19yrs old Hedge Fund Trader ?

Hello I'm a 19yr old Day Trader / Prop Firm Manager , I've been trading since i was 14yrs old and started online school in my freshman year to mainly focus on Markets +8hrs daily , This lead to me not wanting to go to college because i wanted to Trade markets and already knew how too and i also wanted to Build my own Hedge Fund, Now i'm at the point where i want to get into a hedge fund and build awesome business relationships with peers in my same field Is there anyway i can land a interview with a Hedge Fund ?Thanks !

 
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Ive been able to profit 10%-15% on good months and never risking more than %1 daily aiming for %3 daily, Trading one instrument using inter-market analysis for confluence and fundamentals. I've been doing prop-firm challenges for the last year completed already 2 making a total of %30 off both.

 

Go to school. Major in math/cs. If you're really that good, you should be able to land a trading gig at a prop shop or hf and then start your own firm later. 

 

This reminds me of “Apple Buy at 16”.

You won’t be able to start a hedge fund because no ones going to give you a large sum of money to manage. It’s hard enough for people with decades long track records to raise capital these days, I don’t think someone without a college degree working at a prop firm at 19 has the knowledge to manage risk of a portfolio.

Hell I’m going to a hedge fund out of ug and I still don’t know how to do that shit.

 

I'm not gonna weigh in on whether you're a phony or not because I don't really give a shit. But on the off chance that this is real, you should know that you are in a totally unique position that not many people, especially in this generation, have been in and are probably not qualified to give advice on. If you actually are this successful as a trader and are a "Prop Firm Manager" then you should already have connections to people in industry or at least people with significantly more experience than you and may have been in your position. If you do not have this network, well now you know why people shell out $300k for a degree: for the network. Regardless, this is probably not a question that anyone on this forum is qualified to answer.

 

Yes i definitely have met a lot of people in my industry and have made connections with multiple hedge fund Managers. Most of the stuff i'm trading was guided from a StoneChart fund manager especially my physiological aspect of trading. But this was great advice and 100% true i definitely think if i would have attended a school my connections in the industry would be a lot better. Also here is proof That i do trade profitable at 19yrs old.

 

Not to doubt you, but its important to note that literally everyone did well for the last decade+. The market has been propped up, we are hitting pre-recessionary cycles and this is where people will shine or fail. I've never been in a situation myself where long only wasn't killing it. The probability of breaking into a fund and being allocated cash in this environment, i would be very, very impressed and probably call ya a savant. 

I've only seen/heard a handful of places that will give younger right out of school analysts discretion, let alone getting a small book at 19. I've only seen the ability to work in 1 asset class, too.

If you have a portfolio built with all the greeks it would help to send along with a cover letter - sounds like your resume wont have a college (or you dont want to?). If you built IR material that discussed market trends, portfolio allocations, PnL, risk metrics, trades you think are good, bad, and in-between, do that. You're going to need that anyway if you want to try and raise your own fund (not to mention setting up all your on and offshore accounts, complex legal work and busines formations/documentation, AML, licensing, trading terminals, auditors, etc.). It's a bit different from what it used to be to set these things up.

There's people I know who just traded their own capital continuously and crushed it (albeit they were very well versed in both fundamental and technical analysis). He had the ability to utilize derivatives and swaps as both credit and interest rate hedges, he did not have EU or BRIC exposure to also put in forex trades. 

 

Yes for now i definitely am not thinking of opening a hedge fund at 19yrs old. I still have lots of data to collect with my strategy especially after all political events around the world settle down and market flow adjusts to it. I am going to keep Trading with Prop Firms and Continue to compound capital and build more connections before i make a move like that. Thanks for the advice though it was great !

 

don't confuse brains with a bull market. youre best bet is to go the tried and tested traditional route.

if you want to benefit from this hobby, go to a great school, study hard, network, and let this experience and passion differentiate you from the others.

 

This is right here is why you need to go to school. T3 is an okay firm but you would basically be limiting your style of trading, growth so on right away by doing this. 
I assume you trade something macro or equity world. 
This early on trading is more a skillset you building vs being a one trick pony strategy. 
Again no reason you cant do your current strategy while going to school.

 

Go to uni because (i) you need to build a network (either with current students or by having access to alumni); (ii) you can approach your professor and ask them to introduce you to people in the industry which they may know i.e. you can get internships, a job offer, etc. (from your 1st year if you'r so good); (iii) in order to raise funds you need credibility and a good uni will do that; (iv) you will not raise enough funds to start your fund at 19 years old, you will need to get experience in a real fund to see how such fund are managed (lack of professional experience = no investors).

