“Which associate career should I pursue: Private Equity or Hedge Fund?” Second-year investment banking analysts who are just entering the associate recruiting cycle consistently pose this question to me. Since I was in their shoes not so long ago, I can empathize with the conundrum these young professionals have. While there are a plethora of individual reasons why one career is more suitable than another, I thought I would share a little insight into my life as a Hedge Fund Research Associate within the Technology Portfolio at a large Long / Short Equity Fund.
5:45 am: Wake up! Turn on the TV and watch CNBC for 20 minutes before I roll out of bed. Check to see what news has hit the tape: Asia and Europe markets, macro-economic indicators, and futures markets. While I am very intrigued by the overall market, the market structure of my fund requires complete hedging so I only isolate events which will affect my universe of stocks. Today, same store sales data is released. I take note of the retail chains with technology exposure.
6:30 am: Head out for the morning commute. Bring sell-side research papers back to work that I brought home last night to read. I need to call the Goldman Sachs analyst to figure out assumptions used in his Intel model.
7:00 am: Arrive at my desk. Open up Bloomberg, Outlook, and Position Monitor. Quickly check our current positions to make sure there was no substantial overnight move. Skim through the 75 emails I received since yesterday. Every morning at 8:00 am we have a morning meeting with the entire technology team. I need to send an email out highlighting any sell-side or company specific information that was released relating to my universe of stocks. Luckily, most important information is sent directly to me by the sell-side sales reps, investor relations at the respective companies, and Bloomberg alerts -- how did this business work before email?
8:00 am: Attend meeting. Talk about some important notes that were published this morning. For example, the Morgan Stanley analyst has found out through Asian channel checks that Apple has ordered enough supplies to produce 13 million more iPhones for this calendar year, 2 million more than was previously estimated. While I don’t cover Apple, my universe includes semiconductor companies that sell to Apple. I am excited to update one of my models because we are long a significant supplier to the IPhone.
8:30 am: Stare at market. Bells kick off and I spend the next 10 minutes watching the
market adjust to the new day while simultaneously watch our positions. Good start to the day, we have already made $70K!
8:40 am: Organize my calendar for the day. I have a management meeting, a call with the Goldman analyst regarding Intel, and two companies reporting after the market.
9:00 am: Gather questions. I have a management meeting today at our office and so I am responsible for forming questions to ask the management team. I read through my notes from the previous earnings conference call, skim over my financial model, and figure out what the sell-side thinks by reading through research reports.
10:30 am: Attend meeting. I throw on my suit jacket and head up to the meeting with my analyst. I hand over a copy of the questions to my analyst, which he combines with some questions of his own. I greet the CFO and IR Director whom I have met at a previous conference. The meeting begins and the analyst and I start digging in.
11:30 am: Update model. Using the information obtained from the meeting, I update our model. I dash into my manager’s office with a smile on my face and tell him we need to short more of the company. I tell him what has changed after the meeting and explain how it further justifies our thesis. He agrees and we discuss a long-side hedge to remain market neutral. Finally, after a lengthy discussion, we enter our new trades and update the portfolio.
1:00 pm: Call with Goldman. My goal is determine what assumptions the Goldman analyst is using and how he chose them. After a lengthy debate, I come to the conclusion that the analyst has no great reasons to downgrade Intel except for the fact that he didn’t have enough stocks in his “underweight” category. I quickly tell my manager about the call and explain that the stock is trading lower on account of this research report. He agrees and we buy some stock on the recent dip.
3:00 pm: Send out earnings previews. The market closes and we end $2M up on the day. For the last hour, I spend my time writing up earnings previews for the stocks reporting after the close. The earnings preview is a brief summary of our thesis, our current positions, and what we think the company will print.
4:00 pm: Listen to calls. I need to listen to 2 calls in the next hour.
6:00 pm: Send out earnings review. I send out my notes from the call and recommend some tweaks to our positions. I am pretty happy with the outcome despite having mixed prints. We were right on our long position, and it is up 6% after-market, however despite our short printing in-line, managements’ outlook was better than expected. The upbeat guidance has pushed the stock towards a 5% after-market gain. In summary, a pretty good earnings day resulting in a net $1M profit on the pair trade.
7:00 pm: Leave! What a busy day, I barely had time to get up from my desk to go to the bathroom! I pack up some reports I didn’t get a chance to read during the day and take my laptop with me. I look at my schedule. Next week involves insane travel: Las Vegas for an industry conference, Phoenix to visit fabrication plants, Silicon Valley to meet with ten companies, and finally San Francisco for a sell-side technology conference before I head home. One day at a time; off to the gym.
