HFs that let you trade own book?

Hey, does anyone know good HFs that let you trade your own book after a couple of years? The closest I've seen seem to be SAC and Tudor. It seems like at most funds, you work as an analyst, then eventually portfolio manager, never having the ability to trade based on your sole discretion.

5 Comments
 

if you want a prop shop, there are plenty which will give some leverage as long as you put up some of your own capital. but i don't know of any 'good' hedgefunds that just say, "hey, here's 100 mill dollars, make some money." otherwise, you'd have nick leeson scenarios everyday.

 
Best Response

Jump Trading (http://www.jumptrading.com/) lets you keep 50% of your P&L (would be interesting to see how this works if you have an "L" rather than a "P") and they recruit undergraduates at the schools they have listed on their web site.

It is a quant-focused fund that does a lot of black-box trading and recruits people with technical/engineering backgrounds in particular... obviously a finance background also works.

But like John and aachimp have said, no hedge fund in their right mind will give an unproven 20-something his/her own supply of millions of dollars to trade.

At some hedge funds you CAN move up very quickly if you prove yourself though.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Are entry level positions at the better prop trading firms like First New York or Trillium a viable alternative to a top tier HF position? I didn't think many guys at prop trading firms made much.

Also, to apply for a lot of higher up positions at HFs, you are required to have a two year independent track record with PNL. If no fund or BB trading desk lets you trade independently, how can you build such a record?

 

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