How to tell if HF is a viable path

Hello all,

I am a recent college graduate starting FT at a BB investment bank. I'm generally interested, but not completely obsessed, with public markets investing and am intrigued by the prospect of the HF career.

I enjoy following the market/economy news and trying to predict how it will impact my personal portfolio. I also consume books/articles/podcasts on investing in my free time. However, I'm not a finance wizard and don't know much about the more niche strategies, how to model, or how to generate/articulate an investment thesis in a sophisticated manner.

I would love to hear some ideas on how to gauge if this is true interest worth pursuing or if I just like the idea of gambling to make money. I'm also interested in hearing how those who broke into the industry sharpened their skills before interviewing.

Thank you.

8 Comments
 
Most Helpful

If it’s for you, you’ll know because you’ll be doing half of the job in your free time anyway.

 

What is “half of the job”? 

I enjoy investing my own money and trying to beat the market. I follow the news and try to anticipate how earnings/events will impact price. 

However, I’m not a finance major and was never in an investment club so I don’t have the most sophisticated process. How can I make the leap from average retail investor to someone who thinks like a hf? Are there any resources out there to learn how to model or develop a presentable stock pitch?

 

WSO is a good resource, there’s a thread somewhere on “how to find and make good ideas”

You don’t need to be a finance major, have had many interns impress me with non-standard backgrounds. You should pick a few stocks, model them quarterly with revenue builds and margin builds and learn what is moving them quarter to quarter.

FYI beating the market is not the aim of most hedge funds you will want to work at.

 

lol ok big dawg. This is a forum for finance career related questions. There are people who post actual asinine/irrelevant content on here everyday but you came on here to shit on me for trying to learn more. 

It’s clear you have no desire or ability to offer any substantive advice and are only here to stroke your ego. 

 

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