Hi everybody,
I hope I am not the 100th to post something like that. If so, please tell me and I will further dig on this forum.
I'm gonna be pretty straitghtforward: I just graduated from business school and gonna start my career next July in an EB as M&A Analyst in Europe. I have always been motivated by "next steps" and can't stop myself from thinking forward for my career. I am pretty confident I won't be doing sell-side long time and will want to move to buy side in the upcoming say 3 to 5 years. I know a bunch about PE thanks to an internship I got last year but have to admit I am pretty short on HF.
Of course I know the basics about the job but guess I have an "idealised" vision of it (think Billions ... yeah I know but sometimes you have no more reference points!).
Some of my friends who are a bit more advanced in their careers keep telling me that HF PE when it comes to exit opportunity after IB: constant pressure of being fired anytime within the first years, very few possibilities for further progression once in the sector ... The thing is, they do not work here. So I need opinions from people actually doing it or done doing it.
Thank you in advance guys !!
It really depends on what you are more interested in doing. If you have an interest in the public markets and digging into macro trends/stocks/public filings, then you should think about joining a hedge fund.
Also, not all hedge funds are the same. There are funds like the multi-managers where the investment time horizon is 3-9 months while there are other hedge funds that invest for much longer periods of time.
In terms of job security, multi-managers offer the least amount of security. You are putting your faith in the PM that you work for and if he loses a certain amount of money, then the whole team is let go. I have seen many analysts at multi-managers just bounce around from one platform to the next because of this.
In general, if a hedge fund has investors from endowments/pension funds, then it is much more stable than one where the investors are wealthy indviduals.
If you want to learn more about life at a hedge fund, I recomend reading blogs of those that currently work at various hedge funds. https://www.buysidehustle.com</a">Buyside Hustle is a good one if you want to learn more about recruiting / working at a hedge fund.
I would agree with your friends that, for the most part, the prospects of building a real career with clear progression and increased responsibilities are much greater in PE than HFs. The comp tends to also be better, as is the tax terms for your carry (at least in the US). This last point is very under appreciated.
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