Macro y1 comp

How much are macro roles at the larger programs (Citadel FIM, De Shaw prop, Capula, BW, Baly etc) paying for fresh undergrads. Heard they're targeting a similar pool of candidates as quant - wondering if comp is in the same ballpark

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Based on the most helpful WSO content, first-year compensation for macro roles at top hedge funds like Citadel, D.E. Shaw, and others is competitive but slightly below quant roles. Here's a breakdown:

  • 1st Year Associate (Macro): $190K average total compensation.
  • Analysts (Macro): $178K average total compensation.
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (Macro): $85K average total compensation.

These figures suggest that while macro roles are lucrative, quant roles (e.g., Engineer/Quant at $272K average total comp) tend to offer higher pay due to the technical skillset required. However, macro roles still provide a strong entry point into the hedge fund space for undergraduates.

Sources: Q&A: Head of Macro Strategy at Hedge Fund Taking Questions, What are some of the cushier roles in Corporate ($125-150K/year and ~45 hours/week average)?, How are you "macro equity" guys doing? (Druckenmiller/Bessent style), Global macro recruiting - a primer, Comp at Top MM Firms?

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

What do the grads do in these roles - is it basically data analysis (under a PM) for the first few years? What sorts of strategies typically do these people join? (most colleagues I know in QT/prop don't have an econ/macro background so I'd imagine unlikely to be punting duration & curve)

 

yeh more or less you do the maths and coding for the traders on the desk with the view that they train you into being good at risk taking

firms kinda realised that hiring mainly from banks doesn’t cut it. being good at understanding flow and clipping bid/offer is a different ball game to HF. better to train talent in-house 

plus most of the best stem talent nowadays ends up at quant/prop/tech rather than banks so gotta scoop up earlier

 

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