I have a fundamental long/short and quant trading background. I happened kind of by chance to get interviews at a couple of macro funds that are intriguing. (My general take is that macro funds are generally far ahead of traditional equities funds in combining fundamental and quant styles of medium-frequency trading. I've always been interested in that intersection.) Does anyone have advice on how to prepare for these interviews? I frankly have no idea what I am going to get asked. Any suggestions on resources to prepare or themes to expect would be appreciated.
I imagine the answer is partly that "it varies" which I get. I unfortunately can't be that much more specific. Any general guidance would be sincerely appreciated.
Absolutely, I'd be happy to help you prepare for your macro fund interviews! Here are a few pointers based on the most helpful WSO content:
Brush up on your understanding of global macroeconomic trends and events. This includes understanding different economies, their interrelationships, and the impact of global events on these economies.
Be prepared to discuss your trading strategies and how you would apply them in a global macro context. This could involve discussing how you would adjust your strategies in response to major global events or changes in the economy.
You might be asked about your experience with both fundamental and quantitative trading. Be ready to discuss how you've used these approaches in your past roles and how they could be beneficial in a global macro context.
It's also possible you'll be asked to pitch an investment idea, so prepare one that involves a global macro strategy. This will demonstrate your ability to think strategically and apply your trading skills in a global context.
Lastly, familiarize yourself with the fund's investment philosophy and strategies. If you can, try to align your responses with their approach.
Remember, every interview is a two-way street. It's not just about them assessing your fit for the role, but also about you assessing if the fund aligns with your career goals and interests. Good luck!
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/job-search/help-me-formulate-a-career-plan?customgpt=1, Hedge Fund Careers: Getting a Hedge Fund Job Out of Undergrad and Beyond, Preparing for the HF informational interview, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/hedge-fund/how-to-break-into-macro-hf-in-london?customgpt=1
Hi, at a macro HF myself. you need to provide more details about the strategy of the HFs? happy to help
one is cross-asset arb (basically betting mean reversion when relationships in vol/returns between similar etfs, futures, rates, commods are off). the other is etf / adr arb. do people ask general modeling questions? general math questions? product knowledge? i started out my career in M&A and long/short then did quant trading, so I have a bit of a weird background. most of my trading interviews previously were just probability / game theory brain teasers. do people stop asking that stuff when you get older? the problem with asking that is it's kind of like "ok well you probably know that stuff now" but on the other hand, if you ask questions that are too specific, then I mean it might lead to a lot of false negatives. (people all might trade and understand products differently but could all be right just with different perspectives.) so I guess for me it's super hard to imagine what good questions would really look like.
Not much to go with but I assume you're at a prop firm doing equity from what you described.. One thing to note is you operate on a way way shorter timespan compared to HFs (although given that you're applying arb. places, it could be closer to your tempo)
1- On the arb part, you need to know basics about the products, particularly ETF. No excuse to not prep that in my opinion. SImilarly on the dispersion arb
2- I would be surprised if you get brainteasers given that people usually ask them for grads who have never done any work to test their thinking. Expect to be pushed on the type of projects you did, tools you used, signal creation, overall contribution to the desk
3- Given that you come from a quant trading background, the CS part will be pushed given that you are interviewing for basically macro RV where most of your work will be focused on creating FV models, trading signals..
4- As you said, different people trade at different frequencies and from different angles so try to get a sense of the background of the HFs you are interviewing for. I assume the cross-asset arb all came from SS exotics desks so prep for this sort of question too, applied to your work (you have not mentioned what sort of asset class you trade but safe to assume equities so know your Natenberg).
5- Market! it has been a very tough year, with people calling for a US recession, SVB and insane rates moves so prep a general take (even though RV traders generally do not care about the macro backdrop until it starts to matter)
6- Finally, ask a lot of questions and that would allow you to develop a better idea of the respective strategies the more you progress and to gauge whether you like it or not.
Feel free to drop me a DM, curious to know more about your background
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