How many years do people last at HFs?

Thinking about a move from IB -> HF since I hate the stereotype IB/PE personalities. A couple of HF people I've interviewed with and spoken to are more of my style.

Question is, how many funds blow up, and what's the average tenure like at non-elite (not Coatue, Viking, Lonestar, Point72, Citadel, etc.) type of HFs? Where does your career go from there? 

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The distribution is very wide, and it depends significantly on factors outside of your direct control (at least in the beginning) like market conditions and the ability of your PM. You can try and self-select a better PM beforehand, but there's only so much you can do.

Rather than divide between non-elite and elite funds, I would divide it into single managers (SM) and multi-managers (MM). The general consensus is that the average tenure at a SM is longer than at MMs. However, this is counterbalanced by the fact that it's somewhat easier to move around at the junior level between various platforms (P72, Citadel, MLP, Baly, etc.) than it is to move between SMs. I believe it's also generally considered easier to move from a SM --> MM than vice versa, but that might just be due to most SM's having fewer seats and a lengthier/more stringent recruiting process.

I don't have any average numbers to give you, but that's the general sense I have. I would speak to investors at both types of funds and choose based on which investment/trading style you resonate more with as well as which PM you think is the best as these two factors will have a greater impact on the longevity of your career than just about anything else.

 

yeah, bc coatue is down 40% this year, viking is down 10%, while P72, Citadel, and other MM platforms have outperformed massively.

 

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