Hello guys, I have just received an offer from Allianz Global Investors to join their graduate programme in the investment track September in the Frankfurt office. I still have not signed the offer and I told HR I will think about it. I come from a target German uni and applied for Frankfurt as I thought it made my application more competitive. I have spoken to many people in the graduate programme and they have told me that transferring to London is extremely easy and thus I will transfer there asap. I have several questions about the company:
1) Does it have good exit opportunities for hedge funds assuming I can transfer to London? My long term goal is to work at an equities-based hedge fund and I am not sure whether the transition from AM to HF is actually possible. I also have offers from Houlihan Lokey (Restructuring) and Credit Suisse (M&A) both in London and I wonder whether maybe I should take those offers instead. Would they offer better exit opportunities towards hedge funds? I would not enjoy banking but I really know that I eventually want to be working in a hedge fund, so if the odds truly are better I would be willing to go there.
2) There are two tracks we can choose: research vs portfolio management. I have a hard time understanding how the tasks for graduates differ. Some people outside the firm told me to go for research as it gets you a better fundamental understanding and more chances to get into hedge funds, this makes me inclined to take research. Some people told me the tasks are the same but that if you are a graduate in portfolio management you will be looking at many more industries and companies and that you are on a PM track while research is a different track which will not lead to you becoming a portfolio manager assuming you stay inside the firm (this makes me inclined to take research). What is the truth? What should I choose? What does a graduate in the PM track actually do and what are his exit opps?
3) Assuming I cannot leave AM for HF, is the compensation in AM funds like Allianz GI significantly lower than in IB once you hit your 30s and 40s?
Thank you so much in advance!
