From Comp. Sci. at a target to Hedge Funds
Hey everyone,
I'm a CS major at a target school and I have realized I definitely want to work in the hedge fund industry. However, I would like to do more than just programming, i.e. I want to contribute to investment/trading decisions. I know the most common way to HF is through IB, but is there another way? I've considered trying to get into Citadel or Bridgewater (bridge doesn't recruit at my school though) right out of undergrad, but if this doesn't work what other options are there?
I've though about maybe going Prop Trading first, then HF, but I'm aware the skills don't always transfer.
Any help would be appreciated.
Consider ER, also reach out to smaller funds, their hiring is more ad hoc.
You could look at a more traditional AM role like a Fidelity.
Although it doesn't seem to get mentioned often around here, management consulting can be a good way in to certain funds. I know of a few funds that have shifted away from bankers towards consultants who know some finance because they've gotten burned on deals where the former IB guys didn't understand the underlying businesses well enough.
What kind of hedge fund? With your background, you should definitely include the top quant shops in your search.
I have Citadel (FTAP/ITAP), DE Shaw, Two Sigma, SAC and Jane Street for Quant places, and Bridgewater as another possibility. All of them hire out of undergrad. I'd prefer not a hardcore quant place since I'm not exactly a brilliant mathematician. Might look into S&T at BB's, but with the Dodd-Frank changes I don't think it will be the best option for getting to a hedge fund. I also wasn't aware that AM or ER are good options, definitely will look into that (BlackRock recruits a bunch of people from my school).
I'm also looking into long/short and event driven funds, but I'll have to see.
You don't need to be a brilliant mathematician; a good CS background with an understanding of linear algebra and partial derivatives is a very strong academic base from which to build practical knowledge.
Those are all good shops -- obviously SAC is in the news so act accordingly -- but the list of good quant shops is much longer than that. Keep digging. This list -- page 6 of http://www.decal.org/file/2582 -- is a dated but a good place to start.
Okay, definitely will look at that. And as a final question, isn't the ceiling on quant trading/programming much lower than say a hedge fund investment analyst/associate? I'm not driven only by money of course, but am wondering as to how these quant funds tend to pay people.
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