How to Approach Informational Interview at $3B AUM Alternative Manager

I am doing my UG at a semi-target. I'm too early in my UG to get into a 10 week program at a bank, so I'm trying to piece together a few different experiences at hedge funds and one bank. I was fortunate to secure an informational interview with a founder/COO-type regarding the possibility of an internship (although there's no formal program in place).

I am curious how I should approach the meeting, as obviously I cannot offer much value over the course of a summer internship. I think I am going to need to convince him to take me on, but I'm pretty clueless on how to do so. I would be willing to work in any capacity just to be around these guys for a while and see how they work.

So my question: what's the best way to approach the meeting (questions I should ask) / what sort of research should I do, as to make sure I present the sharpest version of myself?

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Best Response

I just got a internship offer in a similar hedge fund, however they had an official recruiting need and based on the pay I assume they're expecting a lot from me during the 10 week program. Before you start I think the first thing you should realize is that Hedge Fund is really different from Banks. The goal of a hedge fund is to earn money for its investors so people in hedge funds work on investments rather than deals.

As for the interview, despite all the behavioral interview cliches, the first thing you want to do is to understand their strategy. Is this a high frequency trading shop? a long/short equity hedge fund? or a fixed income relative value firm? I've found out that they'll get a lot more interested in you if you can really tell them that you know their strategy and how your background might serve their purpose. By using this approach, I was able to land 4 interview chances out of 5~6 applications over the last 6 months. It'll be even better if you can talk more about their specific strategy. A hedge fund is usually a mysterious world to the outside so the best way to approach them is always let them know that you're already 'inside'.

 

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