How’s Bridgewater for starting out of college?

Curious about what people currently think of Bridgewater on the forum. Culture, Progression, Comp, exit opportunities etc.

In particular starting at the firm out of college given that they seem to hire heavily out of undergrad, versus going to S&T and trying to exit to HFs from there.

Also wondering what the differences are between the Investment Associate and Trading Associate roles. 

5 Comments
 
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(sibling worked there a few years ago) 

1. Not a place to work if you are generally trying to keep options open. If you have strong buy in to their macro approach and culture, could be a great fit. However, go there only if you intend to spend a career there, not if you are using it as a stepping stone to your next job. 

2.  Investment Associate is their front office role, Trading Associate is more middle office. Trading Associate is mostly execution and analytics around it. 

3. Can be a risky place to start off, they cut about half their Investment Associate class in the first year (either fire or place into a middle office role). Everyone there is already bright and competitive, so making the cut is not easy. 

4. Comp is at market, but there is baggage in terms of an aggressive non-compete and the culture can be difficult to deal with, even for those with buy in. 

 

PM in HF - Other

(sibling worked there a few years ago) 

1. Not a place to work if you are generally trying to keep options open. If you have strong buy in to their macro approach and culture, could be a great fit. However, go there only if you intend to spend a career there, not if you are using it as a stepping stone to your next job. 

2.  Investment Associate is their front office role, Trading Associate is more middle office. Trading Associate is mostly execution and analytics around it. 

3. Can be a risky place to start off, they cut about half their Investment Associate class in the first year (either fire or place into a middle office role). Everyone there is already bright and competitive, so making the cut is not easy. 

4. Comp is at market, but there is baggage in terms of an aggressive non-compete and the culture can be difficult to deal with, even for those with buy in. 

would you have any insight on how they determine who gets to stay / get a return offer? i know that they have lectures in a "classroom" setting for the first 8-12 months so how is the determination made if they are at the "bar" or not? just wanted to know how hard it is compared to a place like JPM or GS

 

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