Entry Level Buy-Side Position

Point72 offers a program known as the Point72 academy (https://www.point72.com/careers/campus-point72-ac…). It is essentially a 15-month crash course for college graduates to the buy side. I was wondering if anyone is aware of any similar entry level programs that the big asset managers/HFs offer?

Best Response

Citadel and Bridgewater do as well. All three funds have a high track record of success and expect the same from any undergraduate candidates they consider. If your school does not have an OCR presence with these firms, it is highly unlikely you will even get an interview without knowing someone.

That said, from my experience, they look more at quantitative aptitude/analytical ability, SAT scores, GPA, and overall raw intellect over work experience. Reason being is that most likely anything you have learned will have little transferability to their work on the buy side. Every fund is different and they will put you through the grinder to determine whether you are smart enough to learn quickly.

I am wondering the same thing. It almost seems like long only funds (asset managers) provide entry level positions for those with less than 3 years experience and the hedge funds take the talent after you have complete a program, or have gotten a few years experience on the buy-side.

Hedge funds don't have a lot of incentive to train new analysts who are that raw (undergraduate). It's just the way the business works. Larger places (Fidelity, Wellington, BlackRock, etc.) and some of the very large HFs (Citadel, P72) will have these programs but most funds will require you to have gotten training somewhere else beforehand.

Your networking needs to be targeted. These cold calls to alumni need to turn into referrals, hopefully to other people who are decision makers or who can connect you to them. Same deal with these networking events. Collecting business cards doesn't mean shit. Each new contact should eventually lead to a connection to another contact. It's all a numbers game

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