Is it possible to become a Financial Analyst at a Hedge Fund without a degree or CFA?

For the record, I'm located in Toronto, Canada.

I come from the tech world and the reason I ask is because a lot of positions in tech can be obtained without a college pedigree. If you're good at programming for example all that you must show are some skills and a passion to learn.

Is this at all possible at a Hedge Fund? For someone who shows initiative and obtains the knowledge, is it possible for them to break in or is it just a pipe dream without some sort of accreditation (CFA, MBA, etc)?

6 Comments
 
"astfin-juki"

No.

The reason I said "without a degree" is because I have a Bachelor of Science , so nothing in finance. Does this help? Or is a degree outside of finance useless?

 
Best Response

A Bachelor of Science is a degree... A tech degree is more useful than a finance degree in many HFs nowadays. Very few front office roles left where you just wing it with your finance knowledge. There needs to be quantitative analysis. I work at a Macro HF, and we would hire a STEM major for an analyst any day over a finance/econ major. Simply put those who run the money already know the finance/econ so they don't need an analyst for that, but what they may have trouble doing is gathering and processing and analyzing tons of data.

 
"ThinkMacro"

A Bachelor of Science is a degree... A tech degree is more useful than a finance degree in many HFs nowadays. Very few front office roles left where you just wing it with your finance knowledge. There needs to be quantitative analysis. I work at a Macro HF, and we would hire a STEM major for an analyst any day over a finance/econ major. Simply put those who run the money already know the finance/econ so they don't need an analyst for that, but what they may have trouble doing is gathering and processing and analyzing tons of data.

Any advice you could give me ThinkMacro on getting my foot in the door? It isn't a career road I'm taking simply for the money, but because I genuinely enjoy (or at least, the hours I've spent researching about it) the role of an analyst.

I'm willing to put in the time and effort into learning everything I can, I just want to know the best path as to be given a chance. What do you think? Or do I have to get a loan and go back to school to earn an MBA (or MFA, or MFE) and hopefully land a position?

 

Perferendis nulla deserunt doloremque magnam. Accusamus exercitationem labore voluptates est beatae. Quis vel provident nobis et non. Illo perferendis quas consequuntur tempore. Voluptas vero ratione sunt distinctio in ullam. Eius iusto quis qui harum illo. Rerum nesciunt perferendis nesciunt illum.

Molestiae et est labore neque dignissimos. Sit ut quisquam dolores ratione dignissimos repellendus impedit aperiam. Incidunt quia quam magni nihil. Sed exercitationem neque ut porro. Natus et neque porro ea corporis impedit. Officiis fuga illo sit error totam provident. Repudiandae molestias iusto aut rerum laboriosam sequi.

A sit qui aut. Dolorum qui eum laudantium sunt tempora quidem. A sint quisquam a soluta enim. Ipsa asperiores assumenda et veniam ut temporibus provident. Delectus asperiores quos iusto fugit itaque iste praesentium. Et quia perspiciatis aut qui adipisci laborum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”