Hey guys -
I'm about to start a career in commercial banking, but I'm not entirely sure I want to end in comm banking. I've been reading more and more into hedge funds, and I think that it can be a legitimate long-term answer for me.
My biggest concern is making the jump to hedge funds. I'll obviously be networking my @ss off, but I'm also thinking of substantive career road to qualitifcation.
I'm credit all the way so I don't want to do anything in equity (although I'm not opposed to it) so the career path I have in mind for now is this:
1) credit training program
2) analyst/underwriter
3) PM
4) credit workout group
(all while pursuing a CPA)
then start applying for the credit (deep value, distressed, long/short, FI, etc) divisions of hedge funds.
My questions are:
1) Is this logical? I'm 28 now so will age be a discriminating factor? etc etc...I'm not looking to get into an equality argument here, I just want to know what the reality of my plan is. I don't want to get there and realize it was all for nothing
2) What other qualifications or advantages should I go for to improve candidacy?
3) How long should I stay in credit workout group and as a PM
4) Have I missed any steps?
5) If you're in HFs, would you mind an informational via WSO?
qualifications*
Just out of curiosity, you don't have to answer, but what have you been up to the past 5 or 6 years? Military? Different industry? Working through school?
worked for a O&G equipment manufacturer as controller and currently finishing up my MBA in May
by the way, I'm not looking to get into oaktree or Icahn type level (that would be nice though)
like I said, I think the function in any capacity is agreeable. Any sized HF would be good for me as long as they have all the resources available for me to work my magic
I think it's useful to have a little industry/operations experience. As for anything else, I don't believe I'm qualified to offer advice. Good luck
Edit: I think it would be more useful for you to go for the CFA.
do you mean experience with hedge fund activities? If so, I was hoping the experience within credit workout would get me some props in distressed debt
or experience with a specific industry for expertise sake?
CFA, really? do you say that b/c I'll already have a good grasp of fundamental from my comm banking time?
I just meant that it doesn't hurt to be well-rounded and have some experience somewhere else before starting your credit gig.
gotcha, thanks gulfcoast
Editing my comment since I didn't see the networking comments. I will still say though that you should definitely try to find alumni working in any type of fund. You may be able to gain experience at a small place that will help you overall in your career.
What type of hedge fund you aiming for and more importantly, whats the size of the bank? And what group will you be in? Its helpful to know this.
Teddy, I'm still learning about hedge funds so if my answers are wrong, please correct me
From what I can tell I would be most interested in event driven or macro funds. Earlier I said long-short, but it appears that's primarily for equity which makes a lot of sense.
The market cap of my bank is $3.76B with $27B in assets, and I'll be aiming for either energy or corporate divisions
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