At What Point Does Not Having an Advanced Degree Stop Mattering for Biotech?
Hi - Junior analyst at a biotech hedge fund coming from a banking background with no MD / PhD. I know that for junior roles I'll always be at a big disadvantage relative to MDs / PhDs competition wise, but is there a point of seniority where this stops mattering and I can effectively compete for analyst / senior analyst spots with MDs / PhDs?
I think those advanced degrees are helpful but I am very convinced that funds mostly hire people from these backgrounds for marketing purposes, as opposed to these advanced degree programs producing the best possible investors.
Bump. In a very similar position
IMHO there is no such point. Pretty much all HF opportunities I've encountered with need a bio science background, and it's pretty rare for them not asking a specific scientific background.
If we define biotech as biotechnology companies that make innovative drugs, we need to realize that medical devices require an equally sound scientific background.
Only medtech and medical services doesn't require one, but that two may get grouped into tech and consumer, not necessarily healthcare.
Not trying to come across as snarky or anything, but wouldn’t this hiring pattern show that it’s not worth it for a junior level person with just a B.S. to focus on biotech? They should just find a different industry focus if they want to maximize job prospects. Also, do you think that this is a result of people intuitively holding the medical field to a higher standard than other industries or just the fact that the human body and medical instruments are more complex than manufacturing widgets? Aren’t there plenty of people focused on tech who aren’t CS or EE majors? Or would AI / ML be more analogous to biotech, where expert-level industry knowledge is a competitive advantage & necessity? Didn’t mean to pester, just a college senior curious as to where all of this stems from.
Considering compensation in this world, you can hire an MD/PhD for little to no extra than someone with just an undergraduate degree. They’re usually older/slightly more mature (generalization but earning one of these degrees does just take time), so less of a quick flight risk. And it’s often used for fund marketing purposes. So yes, I’d say focusing on biotech with just a B.S. degree does limit your options, unfortunately.
It does limit you to an extent IMO.
From the way that first comment is written I get the sense they don’t know much about biotech…..med tech being under the tech vertical? What?
There is certainly a point where not having an advanced degree stops mattering. Look at the senior team at most HFs. Many have people without them.
The more alpha-focused the fund, the less it matters.
There are a lot of biotech funds that generated performance off a combination of beta, privates, and scarcity factor and having a team of MDs/PhDs helped with marketing for raising more assets.
As you network more, the less it matters as well to a certain extent.
We'll see if this continues if we go through a period of extended sideways biotech performance.
Interesting.
Are alpha focused funds mainly just the MMs? Are there any notable Healthcare SMs that would fall in that bucket?
Bump
Agree on the marketing/fundraising reasons for having a MD/PhD, especially for biotech focused funds.
Some LP's will say they only invest in healthcare funds with personnel having x/y degrees.
Not everyone will need it but at least one or two on the investment professionals will need to have it.
Whether that translates to alpha, who knows? Too many factors come into play.
To be honest, I understand the need for advanced degrees when doing early-stage VC, but in public markets, when are lab bench, mechanistic pre-proof of concept work given value to begin with?
Same happens at Infra PE shops. They consistently try to hire engineers over pure finance types despite most of the job not requiring the skills.
What’s the structure of your fund? How much responsibility do you have? How many years have you been there? At some point, skills matter over pedigree, but hard to say without knowing a little more.
Hey man, had a few questions for you. Care to PM?
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