King Street Capital - Still a good place to work?
I have been getting a few inbounds and wanted to know the latest situation there?
From what I understand, the firm’s performance has been abysmal this year (First Brands being one).
Over the last 12-18 months, there has been a lot of churn at both the senior and non-senior side, whilst they have replaced some of this and brought in new partners, has anything actually changed?
Interested to know more on the culture, team, process and insight into comp and if something to consider in 2026.
Lets see how FBG goes. I think guys were doubling down on the DIP because they had to, not because they wanted to...
Based on the most helpful WSO content, King Street Capital has faced challenges recently, particularly with performance issues like the First Brands situation. Over the past 12-18 months, there has been notable turnover at both senior and junior levels. While the firm has made efforts to bring in new partners and rebuild, it’s unclear if these changes have significantly improved the culture or operational processes.
Key Insights:
Performance: The firm's performance has been under scrutiny, with First Brands being a notable example of struggles in their portfolio. This could impact overall morale and compensation structures.
Turnover: High churn rates at both senior and non-senior levels suggest potential instability. While new hires and partners have been brought in, the effectiveness of these changes remains uncertain.
Culture: There isn’t specific data in the WSO dataset about King Street Capital’s current culture, but firms experiencing high turnover and performance issues often face challenges in maintaining a positive work environment.
Compensation: While no specific figures for King Street Capital are provided, hedge fund compensation generally remains competitive. However, performance issues could affect bonuses and overall comp.
Considerations for 2026:
If you’re looking for stability and growth, it might be worth comparing King Street Capital to other top-performing hedge funds like Magnetar Capital (98.9% satisfaction) or D.E. Shaw (97.8% satisfaction), which are highly rated for professional growth and overall employee satisfaction.
Sources: How can we do better?, Arrowroot Capital Employee Rention, King Street Capital?, Private Wealth Management: Compensation and Culture, does anyone know anything about king street capital?
BUMP
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What about Redwood
What about GT?
Also hard place to work. Would put between SP and KS. DK used to have better culture but I’m less up to date these days
Some of their analysts are smart but not all of them are. Already went through succession driven turnovers. Nut Tree also smart but had some losers recently.
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Bump.
I guess it is not given the recent news on the reorg changes..
Anyone have color?
Horrendous returns. Just ask around. That’s why there was a big personnel change recently.
Many issues there
Hey man that buyout is happening any day, you’ll see
Is there more than one King Street? My friends there are low velocity, especially given their chunky positions in illiquid stuff. They definitely are not on my slinging list, nor are the analysts there on my "don't know their names" list.
Can only chime in that the two guys I know from my Wharton/GS network both left for Millenium. One years ago and one more recently. I could see Millenium continue to try to chip away edge in credit markets from the credit focused HFs. Have seen Izzy make strong hires in terms of Credit PMs and analysts the last few years or so
King street just less in the mix from the seat I am in currently
GL
Would agree with the comments above. Most of the single manager distressed/ stressed credit HFs in the 20bn-30bn AUM zip code are only declining. Even if AUM grows LSD % p.a. they are still massively losing credit market share. The ones that do scale, either focus on the best alpha generators, or eventually get washed out of alpha-strategies with smaller and smaller funds of decreasing relevance.
So for a fund like Diameter, who has grown quite a bit over the past 5 yrs, what do you think the endgame is here? Scale down?
They at least are set up to focus on the best alpha generators. It's always like this - legacy firms like Marathon, DK, KS lose market share / sees weaker returns, when every generation / 5-10 years some new / hungry firm gets set up such as Arini / Diameter who generates alpha in their youth / prime and then the same episode happens again. Take a look at the former list's AUM track record and performance you will understand.
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