Do you ever wish you went to a hedge fund?
PE mid levels, do you ever wish you had went to a hedge fund instead of doing PE? Was looking at the bonus thread and there are kids younger than me pulling in multi million dollar bonuses. I'm sure there's some selection bias of who actually is posting, but man do hedgies get rich faster (with less handcuffs).
We get rich faster, but less of us do so, which is important to remember in MMHF land.
I’m also a strong believer that virtually everyone that has what it takes to kill it eventually find their way to a fund anyway. Market obsession and whatnot
There are 500 threads on WSO about MM HF analysts unemployed for the 3rd time in 5 years after their PM blew up.
If I compare myself to Lebron James I will also feel I failed. But please. Have a little perspective.
OP is also using WSO as a reliable source for HF bonus data. My guy is lost beyond the sauce.
All the time. PE VP here (ignore title), but have only gotten looks from tier 2/3 MMs thus far or newbie PMs at the tier 1s where the risk-reward doesn't make sense. Would appreciate any advice to breaking into an established pod.
Tough sell. You’re likely too expensive and provide little value above a grad joining a pod for it to make sense to most PM’s.
Massive selection bias in those threads. Top 1-10% comp for the numbers you are jealous of. The bottom 50% are close to zero, no longer around, etc.
Also longevity is really bad. Could go from getting a $6M bonus to down year ($0 Bonus) to fired ($0 Bonus) to starting at a new platform and ramping, or being out of the industry entirely
I don't think job security in PE is much higher than hedge funds.
Well, you're wrong lol. A casual glance at LinkedIn and testimonies from the numerous users of WSO that have done both can tell you that much.
How so? If a PE fund blows up or cant raise, that at least plays out over the course of a few years. In HF land, you have one shitty year (or the fund overall), bear in mind you are marked to market every day - you could be out by the next business day.
Unless I’m missing something!
Associate programs are 2 years (maybe 20% stay on at the same firm beyond that). Mid Level is now a program (2-3 years for VP; 2-3 years for Principal). PE now is extremely transactional and firms kick people out all the times. There isn't "partner track" anymore. 1/2 my UMM PE fund has turned over the past 2-3 years.
I can tell you that most of us joke we should have stayed in PE
Joke?
haha well PE is objectively a better risk/reward and job, but maybe i wouldn't have been good at it at the higher levels. who knows?
These guys saying it's comparably risky are out to lunch though. Cements why they shouldn't be real risk takers for a while.
Would working at a LO fund offer a better WLB lifestyle?
Top performers at good LOs shops don’t live an easier life
And guess what, they can get worked harder than everyone else and still get paid the same because comp isn’t variable based on performance. A smart move is to go to an LO, politick, and coast. But then you’ve become a monster (with a good lifestyle and health)
I used to work at a hedge fund and traded for a bank. While I'm very fortunate because over the years, I've gained screen time and developed my strategy and what suits my personality, but I actually prefer pure prop trading. I'm not talking about prop market making. I dislike collaborating and telling people what I look at. I enjoy the idea of eating what you kill and not worrying about trying to hit a particular PnL for the year. The only downside is I get very bored. I'm thinking about starting a CTA one day. Trading is a lot of patience, and sitting around and waiting for the right opportunity is something I even struggle with to this day. That's why I'm slowly transitioning to systematic trading, so I don't have to be glued to my screen. Hell, if I could produce 20K-80K PnL a day, who cares working for a fund. When I was in my 20s, all I cared about was trying to get into shops like Millennium, etc but I honestly could care less. Maybe because my strategy isn't scalable given it's short term and I'll have to worry about slippage.
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