HF vs. IB offer?
I have received two full time offers and am struggling between the two:
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Offer 1: elite boutique investment bank. Interned there this summer and had a great time
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Offer 2: elite hedge fund
Any advice as to what I should think about when choosing between the two?
I really like both places. I will base my decision on the long term prospects that each career would provide - which I am struggling to assess.
The most important thing you should think about is what you are actually interested in doing long-term. The people I knew who went directly to hedge funds straight out of college were all extremely passionate about investing. That was a large part of the reason why they got those jobs. For them, doing anything else was not even a consideration so the choice to go directly to the buyside made the most sense because it got them to their end goal faster (btw, they have all been wildly successful). If you are unsure what you want to do long term -- PE, VC, HF, corporate, tech -- then do investment banking because it will keep all of your options open. But there is no sense in trying to assess the long-term prospects of each career path because that is difficult even for someone in my position, let alone for someone who has never worked in either industry before.
If I were you I would pick the elite boutique. Why?
A. You interned there and you had a great time which means you are familiar with the culture and workload. B. You would get great deal experience and exposure. C. Investment banks provide elite training which can you set you up for different career paths.
Say if your hedge fund collapse, where are you going to go? What are you going to do? same goes to what happens if you get fired? You cant move anywhere because lack of your experience.
But if you were to go to an investment bank. You might have a epiphany where you might decide you want to go into Corporate Development, Asset Management, Private Equity, etc. You can move to any of those with 2 years under your belt.
But if you were to move from a Hedge Fund to one of these places it will be very hard. Think of your future career choice.
This is bad logic. Your argument is that OP should pick banking BC elite hedge fund will leave him with no options if HF collapses or he gets fired. Banking analysts get laid off when banks need to trim and analysts do get fired as well. If that happens, you think that OP will have options?
Elite HF will get OP much further in his career (I would argue that OP might actually not even be able to get the same job at elite HF out of this boutique bank in two years). Choosing the elite HF would be the right choice, but only if OP knows that public market investing is what he wants to do and ready to sign up for that commitment now. The only reason to go to EBB would be option value.
This also depends on a couple of assumptions: 1) "elite" hedge fund is actually an elite hedge fund and is widely recognized as a top tier fund (if you had the option to join Lone Pine or the equivalent out of college, not that Lone Pine hires out of college, you would be a moron to pass that up); 2) the role is for a junior analyst position where OP would be doing real research.
That's what happens when you have students giving regurgitated advice.
Well I mean this is a HF forum so of course i'm going to get attacked. I'm just simply saying why I would go with the bank offer? What happens if OP hates his HF job?
Go the the fund. This is not close IMO. You've already gotten a idea of what banking is and been formally trained. You will have options to return later, if necessary. Good ops at hedge funds are just too rare. Oh, and the money should be much better.
You can always go to grad school to reposition yourself. But, if you do well at the HF, you will never have to.
Is it for a traditional HF analyst role, or is it something like Bridgewater as an investment associate? If the latter definitely IB as that is not a traditional HF role that will teach you fundamentals based investing
Entry Level Hedge Fund vs Ibanking at "no name" Boutique (Originally Posted: 04/13/2016)
So I was pretty set on doing the "no name" boutique. Set to accept my position with them in the next week or so. However, I was contacted the other day by a headhunter/3rd party recruiter (whatever you want to call it) who was interested in me taking a look at some positions at a couple of hedge funds she was currently working on. I am waiting to hear back from her but the funds are located in CT while the no namer is located in NY.
She said these are not sales positions but I am afraid I will be doing back to middle office stuff at the hedge fund. Do you guys think starting at a hedge fund and working your way up while already being on the buy side is a good idea as opposed to a boutique who Is kind of struggling right now. At the boutique I will most likely be the sole analyst with a group of 6 or 7 senior members.
I know there are some similar threads out there but I wanted an updated response to all of this.
Wondering what a MO/BO hedge fund role is and if it is a good start in terms of B school or even just staying in the industry since I am already on the buy side. Compared to the boutique. My end goal with either route was HF or PE so I am not really sure what to do here. Boutique might give me some skills (who knows with deal flow) but the hedge fund might be a great place to start, network, and learn.
Thanks guys,
FO>BO. Furthermore, being in NY has its upside.
Under no circumstance do you take the HF, masters?
This type of question comes up at least once a week, and I will give you the same advice I always give everyone: in terms of exit ops, a "no name" boutique always, always, always trumps a BO role at a brand name company.
Being the only analyst in a group sounds like a good opportunity to get some face time
I just thought getting in now could potentially be better. I am still waiting to hear more about the role. However, if it is a small fund and the work is split 50/50 between FO analysis and BO shit work, maybe then the position could be worth something?
Who knows, i guess I will have to wait and see.
