Activist hedge funds: comp, hours, recruiting

Analyst at a $3B+ activist HF here. I'll take a stab at these questions.

Comp is very similar to any L/S of equal size. Since many of the positions are 2-3 year holds, the bonuses tend to be more lumpy unless you're at a bigger fund. 

Hours also comparable to L/S. I work maybe 70-80 hours in a busy week, closer to 50 in the summer. 

I went from IB to UMM PE to my current fund. I would say this path is more common than coming from a L/S HF or straight from IB. IMO, this is due to how activists think and what strategies we employ. 2-3 year MOIC & IRR is far more important than what 3Q23 EBITDA will be. We recently hired a junior analyst, and I only considered people who did 2 years of IB + 2 years of UMM/MF PE. L/S people don't do terribly well, and LO folks are too risk-averse.

Activist funds tend to keep the number of heads small, which means they can be less stable. The fundraising cycle dictates the job stability. Once a founder retires, your stability will get significantly worse (i.e. JANA). Joining a new activist fund can be quite a risk as well. The best funds have permanent or semi-permanent capital and offer stability as long as performance stays high (i.e. Elliott, Icahn).

Headhunters can vary but the usual suspects are CPI, Oxbridge, SG, Robinson Judson, Lawbrook, etc.

Hope this helps.