Australia - Hedge Fund Career Advice
Hi guys, just thought I'd share where I'm at in my career planning and get some advice.
I'm in Australia, almost 22, graduated 6 months ago from a Bachelor of Arts in an Australian University. I'm waiting to hear back for an Equity Research position with a small stockbroking firm that has quite a good reputation for Research in Australia (In Au, stockbroking firms are competitive with investment banks when it comes to ER). I have a 2.5 GPA but managed to network my way in for the interview and was able to offset this by explaining how I worked full time in Politics and Marketing while studying full time.
My plan is to spend a couple of years in Equity research before trying to move directly to an Australian L/S or value fund as an Investment Analyst (which is common) or by using my ER experience to secure an Analyst II/III or Associate gig in banking and do that for a year or two before I move to HF.
After this I'm hoping to try and get into a decent MBA program in the US and use this to break into a US HF.
I'm really interested in Activist investing and would love to be able to make the transition to this type of fund.
What would be your advice on getting there based on my history and current situation?
(I know that this is a very difficult goal but I am motivated to see it through none the less)
Is this a sensible plan?
I'm currently pursuing my CFA (completing level 1 in february) and hoping to pass all exams within the next year or two. What other academic qualifications would help make me more competitive? Would an Ms in Corporate and Financial Law be useful for activist funds?
I look forward to reading your suggestions.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond!
Welcome to the USA ! Have you ever heard a thing called H1b visa ?
The OP is Australian, he/she does not need to get a H1B visa, he/she can use a E3 visa.
Honestly it's a tough nut to crack into. You may have more luck at the superannuation funds, etc, but they are usually dead boring long-only work.
The HFs will pick a handful of graduates a year, usually those who have interned at the IBs and have a stellar academic record. To be blunt, your GPA is pretty poor, and a Bach. Arts is not a difficult undergrad - working full time won't be a good enough reason to excuse that. You're on the back foot having graduated without strong internships or anything lined up straight out of undergrad. Your roadmap is relatively realistic, but a lot of things will need to go right to execute it properly.
I also had a poor academic record (for the same reasons) & managed to get into one of the HFs after a few years in another industry, mostly thanks to a relatively rare set of skills. Don't bother with recruiters - focus on networking to get noticed by the right people.
If I was in your shoes I would focus on the CFA exams, and balance that out with as much networking & personal development as possible (if you can't land the ER gig, start a blog, treat it professionally, create and maintain interesting investment cases etc). You need to show you want it more than anyone who's looking for the same jobs & has been laser focused on this since they started high school.
If you hit a wall & can't find an opening relatively soon, doing a high quality Ms is a good idea - it'll give you a second chance at showing you're capable of a strong academic record, plus it'll fill a year or two on your CV while you continue building a network & engaging with people where you can.
Hope that helps - DM me if you like
Thank you for your detailed response! I’ve sent you a DM and look forward to connecting.
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