — equity
• £10,000–£12,000 monthly stipend
• return-offer bonus on conversion to full-time
• Top-tier equipment (M-series Mac Book)
• Founder-level mentorship — weekly 1:1 with the founding research lead
• Coverage of UK travel + accommodation for hybrid weeks
• Bloomberg / Fact Set / FMP access during the internship
• CFA exam fees covered if you sit a level during the internship

Arithmos is an equal-opportunity employer. Published 8 May 2026.