how hard is it to get into top hedge funds?
like Bridgewater or DE Shaw.. friends/stories, please share
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Relatively easy.
Stupid question bro. Obviously top hedge funds are difficult to break in but it is possible. Just like breaking into GS/MS or KKR/TPG, it's going to be tough and you'll need to beat out a lot of candidates.. But nothings impossible and if you want it bad enough you can get it. So the answer to this question is POINTLESS.
I don't know
DE Shaw unless you're literally a genius you're not going to get in
While it's true that DE Shaw and Bridgewater pride themselves on recruiting "geniuses," they also a) are very large in terms of headcount, b) recruit undergrads including those without traditional finance experience/background; and c) have a lot of turnover.
They have a profile of candidate they want, but it's a lot "easier" to get a job at those places than say Paulson, which has a smaller employee base and a defined career path for the people they're looking for.
Don't mean to hijack your thread but I have a different question. How hard is it to break into HF industry at the lowest level. Do people working at boutique ibank or no-name research firms have any chance of breaking into buyside, even at smaller HF (1B)?
Dude Bridgewater is a fucking nuthouse. Have many friends that work there - you either love it or you hate it. They tended to hire very smart and very confident people from my school, which makes sense given that their interviews consist of people sitting in a room fiercely debating controversial topics. Not necessarily people with any finance background, in fact a lot of them had zero finance experience, but they had top grades and were some of the smartest guys around.
Great question dude.
If my impression of the place is correct, this is not somewhere you are going to network into or get into from a non-target. They care that you are very, very smart and they hired more intellectual people from my school than, say, a BB.
No idea about DE Shaw, seemed like they mostly wanted com sci majors.
For people at the lower levels that are not your typical "geniuses" (for example: you've got a PhD in Physics from Harvard and you're 24 years old), it's actually quite possible to break in. From what I can tell, you're likely to get a spot if you've got at least 2 of the following 3 (1) top target UG with 3.9+ GPA, (2) top work experience at GS/MS and (3) you KNOW SOMEONE at the firm --- usually a higher up.
^to speak to this... I had a friend who went to a lower tier ivy and had solid grades (maybe 3.6 - not sure - but know that he was not suma/magna, etc.) and then did 1+ year at Citi and now works at a super-top HF (Baupost, etc). Why? Because his godfather is an MD there.... if you've got connections you can get in despite being a mere mortal
Yeah, sorry - that works too. Have a friend who got a job there who's dad is BFFs with Dalio so yes that is another way to get a job. I just assumed that wasn't really up OP's alley, given the post.
I think it depends on the strategies they employ too.
Top funds are definitely harder to get in, everyone who applies will be minimum magna cum laude. Quant funds and esoteric funds generally employ the top of the top, DE Shaw included - that involves also the coding test, the aptitude test of of course the interview.
Top hedge funds like DE Shaw, Citadel, paulson, Bridgewater, soros, are insanely tough to break into. I know paulson basically only hires harvard and wharton MBA's. They especially love harvard jd/mba's, which is a sick combo. And Citadel's analyst program is one of the toughest jobs to get for a college senior, harder than landing any BB group or even Blackstone PE analyst gig.
^ i can believe that.
My dad is seth klarman..
How hard is it for me to get into baupost?
Bridgewater loves ivy leaguers (full of Harvard and Wharton grads) - they are also pretty snotty and super comperitive - so a good match for each other!
D.E. Shaw loves engineers, quants and MBAs and has a larger overall headcount.
Here are some other large guys in the NYC area that you should consider if you want the big fund experieince. , Surprisingly DE Shaw missed the list this year: http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Top-hedge-funds-lead-industry-asset…
Both of those places have pretty high turnover, no Citadel type but still high. Getting in is tough, yes, but remaining there is a mix of hard work and luck. They don't hire you to develop from what I understand, they hire you to contribute immediately.
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