Macro vs. value/ micro based HF
(Baboon, 104
Points)
on 6/21/12 at 6:20am
Hey all.
What's the difference in lifestyle, potential remuneration, key skills required etc. between the macro vs. micro based hedge funds?
I've tried to search on this but the vast majority of info on this site seems to be about value funds - is there a reason for this (most prestigious, better pay etc)?
Would macro funds have a broader range of entry routes rather than just IBD?
Finally, can anyone please give some names of the top macro HFs?
Thank you in advance





IBD really will not prepare
IBD really will not prepare you for global macro. It would be better to do FICC in S&T, economist, strategist roles. Working at the Fed, IMF is also good.
Also you need to be quantitative...
Quant skills are more
Quant skills are more important than in value funds where modelling is key?
couchy: IBD really will not
IBD really will not prepare you for global macro. It would be better to do FICC in S&T, economist, strategist roles. Working at the Fed, IMF is also good.
Also you need to be quantitative...
I don't really follow... Can you explain why you have to be quantitative to work in a global macro fund?
It's the other way around. IB
It's the other way around. IB leads to value funds and S&T leads to macro. And that's why there's more info on value funds, because there are more IB folks on the site.
A few macro funds: Tudor, Caxton, Paulson; easy to do a search on this.
"Sincerity is an overrated virtue" - Milton Friedman
Thanks ohyeah, very
Thanks ohyeah, very helpful
Anyone else that has info on the above global macro considerations, would be great to hear from you
Also, how well would a quasi
Also, how well would a quasi s&t/IB position like levfin or ECM set you up for global macro?
Please explain how anything
Please explain how anything you do in Levfin or ECM teaches you how to trade interest rate, fx or volatility products? Do you even know what macro hedge funds do?
jesus of
IBD really will not prepare you for global macro. It would be better to do FICC in S&T, economist, strategist roles. Working at the Fed, IMF is also good.
Also you need to be quantitative...
I don't really follow... Can you explain why you have to be quantitative to work in a global macro fund?
Global mcro is by definition top-down investing where you follow important trends in the economy and then need to arrange a trade that properly expresses your trading idea. When you have an idea, you have to think which market products will best position you to profit off of the idea, while hedging your exposure to other risk factors you aren't betting on. This requires pretty deep knowledge of the ficc and equities markets, which can get pretty quantitative for certain products.
Compare this to a value fund, where it's usually bottom-up investing and expressing your trade idea / stock pick is really just buying either the stock or the options.
If you think about it, you will never be valuing individual companies in global macro. So starting out in banking won't really help you there.
musto430: Also, how well
Also, how well would a quasi s&t/IB position like levfin or ECM set you up for global macro?
Well you follow markets, so it's better than ib, but s&t is obviously better....
Roughly speaking, Value funds
Roughly speaking, Value funds focus on companies and Global Macro focuses on the economy. Everything in IB is about individual companies and not the economy in general, so IB isn't the perfect place to start out, like couchy said.
You can also break it down into product type. value investors buy products that are directly affected by business: stocks, stock options, etc. Global Macro investors buy products that are affected by economics: currency, bonds, commodities etc.
"Sincerity is an overrated virtue" - Milton Friedman