Hi
Trying to decide on my career from here. I’m an analyst with over 4 years experience (8 industry - all buyside) at a large AM in London. 30 years old. I’m sitting on a LO fund with a very long term view of 7+ years (£4-5bn AUM). It’s been a great seat for learning. Great place to start my career and learn the ropes. I love being an analyst and throughly enjoy fundamental analysis.
Problem is I’m feeling quite jaded about the sleepy culture of the firm and team. It lacks the entrepreneurial and energetic vibe I’m sort of looking for. I work for an experienced PM who runs the strategy but he’s fairly laid back, doesn’t discuss markets much and not very interested in developing you into an investor for the long term. Doesn’t share much knowledge too. Maybe it’s like this everywhere. Not sure. The set up here is simply this, a large team…all the analysts just churn through research for the PM and junior PMs and that’s it. I’ve developed quite a good relationship with the main PM. He trusts me and I have his ear but that only means so much.
It’s been a great experience for learning but I’m now at that tipping point where I want more for myself. I want more than just churning through research for a large team with not much say with stock picks. In my ideal world I’d love to work for a PM who’s actually interested in developing me. A small team where everyone just works hard, passionate about markets and wants to make money.
I know the HF route is mentioned to me by friends often. The idea sounds appealing to me but the high churn in talent and super short term investing style…not sure I want that. The other option is to ofcourse find another LO but I’m not sure I meet the same issue I have here at my firm ?
My question is. Is it genuinely possible to find myself in a LO seat, working for a good veteran PM that actually wants to teach, large AUM and real entrepreneurial spirit in the team ? Or are they all sleepy and I just have to go to a HF to get what I want ?
There is also potential for me to just stay where I’m at and a junior/deputy PM opportunity could open up in some years to come. My PM has already told me he sees I have the potential to do it. But these things can take years (could easily be over 5 years) and not sure I wanna hang around for a finger in the air opportunity that may never happen. Although my long term goal is to become PM, in the mean time I’m not in a particular rush too. In the mean time I’m happy to just be a very useful analyst for a solid PM, a small entrepreneurial team that works hard and get paid well for doing it. Happy to slowly work towards my long term goals that way. It’s that simple
Don't despair- you are young and have "solid enough" experience to go to better things and a "decent enough" current seat that you are not wasting your time. Like most things there is a whole range with every variety- hedge fund PM's that view analysts as an interchangeable resource so same as you describe but with way more stress and long only PM's that are quite active around the edges/generous mentors so wouldn't get too locked in.
I would keep going on the PM path and look around discreetly and jump for a clear better opportunity- i.e. big 4 MM with a PM that you vibe with or even slight step back for another LO but one with more near term upside/active. Of course these are just a few examples but hopefully guide the idea.
Things can be pretty non-linear as went from very similar PM type situation though with clear succession track to the same without succession track to then back on the succession track with a generous PM mentorship wise who was also very active. All of these experiences were at what one would call "similar" firms from the outside looking at strategy etc.
Thanks a lot for this. Much appreciated. Will take you up on that advice. I’m happy to sit around and patiently wait for the right external opportunity to come up that fits with my requirements. My view on HFs is all perception…things I’ve read on threads and what people say but the best answer is to probably interview for both LO and HF opportunities and see for myself. And just hope to get matched up with a PM I respect that is willing to mentor/teach. Just conscious that I don’t want to sit around at my firm for too too long and risk just losing motivation and my internal drive to be successful in this game. There is always a risk of the laid back sleepy approach of the firm wearing off on you as life goes on and you get older.
Of course and absolutely get it but I think stagnation would play in 5-10 years for you vs say 1-3 so wouldn’t be desperate to take anything.
Assuming your process/p&l is solid you’d benefit from networking to “increase your luck surface area” I.e university alumni networking events, conferences, trying to talk to sellside as much as you can to try and make that “PM match.”
Have you considered looking at other LO roles? At one of the big US LO funds the ‘Analyst’ role is a genuine investing role and analysts are managing meaningful amounts of money in sleeves / the analyst fund. And not necessarily a ‘must’ to get a PM seat eventually, plenty of career analysts at those shops who do very well. Plenty of examples in London of people going from L/S roles into these shops so they are clearly competitive seats.
One or two of them also have some long/short products if that is something you are really keen to get some experience doing.
Also worth looking at some of the big global pension / sovereign wealth funds (cpp / gic etc) - can be much less sleepy places than you would imagine and in some cases they run some very large l/s strategies without the ST style / career volatility of a platform. Obviously there are trade-offs (comp upside vs a pod) but can also be very good seats.
What are the US LOs you’re referring to ? I was interested in the likes of Wellington, Cap Group, T Rowe …but a recruiter I spoke to told me that you go to those places and end up in a pooled analyst cohort ? Not directly working for a specified fund. I’m currently working for a PM and get paid out of the profits we make, I feel going into a pooled analyst set up (covering a sector) feeding into many PMs could be a step backwards no ? Correct me if I’m wrong and if I’m missing something ofcourse.
Yes exactly those types of fund - yes you are no longer working for one specific PM, rather as part of a central research team. But at the likes of T Rowe / MFS / Capital etc the ‘Analysts’ are managing meaningful amounts of capital themselves via the analyst fund / their own sleeves. And comp is pretty directly tied to performance of reccos from what I understand (some equation balancing direct stock pick performance & then $ impact on funds).
You lose the ‘directly working for one PM’ aspect but get to invest directly yourself to some extent.
The other types of shop I mentioned often do keep the link with working directly for one PM.
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