HF office dress code

I started at a hedge fund this month with decent AUM (in a range of $1-5 billion). I am rather surprised to see that the vast majority of the guys prefer semi-formal or business casual unless they have meetings. Is this common across the funds you guys work at?

58 Comments
 

I work on the west coast. Everyone wears Patagonia, and I haven't seen anyone in a suit in weeks. I don't work in a hedge fund, but most of the HFs are in the same area as my office.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

yeah chinos, maybe a dress shirt and a heavy fleece vest. we also have some down vests if it gets colder....havent worn a suit or tie in years now and also dont throw it on for meetings unless its a key one.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

Seconded. Vests are probably a legacy of the trading floor attire from the bulge brackets. Anyways, attire is usually business casual. You are not meeting any clients until you are a super senior MD trying to fundraise so just work hard and chillax about clothing.

I've actually seen someone trade in cycling tights once.

Pennies from JcPenny
 

As mentioned, contacting HR is def the way to go.

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
 

I think this site is both a blessing and a curse. Common sense would involve asking HR or the guy who hired you. At the very least show up in slacks and a dress shirt and blazer. Suits suck ass and are for meeting clients or bank meetings. Business casual is great and HFs dgaf. I'd probably refrain from rocking stubbs and bonobos pink pants until our get established.

How did people servive before wso? Between what do I wear, does a bank drug test and what hair style should I have, pre wso I imagine nothing but social disasters.

 

Think of blending in, show up in a conservative pair of slacks & a basic color dress shirt. You will need a clean pair of simple shoes and a basic coat/blazer/suit jacket/vest/fleece etc. Just look clean, modest & professional. First day you should show up as early as possible, bring a tie & keep it in your pocket, if needed: hop in the bathroom after you get in and whip that puppy on before the employees show up.

You would rather be the guy who over dresses on the first day than the guy who is way under dressed.

 

TNA, sometimes, the last thing I wanted to ask a guy who gave me my dream job is what I should wear on my first day.. lol

It's definitely not the first thing you think of to ask when you hear the words, "when can you start?"

 

While this is a dumb question, what is dumber is looking like a clown day 1 or wasting your cash on clothes you won't wear.

1) You need at least one nice suit for meetings with management teams and when investors come by. I recommend navy, no pinstripes, but charcoal is acceptable as well. BB is the standard, but you can go made-to-measure (no embellishments) if you want/need to. Target a $700-1000 price range. Do not get a suit from J Crew or the like. 2) The daily uniform is a dress shirt and dress pants.You can mix it up with the shirts, nothing too loud but normal stripes/checks/colors are fine, stay away from the british/fashion forward stuff. Try to get pants that fit well (this is surprisingly difficult), you may have to try a few different places. 3) Don't wear jeans until someone either tells you you can or you're killing it and want to 4) Vest. If you get a corporate one, go with that (don't wear it to the bar though). If not, pick up a fleece or puffer from your favorite outdoor brand. 5) I keep a blazer in my office because I think I look better in a jacket. That is probably vanity more than anything else. Has been helpful for going directly to evening events though. 6) Shoes you should get a pair of black cap toes (for the meetings) and can wear those every other day. For the second pair you can get oxblood or brown loafers, again might want to avoid too much ornamentation. Similar to jeans, hold off on rolling in boat shoes until it won't matter

I would not bring a full change of clothes day 1. Maybe have a tie with you though and wear a solid white or light blue shirt that day.

The way to build out your wardrobe is get the basic stuff before and add the fun stuff (i.e. Gucci loafers, etc.) as you feel you deserve it and can pull it off.

 

New HF must have: iPad which you take everywhere, especially meetings. You love pretending to take notes on your iPad in meetings.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

that feel when a PM here comes to work in a white tee, jordan shorts, and air force ones...

Disclaimer for the Kids: Any forward-looking statements are solely for informational purposes and cannot be taken as investment advice. Consult your moms before deciding where to invest.
 
"pacificoast"

lol'ed @ meeting mgmt. wearing trainers. great stuff!

Yeah, that's something I've never noticed - only time when you actually should wear business formal minus the tie or something in that ballpark. All other times nobody should care since you don't need to dress up for the sell-side and especially not for your colleagues. Investor meetings are also likely isolated to a few senior people, so that doesn't really apply for 90% of the floor.

 

Woah woah woah, being a little generous with those four-figure numbers, are we 1man?

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Nam hic consequatur qui consequatur. Quia adipisci totam laudantium sit tenetur similique qui. Corporis unde nihil sunt in perferendis incidunt est.

Sed qui delectus iure ex non. Unde quisquam est non occaecati. Quasi omnis ea quia. Aliquam corporis iste iure sequi alias eius. Quasi sunt officiis atque autem quas.

Ullam et aut sit et. Sunt dolorem et quam veritatis dolor. Assumenda voluptatem magni delectus facere.

Quas sit quaerat iure saepe reprehenderit quaerat dolore. Fuga odio ab iure velit eveniet est.

You give me a gift? *BAM* Thank you note! You invite me somewhere? *POW* RSVP! You do me a favor? *WHAM* Favor returned! Do not test my politeness.
 

Id voluptatem at explicabo blanditiis quasi quos. Numquam dolorem accusamus ratione voluptatem voluptas nesciunt eos ea. Ab repellat et quisquam eos sint molestiae.

Distinctio non repellat est quis laborum esse id. Et eum vitae expedita rem voluptas sunt.

Perferendis qui nobis expedita placeat nisi. Exercitationem amet aut et vel omnis. Veritatis rerum et et laborum recusandae.

Nihil culpa facere voluptatem et dolore in illo odio. Quam qui quidem nam.

 

Alias in possimus qui sit non reiciendis qui. Vitae ut omnis voluptatibus iusto iste molestiae voluptatum odio.

Pariatur sed alias ut omnis iure quidem voluptate. Repellat incidunt voluptate fugit error ut laudantium. Veniam quis nihil voluptatem molestias.

Et nostrum quia temporibus nesciunt laudantium. Reiciendis qui at sunt qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • Millennium Partners 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Blackstone Group 96.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.1%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.2%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.3%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (240) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (28) $146
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
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...”