Small Hedge Fund Internship - What Can I Expect
Hey all,
I got an internship working at a hedge fund. I don't know too much about the industry and was wondering what most summer internships are like. I'm pretty sure the one I am working at has under 10 employees and part of my responsibilities include processing daily transactions, liasing with the prime broker and maintaining Excel reports summarizing security positions, cash balances, net asset values, adjusted cost bases and realized
gains and losses.
What can I expect to be doing exactly?
jkn
What year of school are you in? If you're a freshman/sophomore, expect to be doing some heavily clerical work. Anything that involves AM/VC/HF, the value you can put in is pretty polarized - either you're doing a LOT, or you're doing absolutely nothing. From what you described, I don't think this will be educational at all. However, in terms of value-add for your resume, it exhibits dedication for high finance overall. Hence, you will be better positioned for future internships where you actually do get to do real work.
It really depends. This sounds like clerical work but show an interest in getting involved with the investment process. Ultimately, it comes down to somebody there being willingly to show you the ropes. The more top heavy the investment team is, the less likely that is to happen.
Having a high degree of figure-it-out-ability really goes a long way in these situations because odds are no one there wants to cut into their scarce free time to teach you how to do shit. It's not like JPM where they have formal training programs.
Internships at Small but Well Known Hedge Funds (Originally Posted: 11/17/2010)
Do small funds like Greenlight or Pershing Square recruit at top b-schools? I read somewhere that Einhorn only staffs eight analysts. I doubt they have structured summer programs, so how hard is it to get an internship gig at one of these places?
I'm pretty sure greenlight, third point, pershing, do not recruit at business schools. They mostly hire former sell-side analysts.
well i think you just picked two of arguably the most elite hedge funds (imo the top 3 are greenlight paulson and pershing) so I would say that the chances are between 0.000 and 0.005%. i know paulson likes hbs kids but doubt its through formal OCR. Basically then get the resume books of hedge fund and p/e clubs and will reach out to you if they think it's worth their time
Internship at small HF - take it? (Originally Posted: 01/25/2010)
I recently got a part-time position with a small local HF (~500M AUM), and it's an unpaid position. I'm a senior and already have a full-time position lined up after I graduate (not in the HF industry).
My question is, should I take this internship? I'm afraid that I may not be doing meaningful things, since it's an unpaid position, and people generally expect less from unpaid interns...
Would it help me with future HF recruiting after a couple of years of full-time work experience?
Thanks!
Whats your FT position in?
it will help if you get to do some DD later down the road when you look for fulltime IM jobs
What do you have to lose by taking it? I don't think it would help a tremendous deal for buyside recruitment in a couple of years (assuming you're going into IB or other finance-related fields), but if you just want risk-free exposure to an industry with minimal commitments, this could the opportunity.
As what kind of work you'll be doing. As long as you're not a GPA (Glorified Personal Assistant) bring coffee and stapling papers, it might be worth pursuing. It can definitely give you a leg up later in the future if you want to break into the HF industry.
Thanks for the comment guys - I will be doing research & modeling on companies, learn the way the fund picks stocks, use the Bloomberg... that's basically it.
I think I'll take it... there's nothing to lose :)
It depends, do you have 3 relevant positions on the resume? If not, the juice just may be worth the squeeze
No, I only have one relevant banking summer experience, and no HF experience whatsoever. So I think there is some juice to be squeezed!
I would definitely take it. You are unpaid so they will be very lenient. You will also get to learn about the environment in a hedge fund and maybe meet some cool people/ gain connections
Is it worthwhile to intern in this small HF? (Originally Posted: 10/04/2012)
I have got an internship in a small HF with only two persons and AUM USD20M in Hong Kong. But the cost is I have to give up another internship in DCM of a top tier commercial banks.
This HF is newly established and there is too much uncertainty there and the scale may be so small.....only two persons.....but both with a lot of experience...
The good side for DCM is the expanding business which means high possibility to get a formal position; and I can improve my personality.
But the downside is that I have already finished a summer internship there(so litte add-value to my resume) and I do not like tedious tasks that DCM guys undertake.
I also wonder the possibility of being a DCM guy first and then quit for another Master in a top tier school in America or Europe (I graduate from non-target - -!) and meanwhile prepare CFA and at last transfer to the buy side.
Is it worthwhile to intern in this small HF?
I am just wondering how does working in DCM improve your personality???
They are sell side, so all of them have very good personality. Then I can realize my shortcomings in my personality and improve it.....just my personal opinion....
"Well I hate to tell ya this, but ya personality just sucks, kid. Go spend a few years on the sell-side and get back to me."
Take the HF position. If you already have the commercial bank on your resume, there is no point in going back, unless you really want to work there full-time.
Deep Gratitude for your illuminating advise!
Deep Gratitude for your illuminating advise. But someone told me "it is easier to enter into small HF compared with DCM of big name, so u should take DCM"......I do not know whether this arguement is right....but if it is, I think I had better take DCM 'cause after the DCM intern, I can go for another buy side internship. What do you think?
I think he mean by "personality" getting used to the firm/street culture.
I would stick with the DCM job, you can look for exit opps later on.
Who cares how big the fund is if it's just an internship? If you want to be an investor, why wouldn't you do an investing-related internship? If you're not sure, wouldn't learning from two experienced people be a great way to find out? Why on earth would you put off exposure to the field you're interested in for 4-5 years just to assemble credentials you might discover you didn't need or ultimately want in the first place?
Deep Gratitude for your illuminating advise. But someone told me "it is easier to enter into small HF compared with DCM of big name, so u should take DCM"......I do not know whether this arguement is right....but if it is, I think I had better take DCM 'cause after the DCM intern, I can go for another buy side internship. What do you think?
who cares what other people think? think for yourself (if you can). do what you think is best for you. you create your own path.
^^ True. Take some general advice from people, but ultimately you have to do what feels right in your gut. We have almost no information on these two shops / what the people are like, etc.
Ah, if you don't think the HF is a great learning environment and it's trading, not investing, you're better off elsewhere. But in general you should go to a place that you feel is going to be a good fit whenever you have the chance, and not hold off just because of appearances.
Insight needed - Internship at a small HF (Originally Posted: 03/09/2010)
Got an intership at a small HF as ER intern.What could I progress this into and how good should the experience be on a 1-10 scale?(such as amazing on resume and/or for getting full time job later, learning important skills, working with really smart people who know what they're doing)
Thanks a bunch guys and gals
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