Top Hedge Fund Ops/MO vs. 11-50 employee boutique IB!!!!

Hi all,

I'm a senior at a target school. I'll get right to the point.

I have an offer from a top hedge fund (think top 5 and over $30 bn in AUM) to work in its Ops/MO
and will most likely get an offer from a boutique (11-50 employees) investment bank to work as an analyst. Which one would you take?

  • Both in NYC
  • HF : Top HF, Good name, but obviously Ops/MO work, O-K salary (65-70k), little or no lateral mobility within the firm, work hours (8am - 6pm)
  • Boutique IB: Small, Don't know the compensation yet (what do you think it would be around?), does most of its deals in Asia so lots of traveling back and forth from Asia and NYC, and got the sense that I'll be working like a dog (which I don't mind) based on the impression I got from its rented one room office in NYC

What are some of the things I should be looking at if I were to choose the IB over the HF?

Please help!

 

Choose the boutique IB. This really shouldn't even be a question. Ops is ops regardless of the firm that you're at. The work that that boutique does is the same that every other IB does, just on a smaller scale. If you want to work in ops, more power to you, but don't choose that HF just because of the brand name. It will be infinitely easier to lateral from a boutique than any ops role. Good luck.

 
Best Response

The only reason I can think of even considering the Ops role is if you want to go into trading eventually. You can stay there a year or two (no longer), save over half your take home pay, then go for a top MSF.

To give a more balanced view, Ops is underrated in a sense that you can learn the mechanics of products which is useful in a number of ways EXCEPT for actually trading the damn things. It will be more applicable if you are interested in derivatives, for example. How are your coding skills? Ops is ripe for automation and provides a wealth of opportunities if you are technically inclined.

With all that said, even in this case the boutique IB may be the better choice depending on your end goal. Unless you are planning to go to bschool later anyway OR if the boutique pays absolute peanuts I'd just go the IB route.

 

Sed fugiat omnis culpa molestiae praesentium. Temporibus impedit qui blanditiis et qui enim cum. Non dicta nihil qui ea placeat dolorem velit. Iste quibusdam neque error tenetur. Architecto qui autem quae cum voluptatem dolorem voluptas. Ducimus eos repellat ipsa iusto voluptatem in cupiditate. Non sequi perferendis minus eum aperiam aut.

Id aut rerum iusto ex voluptate ut eligendi laboriosam. Quia similique sit dolor ea nihil. Quisquam sed magni cupiditate ea sint cumque. Et expedita praesentium distinctio enim consequatur quos. Voluptatem voluptas deleniti consequatur. Voluptas nam dignissimos exercitationem natus tempora est distinctio.

Totam in dolorem error debitis. Sit vero tempora nobis asperiores nihil commodi. Quam illum delectus sequi non dolor nostrum. Sequi et cum voluptate tenetur quasi quia. Provident et porro fugit aut et nesciunt.

Nemo officia nemo labore qui est optio. Non ut explicabo ut id laborum impedit. Non est eligendi est enim. Sit magni debitis labore ducimus quo fuga deleniti.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners New 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 01 98.3%
  • Harris Williams & Co. 24 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 19 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.9%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners 18 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (22) $375
  • Associates (93) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (69) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (206) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (149) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”