Anyone else feel like they’re not intrinsically passionate or a “natural” at being good with money (investing, seeing opportunities others don’t, etc)?
For those of you on the more senior end of the spectrum, can that passion or sixth sense be developed, or are most who stay and do well in the industry long term the same who probably started out with some natural competence with money?
| +25 | Do Quantamental roles really exist? | 10 | 1h |
| +15 | Average single manager slope | 5 | 3d |
| +13 | Fastest Way to MMHF? | 9 | 1d |
| +12 | L/S Equity Career London | 5 | 1m |
| +9 | Bad PM | 5 | 1d |
| +9 | Yes, this question again… | 2 | 1d |
| +7 | Hedge Fund (Fundamental Long Short Equity) Compensation in Singapore Hong Kong | 2 | 11h |
| +5 | X | 6 | 2d |
| +5 | Worth Joining a Small Hedge Fund? | 6 | 18h |
| +2 | Walleye SA 2027 | 4 | 4d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Don’t think you need innate talent. You definitely need a continued passion (whether developed or innate) for managing money and a hunger to make PnL. Though I feel like the latter is more pronounced in successful pods.
Thanks. And would you say that passion is in reference to passion for the act of managing money more so than passion for just making lots of money? So is it just something about working with money that brings joy to such people, regardless of the outcome? Just like playing a musical instrument may bring joy to an artist?
Tough question. For me it’s both. I want to be paid but at the same time I enjoy the process. After doing this job, I don’t think I could ever do another job. It’s actually pretty fun to put risk on. That said - a ton of people I know are successful at the game and just see it as a means to get paid 7figures and live their life. Also a ton of people live and breathe markets, work balls hard on their thesis every time, and have been blown out from several platforms. Bottom line is it’s really hard to tell but if you enjoy markets and making money - shoot your shot.
For me it’s solving puzzles. Every investment is like solving a puzzle or cracking a safe. I’m a addicted to hearing my mind say “click” as I figure out how to make money.
That's interesting and requires an investigative character that likes solving puzzles. Were you good at or interested in puzzles when you were little/growing up?
Yes very much so. Has always been in my nature. As a child, as a teenager, in college and even as an adult outside of work.
I'm similar to this, though I was very much into competitive tactical and strategy games growing up.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of (legally) knowing something no one else in the market has figured out yet and knowing exactly when they will converge.
Yeah maybe a bit more than I meant. Nothing I bet on is a certainty. Nor do I have insight into exactly when I’ll be proven right. Mostly takes luck on that front tbh.
maybe I’m a dumb dumb or something else. But I’d never be able to describe my career experience that way.
The founder of my fund is a guy who is truly passionate about stocks. He was the kid who was investing at an early age and got a real head start. To this day, he just loves the challenge, learning about businesses, and finding opportunities whether they are more off-the-run or just in plain sight. But I don't think that its his passion for stocks that helps him be good at making money, because there is a difference between being a good business analyst and being good at making money. He is good at making money because he is naturally an out-of-the-box type of thinker. He was the kid in college who bought a pizza at the local store for $15 and then sold it by the slice to the guys in his dorm for $5 a piece. That kind of thing. So I feel that it is hard-wired from an early age.
That said, I do think the people who have a real knack for making money is a minority of people in our industry. The majority of people I know in the industry are very down the fairway. But they are smart / competent (as we all are), have developed a sound investment process, and have been able to turn over enough rocks to figure out what works and doesn't work for them as an investment style (btw, this is also why I think that low velocity type of funds are great lifestyle funds but probably not great places to learn how to invest since the only way to figure all of this out is to make a ton of mistakes).
TLDR: I don't think the sixth sense can be developed, but that doesn't mean that there is no place for you in the industry.
Quis iure quasi doloribus laudantium. Fuga ut veniam ab dolor sit perferendis. Voluptatem voluptatem ipsam suscipit consequatur. Omnis sunt aut dolores nesciunt non quibusdam et. Sit nulla commodi inventore tempore consequatur praesentium enim. Repellendus itaque exercitationem illum rerum consequatur cum laborum qui.
Velit molestiae sint aut provident provident voluptatem. Dignissimos id fuga labore dolor rerum quia temporibus. Et illo labore consequatur exercitationem quidem. Voluptate autem tenetur vel.
Expedita sapiente rerum aut modi eligendi. Numquam ut aut rerum et veniam ab repudiandae. Occaecati deserunt aperiam autem necessitatibus sunt. Inventore et consequuntur voluptatem voluptatem inventore harum aspernatur. Dolor aut est non. Et reiciendis iste fugit qui mollitia omnis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...