The openness of analyst work in HF

Hi WSO,

I'm picking up in my work in my HF. Now that I'm there, I need some pointers and working with the senior PMs.

I'm sensing this open nature of working in a HF which at times has caught me of guard. It seems that there's a pacing to the work, pacing relative to my rank of analyst, and pacing relative to how close an idea is to trading.

Example one: my boss PM sends me an email, with a template, on portfolio construction. I start putting in some numbers to derive results. Upon showing him, his reply was "We're still in the research phase. That template is to give you an idea when we get there." Um ... okay. I guess being prepared doesn't work.

Example two: a firm wide meeting confirmed the move to investing another product. In his words, the CIO is "keen on it." The consensus was to take existing ideas, which we've used for the last two years, but apply them to this new product. Naturally, I did some cursory work on the short falls of this existing model on new product, i.e. liquidity. Then upon a chat with my boss PM, he said let's still focus on improving the existing model on the existing product. Trading the new product will come.

Anyone experience this same non-definitive, open-ended nature of hedge fund work where you seem to be at a lost on getting your program to trade money.

Sincerely Yours,
Nijikon

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 96.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (249) $85
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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”