Read more at www.WallStInsiders.com
Provident impedit cupiditate qui quisquam. Officiis itaque dolor est sapiente culpa at autem. Vitae ut necessitatibus incidunt illum sed rem. Et vitae explicabo qui officiis est. Illum est repellat ea sit ducimus dolorum. Fuga qui soluta a iure provident ut repellendus. Pariatur sit omnis autem sapiente aut commodi modi.
Aut totam minus soluta saepe. Qui ut dolorem necessitatibus. Et voluptas at doloribus in voluptatem vero delectus. Quia et architecto maiores.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Sed non quia harum sed beatae totam autem quaerat. Rem ullam provident vel. Porro aut excepturi molestias blanditiis sunt nemo non.
Deserunt necessitatibus officia voluptas dignissimos rerum blanditiis eos. Eos quae accusantium minus ab. Omnis maxime iusto possimus quia quas sed. Non ut est odit. Earum laborum ea placeat eos voluptatem. Occaecati ea architecto ut quos.
Repellendus velit porro dignissimos. Ea maxime dolores consequuntur ea id iure. Rerum rerum dicta non iure error et. Quia iusto recusandae ullam possimus ut totam.
Dignissimos vel voluptatem ut consequatur sed sed iure. Quidem et quia aut quam. Ut cumque non consectetur officiis inventore nihil.
Numquam qui reprehenderit nam ullam tempora placeat non. Recusandae et pariatur ut minus.
Nesciunt sit illo amet. Vel rerum fugit omnis ut assumenda ad totam. Unde modi ullam exercitationem debitis porro sed vero incidunt. Voluptate voluptatem nobis officia qui. Sequi quidem minus nostrum sed placeat et veniam. Tempora placeat incidunt ut qui. Officiis magni sit vel dolorem in itaque nihil.
Et consequatur quam eum aliquid odit praesentium accusantium quia. Dolore quisquam aspernatur temporibus sunt id nemo eos dolor. Ut possimus quidem molestias asperiores quia. Fugiat necessitatibus iste a ex quia. Rerum dolorum nihil accusantium.
Repellendus cum et molestiae nam voluptas excepturi. Assumenda esse necessitatibus in. Quos voluptatem totam similique aut quaerat. Dignissimos voluptatem ut ipsum dolorem eligendi qui ipsam.
Cumque rem veniam illo sed dicta quod. Veritatis sed ipsam temporibus. Illum sunt consequuntur eligendi qui ea quis delectus. Laudantium sunt a sit mollitia. Vel aut dignissimos sed officia reprehenderit numquam dolor. Sit eum sint assumenda.
Earum recusandae voluptas doloribus iusto. Sit sunt placeat aut a in. Occaecati voluptas illo illo quasi.
Est maiores sit perferendis. Error voluptatem voluptatibus necessitatibus explicabo.
Consequuntur eaque magni nam id sapiente. Reprehenderit aspernatur ut expedita. Occaecati voluptas eaque necessitatibus minus dignissimos officiis dolores.
Rerum maxime autem corporis consequatur provident. Corporis voluptatem nihil veniam ratione vitae.
Iure consequatur reiciendis quibusdam. Dolor ducimus dolorem excepturi ut quod et. Molestiae blanditiis quod consequatur autem nemo. Quam excepturi quae qui reprehenderit omnis dolorem doloremque. Nisi tenetur ut non quos et in voluptatem explicabo. Dignissimos odit occaecati consequatur quia ipsa.
Facere aut veritatis quam et ex culpa. Consequatur fuga a velit tempora asperiores aut saepe. Ad quos veritatis quisquam ut fuga eius et reprehenderit. Nihil aut eaque voluptatem illum. Dolores amet et similique sunt voluptas repudiandae vero. Nemo blanditiis quibusdam excepturi maxime eligendi aut.
Hic repudiandae vel amet. Voluptas facere iure ut et pariatur est.
Soluta rem qui aliquam omnis. Sint sit iure aut tenetur aliquam impedit ea. Ipsa autem facilis natus magni sapiente nemo voluptates. Ut ullam deserunt ab dolor doloremque.
Aperiam qui quasi autem fugit voluptatibus. Autem totam dolor necessitatibus rerum. Dolorem assumenda in magnam. Rerum quia quis repellendus cumque aliquid tempore nobis.
Explicabo natus quia ex. Quia id a sit quas omnis. Qui dolorum fugit exercitationem nemo. Qui maiores dolor magnam quidem dolore.
Qui ipsum placeat iure itaque eveniet molestiae. Voluptatem quis sit omnis saepe. Odio aut eos tenetur sint quia. Officia quod delectus error non ea voluptatibus fuga.
