Junior analyst at small fixed income hedge fund
I've been working at a small fixed income hedge fund (~350m) for a few months now whilst I finish my undergraduate degree.
I'm not sure how I feel about the environment. It's a very small team, 2 funds (1 is closing and second just opening). They have 1 PM, 1 junior PM for the new fund. And then another guy and I job share the junior analyst role. Then they have a few ops/data people and independent advisors. They seems to be doing relatively well and have consistently made positive returns for over 10 years and are growing FUM. The only issue, I'm really bored! I've previously interned at a top tier BB in sales (s&t) and I came out thinking the job was super fun but sales is not a great place to start. I wanted to do something technical and thought I really scored getting this hedge fund role but now I'm not sure if I could work here full time. It's pretty lonely, everyone goes to lunch separately and they aren't very chatty.
I'm not sure whether to stay because I feel I'm getting awesome exposure to private debt, syndicated loans, credit etc that not many people have experience with. At the same time, I feel working in such a small team at my age (22) could get depressing/isolating. Does the work get more interesting? (I'm doing a lot of frustrating admin which feel wasn't my job description either). Will the team warm up a bit? What are your experiences with small hedge funds? Thanks :)
you are so inexperienced that you are not really in a position to add value yet...it will take years before you get to that point. This is why young people should start their careers at a BB...they train you...and not just in the actual job...but in the socialization aspect of working in finance, which takes a while to understand.
eg...When to be social, and when to keep quiet and work in silence is a skill that only experience will teach.
This job sounds like a great opportunity, but you should expect it to take 3-4 years before you are trained enough to be able to add value.