How does buyside recruiting work for ER

I am an incoming ER associate at a boutique working for an analyst that has been consistently held positions 1-4 in II Rankings for about a decade.

Every thread I've seen is pretty outdated and I've read as much as I could find. How does recruiting for HFs and LOs work in 2023? When do HHs reach out? Should I reach out? Is it similar to banking? Just would like some clarity

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Hey Intern in IB-M&A, I swear if I had a silver banana for every lonely thread I posted too I'd be richer than @compbanker ...

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I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

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There’s a few recent threads on this. It’s not comparable to banking in my opinion and mostly it comes down to you networking and reaching out. I would take it easy in your first year and really just focus on your job and learn as much as you can. More than anything you want to be proficient in modeling and understand the names you help cover very well.

Headhunters will reach out eventually. However the vast majority of them are going to reach out to you and then you’ll never hear from them again. I found the most success through scouring LinkedIn. It helps a lot if you have contacts in firms that you’re applying to. Some jobs you won’t even be aware of unless you’re in the right place at the right time (I’ve actually seen one firm fill a spot through WSO).

In summary, wait 1.5 years before actively applying to positions (unless a posting explicitly states that 1 year of experience is fine). In the meantime build your skill set and network. Use LinkedIn, your network and keep an eye on openings at firms you’re interested in. Long Only’s will be the most difficult to get into due to very few openings.

On a side note, it’s definitely beneficial to work for a top 5 ranked analyst, but it mattered a lot less to the buy-side than I would have thought. Nobody is going to choose you over another candidate just because your analyst is ranked higher (even if a lot higher). I think there’s a meaningful benefit of being at GS, JPM and similar names vs. being at JMP for instance.

 

That’s interesting thanks for the color. I currently work at a MM but under a very well known analyst. You think it would be more beneficial for me to move to a JPM / GS / MS to eventually recruit to a hedge fund? Even if the analyst is worse?

For example my analyst is actually the highest rated analyst on the street so moving to another amulet would be a downgrade.

 

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