Life in a MM HF
Hi guys, recently accepted an offer from a top MM HF (think Citadel/P72/MLP). Would like to check on a few things from any of the veterans who have been in this field for a long time.
1) Understand that in such MM pods, culture is typically driven by teams led by individual PMs and may vary across teams. On a consensus though, how would the culture in each team be like? Would it be very individualistic and people generally work in silo?
2) Turnover for analysts. Understand that there is a drawdown limit, and once that limit is breached, the whole team gets laid off. Would like to clarify if this means even the analysts are laid off, or will they get put into different teams under other PMs?
3) Have read some posts in this sub-forum where some senior analysts gets a portion of the book from their PM. How senior do you have to be within the team to get such a responsibility?
Would really appreciate any inputs, thanks!
Surprised you accepted an offer before knowing all the above questions
I don’t work at one of the places you’ve mentioned but know a lot about them. PMs are basically highly paid widgets and the big MMs are very heartless/systematic with their capital cuts and terminations. They don’t give a fuck about you or your price targets. A lot of PMs are outrunning “the tap” and living their lives from bonus to bonus…
Culture is pod dependent but these guys don’t even want much interaction between pods. Also, they care about idea velocity and just want a high sharpe so once you realize something like 5% on an idea, they make you cut risk and find the next one… you don’t have much of a chance to be a real investor. The drawdown rules and center books turn everyone into a trader and dudes that did well historically can struggle in those seats.
I think you should take the seat and it’ll be good experience. Make sure you network with the other pod shops (especially in your sector) and have a strong reputation with the sell side. You want to do some career cushioning and have a list of ppl to call once the day comes.