Hedge Fund Intern Pay

Currently talking with a small $200-300M L/S fund about an internship and the fund wasn't looking for an intern until I reached out. Fund manager basically asked me what I was expecting in terms of compensation, and I'm not super sure what market rate would be. $20-25 an hour? Or would this be too much? I'm in a large, expensive metro area for context.

14 Comments
 
Best Response

first figure out what it will cost to live in that city per month...for example

rent $1200 public transit monthly pass $100 food (groceries) $100/week = $400/month utilities (cell, home internet, electricity) $150/month

so, that is a minimum cost of $1850 to live in that city for 1 month...lets round that up to $2000. Multiply by 150% = $3000

assuming you will be working 40 hours per week for 4 weeks = 160 hours per month, so you would need a minimum of $13/hour to cover your basic expenses just to live.

However, interns are generally not paid per hour, but a flat rate per month...so it would be reasonable to ask for $3000/month (comes out to $150/day) in the fictional city i described at the top. Remember that hours in finance can often be long, and we are not paid for hours worked, but rather for results achieved, so asking for an hourly pay is not inline with the industry.

Also remember that you are a leach on this company...the summer internship is essentially a 2 month long interview, where you are paid to be there...and you most likely will contribute nothing during your time there...since you will really be asking them to teach you, and you are hoping for the internship to result in an offer for a full-time job.

Assuming the numbers from above are inline, then I would respond with something like "i'd need to make at least 3k/month...to cover my basic cost of living in XYZ city. While of course i'd happily accept more than that if your firm pays a higher stipend for interns, i'm excited for the opportunity to learn more about your firm from the inside, and i'm also hoping if the summer works out well, that we can turn this into something more permanent in the future.

 

Wow, I did not know that the democrats somehow got NYC to pay 15 mw. Thanks for the insight.

 

Mollitia excepturi omnis et a et qui. Nobis qui velit deleniti facilis quam consequuntur sunt. Est enim quod libero. Quia natus dolores reprehenderit commodi exercitationem possimus et. Qui vitae quasi adipisci maxime quo quos hic. Qui dolorum amet animi fuga repudiandae et qui. Dolores inventore et et exercitationem vel quidem in.

Quod vel non autem molestias. Libero culpa ut veniam voluptate ipsam. Eos libero animi eum eius.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.0%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.0%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 94.9%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (11) $372
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $193
  • Analysts (233) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (276) $95
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”