On a more subjective note, you're still young in investments so your strategy may be made around an optimistic view of the stock market. Work under the wing of some successful HF and see how the 30/40 years old invest. Best case scenario you learn 2 or 3 things from them, worst case scenario you assert your view in what is useless. Don't leverage your investments, the risk/profit isn't worth it (and also, I doubt any bank will lend money to invest in public markets).

 

I just feel like writing something here, even though I'm just at a decent university in Canada. Here are my 2 cents.

You certainly have some great level of experience and I cannot really think of anyone who has been trading since that age, let alone make some pretty decent returns. Going to a good university will definitely put you up there because it is more about the environment and meeting people, rather than sitting and doing some pre-college level assignments. Go to a good school, do Math/CS if you would like to, or just opt for a business program and try to specialize in finance. It would be a great opportunity to connect with people over there and be a part of a bunch of finance fiends. Also, where are you based? 

 

Dude, IU is a fantastic school.

"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly" - Robert A. Wilson | "If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Tons of good schools in Indianapolis.  I grew up and attended a non target school in Indianapolis.  the school you attend and the letters by your name can always help you, but true passion for markets and being involved in this "game" will set you apart no matter what.  I've only been in this industry for 4 years but have noticed there's a difference between analysts who put in the educational hours in and outside of class from the rest of the group.  To survive in this world you cant be cookie cutter.  learn the basics and the fundamentals but don't stop there.  Honestly, hearing you say that there aren't any good schools in your area sounds more like an excuse to not want to work harder and downplays analysts like myself who worked hard to get here. 

If you truly want it, then want it more than me..... I'm your competition on the other side... can you outwork me? TBD.

 

2 things:

Look up the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Go to school.


Yes, you can learn a lot of the things you can learn at a university with YouTube/Khan Academy/Open Courseware/etc but having profs who can be mentors, classmates who can be friends/sounding boards, the backstop of the uni to give you more credibility plus numerous other benefits is hugely important. There’s a lot of soft value from graduating from a university that goes far beyond the knowledge picked up in the classroom. If you’re actually good at this, you can do both and you’ll stand out from your peers and accelerate even more quickly than you think you can. But that’s if you actually put in the time and can see that you’re good at what you do and that takes self-reflection, time and grit.

 

My advice is go to school, pedigree is important. Then join a HF out of undergrad, be a rock star there, build your rep and move up the ladder.

Once you reach PM level and have proven you can manage a portfolio with your strategy, then launch a HF. That's how you 'go pro' in HF industry, to raise serious money from pension, sovereign wealth funds, etc. 

Trading personally is very different to trading at institutional level. Plus, finance is not tech, finance is a very hierachical industry whilst tech tends to be fairly flat, that's what you'd see unicorns in tech with founders are college dropouts and whatnot, but you don't see rising star fund managers on Forbes without a degree and previous buyside experience at large firms. That's how the industry at the moment, might change in the future, yeah, but at least in the next 10-15 years I don't see a shift. 

If you want to skip school and continue to trade, that's fine, you can continue to flip your capital, if you're smart enough this shouldn't be a problem. Once your capital become sizable enough you will have a mini family office. At that point you might be able to pursuade some of your friends and family's capital to manage as well. Larger investor would be very hard to sell if you lack the pedigree. You might not need a degree for this route obviously, but it would take you around 2 decades to flip 100k to around 10m (compounding returns 22-27% p.a, with some optimistic assumptions that your strategy still hasn't hit its capacity when your AUM grow, and you survive throughout market cycles, etc.). At 40s you will be managing your own small family office, and that's not bad at all. 

But you're sure this ('the self trading route') is better than doing it conventional way, which by 40s you can be PM at big fund or launch your own HF and use street reputation to raise much larger AUM? Only you have the answer.

 

I'm a bit scared because the more I read the thread the more I realize it might not be satire...

 

Get a job as a Jr Trader at a small hedge fund. 
Learn the ropes, see what's different vs being home trading in your pajamas. 

Capital will be your biggest hurdle. You dont need to make 500%...

you need to make 30% on a decent sum so it can be worth it. 

PM me if you want to know more. 

 

I actually started later than you (when I was 19) & I’m aiming for a family office instead. I wanna understand the mindset of why you would even wanna start your own HF since it would mean that you’ll have to deal with “people” & I mean real people who might question your decision making. I trust that you’ve encountered certain situation when everyone was doing the opposite of what you’re doing but you’re the one who laughs till the end? It’s only my personal opinion & they didn’t know I laughed at them nor do they even know that I was betting against them

 

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