SM HF opportunities from banking vs 2+2

This topic has been discussed a lot on this forum but hard to get solid perspectives. Asking those who have or know of people who have either a) gone straight from a BB / EB banking group to a good SM HF opportunity or b) completed a stint at a MF/UMM PE firm. 
 

I understand that the learning in those 2 years of PE isn’t too much of a value add (at least if you want to end up in a SM seat). My question is if the amount of looks / inbounds / opportunities are much better for someone who does 2+2 rather than someone coming from a good banking group? Is doing 2 years of PE worth the optionality it gives you?

 

I did this path. Top banking program to MF PE to quality SM HF. I basically got no looks at SM HFs from banking but got a lot more inbounds after the PE stint. I did get a lot of MM HF opportunities out of banking though so it really depends on ultimate goal. If I wanted to climb latter at Citadel / Millennium, I would have skipped PE.

 

That’s what you would think. I got 3 offers from pods (citadel / MLP) and every once in a while, I check how the team is doing. Every single of them blew up / left their firm over the course of the past 2-3 years.

 

And you simply would have been placed in a new pod. I also did 2+2 and went to one of the firms you mentioned instead of a SM / have now been in 2 pods. First left, I got placed on a new team…

MM HF path higher comp/upside potential and, in reality, pretty much the same lvl of stability

And more often than not, a PM leaving is a PM that hit his # and is retiring.

 
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Cool? I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where money is immaterial to me, but good for your associate I guess... I don't know it just seems like a weird thing to brag about someone else's pay.

The issue is OP is asking about SMs and almost every thread about this gets hijacked by some moronic "go to Citadel for XYZ" take. Its just blatantly not helpful. This community has devolved into *some* MM hires feeling the need to reflexively prove that doing 2+2 and going to work for Elliot is stupid when you could do Point72 Academy. People are interested in different things and want to optimize differently. There are more than a handful of us on this site who come from wealth and aren't interested in grinding a buck under a market-neutral model, but find growth and/or activist strategies genuinely interesting. 

MMs are great, SMs are great. Different strokes...no need to cry about it.

My fund is one of the better-perceived SMs on this site, but I don't feel the need to be the emissary of its greatness, unlike certain MM employees. 

 

I didn’t mean to make this a SM HF vs. MM HF. This should be a specific and unique decision based on what you want out of your career. That being said, I’m happy with my compensation trajectory and work life balance. On a separate note, all of the PMs moved firms vs. retiring because they “hit their number”. I obviously can’t confirm whether they left b/c they were poached or fired.

 

Not everybody wants to work at Point72, that shouldn't be an onerous desire.

 

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