Current a junior in college, signed a 2024 Equity Research internship with Wolfe Research. My upperclassmen friends who worked at Wolfe / hedge funds that used Wolfe’s research have had nothing but good things to say about them. However, some of the threads on this site about the firm paint a less rosy picture. Can anyone offer a little more perspective on their reputation / culture / exit ops? Read that they place 2Y associates decently well into pod shops or LO AM.
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what I can share about Wolfe Research:
Reputation: The firm has a solid reputation within the equity research field. However, it's less recognized outside of research.
Culture: The culture seems to be a bit of a mixed bag. While some teams are fine, the overall firm culture has been described as challenging due to aggressive hiring practices. They've been bringing in people from Bulge Bracket banks who were let go for various reasons, as well as hiring young analysts with limited experience.
Exit Opportunities: Exit opportunities can be decent. There's mention of a former employee who moved on to P72, a well-regarded hedge fund. However, it's noted that the firm's lesser-known status outside of research can make it harder to switch into non-research roles.
Hours: The hours at Wolfe Research are reportedly longer than at most other firms.
Turnover: The firm has a high turnover rate, with many employees leaving for other sell-side firms.
Remember, this is just one perspective and experiences can vary. It's always a good idea to reach out to current or former employees to get a more comprehensive view. Good luck with your internship!
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/equity-research/wolfe-research?customgpt=1, Oliver Wyman Reputation
Some of the most intriguing research I've read
Can you provide an example? There research is notoriously hard to get a hold of.
I DMed you. Some of my other research from Wolfe are firm-protected, so I can't share
Could you also share it with me please? Very curious
Same here OP, if you don't mind.
Its a great place to learn, but Wolfe is a sweatshop. On top of that I’ve been told they’re also cheap af. They pay well below market rate.
If you do get a FT offer from them either leverage it to land somewhere else or do your 1-2 years to get the exit opps.
I hear their non compete is crazy? Anyone know for a fact what it is??
I am a former Wolfe Employee and can shed some light on the non compete. There is a 2 year buyside non compete for hedge funds and a list of about 20 sell-side firms that employees can't work for. That being said, employees leave for other sell-side gigs all the time and at the junior level I am not sure how actively it is enforced. Hope this helps.
The non-compete isn't that strict and not enforced from what I was told. The listed companies are mainly lower tier ER (think Vertical/Melius tier) so no one from the firm wants to go there anyway. The only firms worth mentioning on the non-compete is Point72, Citadel, and ISI. There's plenty of Wolfe alum at Point72 and Citadel, which confirms what I was told that it's not enforced. Also, the non-compete is for 6 month from the end date. At the two year mark it goes down by one month until the time between the end date and the new start is 60 days. If you leave before the two year mark you'd have to wait 6 months, but once again, I don't think this is really enforced especially if you maintain a good relationship with the firm.
Source: Received a FT offer but went to a BB for better pay
Have some insight here. Wolfe is a great place to be a lead analyst, a shitty place to be an associate. Wolfe is run similar to pod shops; each analyst is paid based on broker votes and they pay their whole team out of their pocket. Hence, it tends to be quite sweaty for the juniors and the churn rate is high. On the flip side Wolfe is able to poach some top analysts from other shops by offering them upside potential if they perform that a BB or EB wouldn’t. Hence, you can make bank as a lead analyst at Wolfe, but that doesn’t necessarily trickle down to the team. In terms of exits, don’t know much but I assume since Wolfe has a good reputation on the street they are probably on par with any BB
Any idea on the comp delta for lead analyst? I know it varies quite a bit and there’s a small data set…
Justin Lake was at Viking for a year (correct me if I’m wrong on this time frame) and moved to Wolfe. Maybe he got canned?
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