HFoF Analyst or Junior IR/Marketing? Long term goal - HF Marketer

Hi all,

I'm currently interviewing for a few firms in HK. Background as an equity analyst at a l/s asian equity fund, got laid off and decided I didn't want to be an analyst anymore.

Long term goal is to be a marketing guy at a HF where I'd get a % of revenue sharing from assets raised, as I'm a Chinese American in Asia and want to leverage my American background rather than compete with the horde of china analysts out here. The main source of capital for Asian hedge funds are still US and European investors and I would prefer to be in a position where I could go on roadshows a few times a year so I can visit family in the US.

While I have yet to receive offers, I think I'm close at a few HFoFs for investment analyst jobs, and for a junior marketing position at a macro fund. HFoFs are all US-based, multibillion AUM funds with some allocated to Asia but fairly stable, though FoF model seems to be waning. Macro fund is just below $200mn, run by a respected ex-economist and head of research at a bank who had a strong track record at a previous macro fund for several years and spun out on his own a year ago. He brought 4-5 people from his previous team and they are part of a larger platform backed by an Asset Management firm so it is more stable than a standalone hedge fund. Performance has been in low single digits since inception but the strategy is contrarian and has historically performed well in downturns (+40% in 08, +20% in 11). They launched with somewhere between $80-100mn a year ago.

Here is my sense: as an analyst at a FoF I would expose myself to different strategies, managers, and build up a strong network/knowledge that would help make me a better marketer in the long run, being on both sides of the table. Also if I end up sucking at marketing I could always go back to FoFs or endowment/pension/foundations etc.

However jumping straight into a junior marketing role would allow me to learn the business earlier on and build a rolodex in the US/Europe as I would start to travel to meet investors after a year on the job. The fund is also fairly large for an Asian fund and I think once it hits $250mn then assets may scale as there are just a handful of institutional-sized macro funds in Asia. Most of the guys are European and the fund's investors are European, so I would have a chance to help crack the US market later on.

HFOFs would pay more initially but upside in the marketing job would increase over time. I'm currently 25 years old.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.