MBA Finance Intern (Index Research & Methodology)
Help us build the index methodology that retail investors will use to allocate billions — under the eye of a founding research team.
About Arithmos
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.
What you’ll do
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
Backtest & validate
- 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
Competitive & academic research
- Read the AQR / Alpha Architect / Research Affiliates literature and translate it into product
- Map the competitive landscape (BlackRock Aladdin Wealth, Composer, Public.com Themes, etc.)
- Write up findings as memos the founding team can act on
Requirements
- 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)
Nice to have
- 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
Why this role is exceptional
- 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
Compensation & benefits
- Top-tier equipment (M-series MacBook)
- Founder-level mentorship — weekly 1:1 with the founding research lead
- Coverage of UK travel + accommodation for hybrid weeks
- Bloomberg / FactSet / FMP access during the internship
- CFA exam fees covered if you sit a level during the internship
How to apply
Upload your CV and a short note — no more than 200 words — on why this role in particular. If you have work you’re proud of that’s relevant (a product you shipped, a research paper, a backtest you ran), link to it. Two-stage process: screening call, then a take-home + technical deep-dive with the team you’d join.