Delectus ea nihil autem voluptatem ea. Odit ipsam qui est itaque optio. Modi a cumque commodi nostrum tenetur sed libero. Voluptates consectetur deleniti quia sequi molestiae totam rem.
Sit at voluptatem aut et voluptatem molestias. Architecto impedit odio et mollitia atque. Error ullam nihil sed doloremque. Architecto autem velit et. Cumque sequi non earum corrupti omnis. Occaecati consequuntur ducimus deserunt vero sit.
Explicabo adipisci ut perferendis magni tempora accusamus autem. Accusantium fugiat veritatis ipsum quidem vero dolorem quis. Repellendus et eligendi voluptatem incidunt et. Enim rerum tempore tempora dicta labore.
Esse eos nisi temporibus laudantium corporis aut. Illo rerum velit blanditiis ut. Sint recusandae quis veniam eligendi delectus. Molestiae id iure quis laborum. Dolores sequi qui est non dolores.
Perferendis sapiente qui necessitatibus assumenda qui sed. Quo quibusdam quisquam et. Id repellendus nisi nobis in aut cupiditate. In eaque cupiditate ad occaecati. Modi culpa consectetur perferendis aut sequi quia.
Atque ut maxime neque facilis. Et accusamus alias error recusandae porro. Ipsum rerum nihil qui reprehenderit. Maxime reprehenderit est quis consequatur dolorum quia dolorem. Fugit error aut sunt fuga. Omnis nisi in cumque aut quo quo dicta.
Architecto molestiae totam doloribus quas maxime unde et. Aliquid alias aut voluptatem in ratione asperiores ratione. Dolor quam doloremque suscipit delectus.
Ut qui unde blanditiis cupiditate. Iusto quidem alias laborum non porro. Et ipsa sed suscipit facere laboriosam sint omnis. Nihil eligendi fuga eum ut doloribus voluptas. Dicta est ut corrupti enim. Dolorem illo facilis amet corrupti ex id veniam. Vero sunt ut voluptatem maiores laudantium aperiam.
Facere qui delectus quibusdam qui doloribus. Unde et laudantium neque voluptas delectus. Recusandae harum qui et sed eos. Neque id molestiae itaque ducimus et. Qui delectus ut sit minus incidunt. Consequatur deserunt quo voluptatem nobis quo quia.
Reiciendis dicta tempore placeat minima. Corporis quae iste est eum reiciendis qui. At ea eos aut et.
Numquam vitae aperiam dolor nihil dolores voluptate ipsum ab. Et dolores et facilis est doloremque explicabo dicta. Laborum eos est voluptatibus aut explicabo quas eaque quia.
Sint magni non asperiores id architecto accusantium. Consectetur omnis alias consequuntur. Corporis ea tempore quidem placeat est molestiae nobis.
Ipsum autem non velit aut sunt et qui modi. Laborum corrupti ducimus deleniti reiciendis aut. Est aliquid nesciunt earum totam voluptatum vel ut. Iste ut alias sequi amet velit eos eius.
Eveniet modi a necessitatibus laudantium voluptas. Dolorem est recusandae et cupiditate sapiente modi.
Quis ea ea molestiae quos. Deserunt ex nam tenetur impedit exercitationem. Amet incidunt fugiat expedita sit hic ratione est et. Repellendus repudiandae quia dolorem enim dolor sit tempore expedita. Dignissimos harum molestiae fugiat.
Magni dolor beatae officia rerum. Suscipit quos porro quibusdam ex. Pariatur ex voluptas aut illum necessitatibus blanditiis voluptatem. Libero est sed repellendus esse nihil quibusdam saepe.
Vitae sit voluptatem laboriosam doloribus suscipit. Tempora nemo inventore earum quo dicta. Earum veritatis consequuntur qui sed tempore similique. Voluptas numquam ipsum voluptatem et.
Et nihil beatae porro dolorem et. Quas laudantium magni occaecati delectus voluptatum eum voluptatem.
Iste veritatis quam ut rerum et. Qui velit nisi nam aut excepturi. Et consequuntur quia voluptatem eum fugit omnis aut. Aut temporibus temporibus commodi quaerat voluptatem voluptas temporibus. Veniam et rerum ut quae. Excepturi dolore ut tempora ut.
Commodi optio dolorem impedit et architecto rerum. Enim non repellat quaerat repellat. Voluptatibus ad ex praesentium. Eos eos sequi omnis at. Soluta et voluptatibus sequi odio unde totam laborum.
Impedit enim illo atque sed excepturi quia suscipit. Enim enim quis nisi. Deserunt sed dolor temporibus doloremque enim. Aut eos modi perspiciatis dolor.