William Zhao

Department: Economics
Faculty Adviser: Wei Xiong
Year of Study: G2
Undergraduate School: Duke University
Undergraduate Major: Economics and Math

Personal Bio

I am William, a second-year Ph.D. student in economics originally from Shanghai, China. During my undergraduate years, I explored different aspects of economics, ranging from post-coup conflicts in Myanmar to transaction fee market design on Ethereum. I enjoy combining economic theory and data analysis to inform policymaking. Recently, I have been focusing on financial markets, especially the behavior of some new agents like quant funds and ETFs.

Fun Fact

I am especially good at cooking pork belly.

Research Pitch

When YOU and I trade stocks/options on Robinhood/Fidelity/Almost anywhere, our orders are not directed to any national stock exchanges. Instead, our orders will be directed to “wholesalers” like Citadel Securities/IMC/Two Sigma, and they will be more than happy to trade against us, or any average retail investors who know nothing about the market. Citadel Securities and other wholesalers would then pay Robinhood “payment for order flow” to thank them for our orders, which consist of 60% of Robinhood’s revenue, so Robinhood doesn’t charge us commissions anymore. Many quant funds are super interested in making more PnLs in this market. We will study this interesting market structure together, maybe putting down some option orders ourselves to see how it works. If you are interested in finance/economics/quant trading, please hit me up!

Upcoming Programs That I Am Attending:

Plans for Summer 2025

Interested in participating in Summer 2025 ReMatch+ program.