Ring finger length points to trading success
City traders who have ring fingers which are longer than their index finger make the most money, claim scientists.
Researchers from Cambridge University go on to add that those stockbrockers with relatively short ring fingers make the least money.
This they claim, is not because the extra finger length contains any innate trading ability but that those with the long digits were exposed to high levels of prenatal testosterone.
The higher testosterone levels are said to make them more adventurous and likely to take risks - a positive trait in a job which relies on split-second decisions.
Cue lots of City traders today looking at their hands and saying to each other: "I have got more trading ability in my little finger..."
The study was based on 49 London traders and it was found that those exposed to high levels of prenatal testosterone made on average a whopping SIX times the profits of traders exposed to low levels.
Dr John Coates, himself a former trader, said: "We were surprised to find that exposure to hormones in the womb had such a strong influence on future trading performance.
"Does our research herald a dystopian future in which hiring on Wall Street is decided by the presence of a bio-marker? It is unlikely. Population statistics such as ours give average effects over a population but can be tricky when applied to individuals."
LINKS
