Intelligent Questions to Ask PM / CIO for Lateral Mid-Level HF Roles

Starting to speak with a few funds across event/credit space and trying to get a better sense of what those firm are like from a culture / investment process / risk-appetite / overall "quality" of the firm / role type vs. my current role in a single-manager HF.

What are some intelligent questions to ask and considerations (away from comp which is black/white in my view) that get you more comfortable that you're making the right move to switch from a current seat? For background, early mid 30's and looking to transition as a Senior Analyst type role elsewhere. My comp today is +/-1M but fear is that this year and any year after it will be materially lower given I think our fund (mostly a single-flagship type HF) will struggle to perform going forward / raise capital.

15 Comments
 

Ngmi

If you need help asking "intelligent questions", you're NGMI. Stay in your seat, seems like you're overearning. Ride it out.

What's with the salt? Do you get the perfect sense of how a place operates, what it's like to work there, what may be red flags about them from an hour conversation with a few people during an interview which 75-90% you're talking about yourself?

What kind of pleasure are you deriving from anonymously putting down another anonymous person instead of helping someone with a reasonable request. My question isn't exactly a dumb question but I guess you are the master of the universe and can tell how good a job / firm / people are just by looking at their LinkedIn. I don't have that skill so I'm looking for tips from other experienced analysts on how to think about a move because last time i interviewed was almost a decade ago for a junior role after banking.

 
Most Helpful

Can try to help out. Would think beyond skill and raw P&L generation ability. You should focus on whether this is a person that you truly want to be around. As you can tell from the other reply to your post, there are some very toxic people in the industry that you want to avoid both for mental health reasons and financial reasons (have found that competent people tend be less insecure / toxic personas crash and burn). Ask them what their approach to mentorship is, why past employees have left, any advice they would have for a younger version of themselves. Good, non controversial ways to get better insight into personality. 

 

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