Not sure how relevant this is in terms of transferable skills in comparison to the hedge fund but the "no name" boutique is a PIPE boutique, no so much an M&A shop. However valuation is something that happens in any investment banking role so I think in that sense it is > BO/MO hybrid role at a HF
If your goal is to to FO / investing @ PE / HF then take the IBD bank. I have never heard of someone coming from MO/BO into FO @ a HF... maybe it happens on trading but have never ever heard it on the research / analyst side of the equation. Analyst positions are sourced by head hunters and one's own network
that makes sense
Hedge Funds vs Ibanking and college grad career path (Originally Posted: 01/08/2012)
Hi everyone,
I am a business school graduate seeking a position in finance. Throughout my studies I realized I am interested in portfolio/asset management and investing. I am also very interested in trading currencies.
I understand IBanking is on the sell side, and hedge funds tend to be on the buy-side. Buy versus sell is obvious, but can anyone elaborate on the differences regarding job responsibilities for entry-level ibanking versus hedge fund positions?
Also, does anyone have an recommendations for a good starting point for a college grad regarding my interests? I do not have any experience in finance. I would like to break into a company without having to be an office assistant for the first year (which I have gotten a couple offers for due to my lack of experience).
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
Search function?
Investment Banking is more capital raising (equity, debt, 144A) and mergers and acquisitions. Do you mean S&T / AM at an investment bank versus a hedge fund?
copy/paste resume or we can't help you.
are you an undergrad business grad or MBA? Your post is unclear
I am an undergrad business grad. I have not had any luck with entry-level position applications - so I am researching internship opportunities but I do not know where to start! Any recommendations? The big corporate companies are so competitive, my small non-ivy-league school resume is always pushed aside. Any ideas for an internship I might actually have a shot at? If I can't land an internship I'm really not sure what to do....
Small Hedge Fund or IBanking for Canadian Bank? (Originally Posted: 02/25/2008)
Two questions:
1) Coming out of undergrad, would you take a job at a small ($200 mm) hedge fund or doing M&A for one of the big Canadian banks?
HF base is $85k, IBank base is $62.5k.
2) What should a 1st yr. analyst at a HF expect to get paid (base & bonus)?
Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. Thanks.
(I posted this on the HF forum too, so appologies for the double posting)
what's the HF's strategy? long short? distressed? merger arb? which canadian bank? what do you ultimately want to do? how big is the HF? 5 people? you have to provide more info.
I'm actually surprised that a small HF in Toronto would hire someone straight out of undergrad and then start them off at 85k base.
I don't want to give away the name of the Bank, but I can say it is one of the big 5 (TD, Scotia, BMO, RBC, CIBC)
HF's strategy is long/short US equity.
Four other guys work there.
Started in 2004 with ~20 mm, has grown to ~200 mm through more investors, but mostly gains on investments.
In the long run, I would like to work at a HF or do PE. I've done banking internships and even the 45 yr olds put in a lot of hours...not something I want to do at that age.
Thanks for your time, in advance.
Also, the HF is not located in Toronto.
where is the HF located in? calgary? vancouver?
the bank option is the safe bet. you'll learn how to do things gradually and the m&a skillset is very transferrable. the HF option is a risky because the fund is very small and you don't get to learn from a lot of people. with only 5 people you really have to click with all of them or work is not going to be fun. also, it's not based in toronto.
send me an offline if you want to discuss in more detail.
Small Hedge Fund or IBanking for Canadian Bank (Originally Posted: 02/25/2008)
Two questions:
1) Coming out of undergrad, would you take a job at a small ($200 mm) hedge fund or doing M&A for one of the big Canadian banks?
HF base is $85k, IBank base is $62.5k.
2) What should a 1st yr. analyst at a HF expect to get paid (base & bonus)?
Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Without knowing much about the fund, I'd take the bank. I know it seems tempting to cash in on the larger starting salary, but you are taking a risk. With the bank, you get 2-3 years of solid analyst experience with a name that people know and respect. This gives you plenty of options when you are ready to move on. A $200mm fund is quite small and could easily collapse if performance is unimpressive and investors yank their cash. Then you are left with a little-known name on your resume and questionable training/experience.
Make sure you do your due diligence on the fund. If the fund is new and headed up by a PM with a long track record of experience managing money at reputable institutions, the opportunity is more compelling. If this fund has been around for a while and still has only $200 AUM, and has fund managers that have bounced around a bunch of no-name funds or used to be stock brokers etc., I'd be wary. There are thousands of me-too hedge funds out there run by people trying to make a quick buck and most of them won't be around in 10 years.
EHF3660 - Thank you for your detailed response.
I agree, it is a risky move.
The HF has performed very well in recent years and has grown from 20mm...but past performance is not indicative of future results (as they say)!
Hedge Fund or IB? (Originally Posted: 06/01/2011)
What's better:
analyst position in small hedge fund firm
thank u =) (i thought so too, but two opinions are better than one)
Do you want to make trades or record them? Not to sound like a dick, but I feel like that's the fundamental difference between the two options - making moves or recording them.
HF analyst position gives you a better skill set. Go with that
HF any day.
HF all day.
HF every day.
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