It's not as boolean as good/evil, but certainly there are ethical challenges to be faced in this particular field. There are many roles to play, so this comment isn't necessarily directed at the parent comment or risk management.
We all know the incredible power of technology. Applying engineering practices and automation to financial markets can be a dangerous game, where the full scope of risk is not yet clear and the repercussions can be disastrous [1][2].
With very few peer-reviewed academic entries and in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, I would be very uncomfortable applying my skills in this domain. I feel that engineering, if it is to be applied to financial markets, should be centered around bolstering security and reducing risk, not profiteering.
The recession was triggered by a clever system of alleviating risk [3]. When this architecture blew up, financial executives testified before congress citing the "highly complex" nature of the industry as an excuse. I personally do not want to work for this class of people, let alone implement or analyze their trading strategies.
Software is supremely flexible, it can be applied in nearly any industry. We have the ability to wield and program the electromagnetic force of the universe. We can push bits around to genuinely create a better world. That, to me, holds so much more value than a digit in my bank account.
I apologize for the off topic discussion, just wanted to get this out.
Unsurprisingly, it appears this community frowns on telling someone they're "in the service of evil" based solely on the fact that they do Risk Management Quantitative Analysis.
Well, a programmer/statistician/scientist working for "the financial services industry" has only one purpose there: to maximize the amount of money they make, through whatever clever means possible. Who came up with CDOs, for example? High Frequency Trading and their algorithms competing against each other?
In today's world, the financial services industry makes almost all of its money through exploiting the absurdity/loose regulations of our current economic system. Gambling, pretty much. They keep whatever profits they make, and have us pay their losses (bailouts etc). They reap insane profits at the expense of the health of our economies, and they are not the ones to suffer the consequences. It's us little folk.
A "quant" working at Goldman Sachs is just a tool used by the fat cats in charge. Do you think they can work for hedge funds and the like and not have any sense of something being wrong? Going there is a conscious choice. Staying there is another. I bet the unusually big salary helps them rationalize those choices though.
As an aside, I really wish that intelligent people would refuse to use their capabilities in the service of evil.