How to break into Merger Arbitrage London

Am at one of the big event shops; will put this up as I have barely ever seen the Ldn event space being discussed on here. Definitely a very tight group of guys, would say under 100 IPs who move in size here in Ldn. 

So you have the usual suspects: HBK, Pentwater, Farallon, DE Shaw, not sure how much risk arb DK does anymore but historically had some of the greatest event investors come out of there. There are also several SMs led by smart guys like Kite Lake, Decagon, Nursery Road, Samson Rock, Palliser (more activist focus). 

There are a few event pods across the MMs, and LMR/Marshall Wace/Verition, but most guys have either moved out to start their own shops, or transitioned to SMs - it isn't a strategy that fits MM risk limits well. A fund like Pentwater (able to take monster risk) is adding when the rest of the market is degrossing on a volatility event. 

People are more old school in this business and it truly is a strategy that requires mentorship. Much of the work is based on decades of experience and "feel", as well as understanding positioning, precedents, anti-trust, takeover mechanics, etc. Also a fun job in a very different way to more fundamental investing, as you are doing significant digging on local markets to understand market share, and speaking with local lawyers to understand antitrust risk in different jurisdictions. More legal, political, and investor psychology involved in alpha generation. 

Additionally, albeit depending on the shop, other than merger arb you also get to trade anything with a hard catalyst (activist campaigns, spin-offs, strategic reviews, litigation, pre-event, index events) which makes for some very dodgy but interesting positions at times that can bring in massive PnL. 
 

Finally, will caveat that:

1. Returns are not what they used to be, spreads are tight and there is a lot of capital chasing not very many deals. Also quite cyclical as a business, follows M&A. 
2. Small group of people - definitely not impossible to get your foot in the door but the odds of finding someone who is truly great and worth learning from, and at the same time they're hiring for entry level, are very low. Keep your eyes peeled and start building a network. 
3. A lot of event guys trade both equity and credit. Being able to gross up in a special sits credit book during down-cycles makes a lot of sense for returns. Don't take this the wrong way but from the way you write, it seems like you have not done too much work in publics, and your experience in banking is not the most technical. There is still a substantial amount of modelling that we do. Hone your technical skills before trying to recruit, as good seats are far and few between. Don't burn any bridges.