Does working at top SM give you a huge leg up for MM PM spots?

See question above. Asking because there are multiple stories of senior analysts at top SMs (tiger cubs and usual suspects) get hired by citadel or another MM for a huge guarantee even if they did not have the track record due to the reputation of the SM. Is this actually the case or exaggerated? Many times these new PMs don’t do well under the risk model, but a $10 mm guarantee and 2 years has been enough to attract good analyst talent

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Top MMs are starting to understand SM senior analysts with minimal or non-existent risk management experience, trading discretion, and team building chops make poor PMs. It also depends on which tier MM you are looking at.

I have seen SM partners (who are closer to risk management and team building) or failed SM founders get recruited as a MM PM with gaurantees that are benchmarked to their historical comp.

These shops are generally not dumb. No one will pay $5-10mm guarantee if the said person has been making $1mm per annum in the previous role.

 

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