HF case study debrief
What does a case study debrief entail for a hedge fund? Is it a guaranteed next step after completing a case or are you only invited to them if they like the output of your case to begin with? What sort of questions should I be prepared to answer?
in all my case studies done over my career there was always a debrief automatically to discuss - irrspective I assume whether they were super impressed or not with the work output
those discussions mostly made or broke the outcome of the case study (sometimes difficult questions, chasing down a rabbit hole, focus on things you didnt think about etc.) less time was spent on reading the output vs. discussing various concepts
Thank you for the reply, this is very helpful. Why would they spend time on a debrief if they don’t like the work product? Also any advice on how to prepare for the debrief given the breadth of potential questions?
honestly oftentimes people shortcut the deck / memo given the time constraints of the case study but still can have an intelligent conversation about the thesis. equally the deck could be very impressive (never know if copied from somebody elses work etc.) and they find it difficult to debate the key points in all the info laid out
i have sat on both sides of the equation but usually came into the discussion more hostile if the output didnt look that good...
You might want to run through your anaylsis with somebody thats in the industry to "practice" also really take some time before you go in there to think about any eventuallity that comes to mind and have an outlay of how you would answer
honestly i always hated these discussions because they were so unpredictable and you meet new people with different styles that might be totally different to your current seat - quite often a bit of luck involved to win them over
Is it fair to think the case study is generally the most important part of the process?
I’ve just been through the case study (that went well) at Balyasny and I try to assess my odds of receiving an offer.
Congrats! How did the debrief go? Did they have you go through the model and memo or mostly just off the cuff questions?
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Did you receive an offer at BAM after the case study? And how long did it take for them to get back to you?
If you didn't, did they eventually follow up with you to say "no offer" or was it a ghost?
in all my processes yes that was the make or break item to move to offer stage
Going through this as well
Be prepared to discuss at the beginning an overview of your thoughts on the business and investment. Maybe 2 minutes, keep it punchy before opening for questions.
In my cases, they’ve typically wanted to dig in on the business. Be able to clearly articulate what the business does in each segment, how quickly it’s growing, the unit economics of doing business, any competitive advantages. You already wrote this stuff in a case but being able to succinctly talk through it is a different beast. Most of the time ~50%+ can be spent on answering and discussing these elements.
Then usually is some discussion on if it’s a good investment (financial / return profile). Again being able to describe what makes it attractive or not from a R/R is key.
Other general comments:
- try to have humility about assumptions, have some sort of logic but don’t die on hills for assumptions that were half assed
- try to be absolutely clear if you don’t know something or are thinking through it
- try at all times to be concise and clear
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