Hello everyone.
I've gone through the wso forum extensively and while I'm quite clear on the IB > PE process and WLB/Culture/Comp/Teams for banking, there's relatively less information for Long Only AM or L/S HFs.
So far I understand the main players are Balyasny, Point72, Ninetyone, Millenium, Capital, Wellington, Aviva, Baillie Gifford, TRP, PIMCO, Shroders etc.
1) How does one go about getting hired at these firms in a fundamental equity role coming out of a Masters. Is it the same IB process of going from SAs to FT offers or is it possible to get hired directly. Do firms recruit informally as well / does networking help.
2) Are there any other big firms I have missed out here ?
3) Whats the traditional recruiting process. Do these firms higher from IB or ER or both?
4) Do these firms offer off cycles?
5) I understand that SMs are less common than MM now. When recruiting for the MMs do you specify in advance which pods you want to get into or how does that work?
You've missed fidelity. Pretty sure wellington doesn't hire grads for the roles you're looking for.
Most of these firms offer convertible summers. Some offer grad schemes (e.g. millennium). None of them have particularly large grad classes though. Most recruit from ER and IB (exception is PIMCO, completely different types of firm here).
Most don't offer off cycles.
I've seen quite a few discussions here about whether ER or IB is better for eventually ending up at these funds and the merits of public market experience vs. the skills/work ethic/prestige you get from IB.
Given that I've already worked in AM, do you think it would be smarter to go down the IB route and then decide on whether I want to stay in banking or switch to HF/PE rather than recruting for AM roles straight out of a masters program?
Also would love your opinion on long only funds in the UK and whether any are worth considering beyond Fidelity / TRP / BG.
Long onlys tend to prefer ER guys. MMs don't care. SMs often have a so-called PE style approach to investing therefore prefer IBers. IBers also have access to other strats depending on the exact product you worked on in IB. E.g. some more event driven strategies or traded credit etc.
So if IBers have more choice why do people do ER? Because some people know they like public markets and don't want to deal with IBD bullshit basically.
What you do re AM Vs IB is up to you. It's optionality Vs get on with the life you want.
Any LOs in UK worth considering? Probably Schroders and Fidelity Intl. Wouldn't consider any other UK-based AM really. I don't know the current status of BG, but I get the sense they've gone downhill from their 2021 high. As for the US AMs with London offices, really any of the big 3 (cap, well, fidelity). TRP is decent too. I'm not an expert though, this is just perception. No idea how BlackRock is.
Thanks. This is very useful information.
I know IB gets shat on for the hours and people say how much better long only is and while I can't speak for IB, asset management has its own pitfalls. It might be shorter hours but you have more responsibility as well. The role is more open ended/more difficult and I think all of that significantly adds to the stress of the job. There's a constant element of uncertainty in dealing with the markets which doesn't get better as you go up the ranks / you can always lose your stock picking touch I guess.
So I might just try out IB and then see where I end up...
One final question, when SAs do open up, is it possible to apply for multiple SAs at the same bank e.g. SA for ER and IB at JPM. I might want to do that to hedge myself incase I don't get an IB gig.
Yeah and I mean, I was speaking about the LOs from my perspective right now. As a student, you really don't have much choice on the LO front because there are just not many seats.
If the bank lets you apply for more than one internship (and every bank is different) then of course you can apply to more than one.
Wouldn’t bank on getting HF tbh. Like 10 spots out of undergrad to go around.
when applying to grad programs at MMs you don’t specify anything, you’ll do the standardised training program and then get placed into a pod.
All HFs you listed primarily hire out of ER/IB; when lateraling you normally interview with specific pods/teams and decide who you want to work for.
I was talking about recruiting after grad school rather than undergrad, is it the same process for that / limited seats?
Masters students are generally treated the same as undergrads unless you’re doing an MBA/PhD type qualification. If it’s just a regular masters then you are in the same candidate pool as undergrads (and frankly a lot of people will see your cv and question why you went back to school) seems like trying to lateral into sellside ER is your best bet tbh
id also narrow your interest to either LO or MMHF. Entirely different work flows and philosophies. Do you want to bet on companies through the business cycle or trade the earnings cycle?
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