Activist Funds | Recruitment Experience
Of all funds covered in this Forum, find Activism as a whole to be the rarest and/or the hardest to find information on. Could anybody provide insight into any of:
(1) Their experience working at Elliott, Trian, Starboard Value, other activist funds, etc.
(2) Recruitment Process & Insights/When you joined
(3) Market Compensation & Compensation Breakdown/Scale
(4) Market & Career Outlook
(5) Any other information you see fit for this forum
Bump
you're sitting at intersection of event-driven and deep fundamental strats here. need to know your companies / stories / corporate actions + pro formas / event paths. varies by firm what sub-areas / industries / caps you're focused on. clear emphasis on ID'ing thesis that market won't price absent your involvement and figuring out if/how you can bring that about. then, ofc, there's execution / going through process and people components
elliott, trian, svu, all skew fairly junior with recruiting (ditto for sachem head, etc). basically 1-6 years out of UG typically via IB/PE (maybe HWS for elliott). truth is most of these orgs are pretty lean (except elliott lol). processes will test elements of L/S and special sits / event-driven
comp-wise, you get paid well but not incredibly by HF standards. these are more "one team / one dream" models, which **can** work nicely but realistically you aren't getting the explosive upside unless you're a partner (ie comp discretionary and senior guys rarely err on side of over-paying when they can make a reasonable argument that they built the mousetrap so should keep more of the cheese) >> prob a smoother distribution of outcomes vs C/M/P... but most HF people aren't playing for smooth distribution of returns.
i think many of these orgs are actually more similar to PE than HF stereotypes from a career pov. still very fascinating work. but time-/labor-intensive vs. L/S, etc. Distressed / opportunistic credit strats have high degree of overlap as well if i were mapping strategies (many similar personalities as well).
bringing it full circle with the distress bucket, these are often more cyclical opportunity sets -- there are times in the biz or market cycle where these can work really well and times when there's just not enough to do.
would not call this a growth area by any measure. but can be a fun one.
Understood - much appreciated. Obviously Elliott has the luster due to their notorious outsized comp, but from a junior perspective is it still appealing? 2+2 -> Elliott (Activism as a whole for arguments sake) still attractive?
do they?? id call Elliott a bond with a higher coupon vs. a convert at other HFs (eg, lower baseline, much higher upside) >> theyre paying that so they get the best execution at jr to mid levels without giving you the option value (see above re: mousetrap / cheese). youre part of a high-paying assembly line, specifically at Elliott (won't generalize vs. all firms - eg VAC sounds teriffic). but that won't make you alpha king bc decision making and economics are very centralized at Elliott. dont get me wrong, great brand / learning experience. and you will learn a ton as a 2+2. just saying there's a tradeoff and you should be aware of what it actually is.
Not OP but...what would the interview process look like? Say for example would world a first/second round (not case study) interview look like at a large activist?
see above. varies by firm. some do fit, brainteasers/mini cases, diagnostic exams, pitch ideas. this ain't rocket science. it's applied corporate finance with a tilt toward corporate actions / process components
Get ready for IQ tests, accounting tests, LSAT type questions
Can you expand more on type of personalities?
Push, what about comp?
push
Activism is a secular decliner. Don't do it to yourself.
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