HELP NEEDED! Conflicted about career path.

In the medium term I aspire to break into a hedge fund as an analyst. The type of funds I'm most interested in are value funds , long/short. I am a micro rather than micro man.

IB does not appeal to me. From all I have read (all 72 pages of articles in WSO hedge fund section) it seems that Equity research is thus my best option. I fear however that by taking this route you become pigeon holed in you specialist area. My questions:

1) Is it true that you become pigeonholed in your specialist sector?

2) Is buy side investment/Asset Management at IB or a mega-fund (fiedeliy-esque) another possible route, if so how realistic is it, more so than equity research.

3) Is an MBA in a finance at a target school after 2 years in ER/asset mngmt a good idea or could I shoot straight for Hedge fund after these roles?

4) I currently have S&T internship at Citi should I ask to transfer to ER?

8 Comments
 

Well because I enjoy the analysis of companies - modelling, valuation and additionally would like to eventually get headhunted or apply to a long/short or valued based hedge fund as an analyst With these to credentials I was under the impression equity research is a better option for me. I don't understand why ER is considered so much less prestigious than S&T. Do you still think S&T is a better option for me?

 
IMFUTUREFrom all I have read (all 72 pages of articles in WSO hedge fund section)

I see you may have missed my HF posts. Please do double back.

And for the record there's no answer to Traders vs HF Value who-makes-more-money arguments. It all depends on firm and performance.

 

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