Medium size macro fund to pod
I started as a quant in research out of school at a medium size macro fund (1-5B aum) that is a decently well known name in the industry but much less than the large MM and multistrat macro funds. How hard is it to make the move to a larger MM or multistrat, and how do people make this transition?
If you’re in alpha research I would wait until you can be an APM at one of the platforms, or if you can be a risk taking analyst at a big 4 pod. It’s not worth moving to be a support role for some PM.
Why do you want to move funds? Chances are you'll end up working for a worse PM managing less AUM. Plus of course with a lot of risk constraints that will prevent you from running like most macro guys like to run.
Better pay and a higher chance of managing risk sooner
This can easily go poorly. If you’re a quant for a discretionary macro PM, 9 times out of 10 you will just be some dedicated swe even if he says he is quantitative and “backtests ideas”. You would not be paid more in this situation. You would accept all of the downside for none of the upside. To top it off, many of these brand name funds that you might be looking at don’t promote juniors to APM or do so only under extenuating circumstances. It’s really only worth moving for a risk taking role or to a fund/team that’s quantitative in its DNA.
This is good to know thank you for the honest feedback. How would you recommend then making the move to a risk taking role as an APM, and how hard is that coming from my background? Also, what does comp look like at these larger funds on the quant side but in a non risk taking role?
It depends on what your job is. If you’re in alpha research you can move to a risk taking seat with proven success. If they’re not running your stuff at your current shop you can pitch running your stuff to some PM in a sleeve. This is risky in its own right as you can get fired even if your strategies perform.
As far as comp it’s hard to benchmark. I might be skewed by my negative experiences at my fund. I would suspect unless you’re going to a place that’s known to invest in that area (tech/quant), you will be short changed.
Sounds like you could be helping me avoid a costly mistake right now, so thank you, I guess that’s what this forum is for. I know it’s hard to benchmark, but could you give any more color on where comp tends to peak for a quant researcher supporting a discretionary RV pod/fund? From rumor it sounds like at my fund there is potential to make above 500k, but plateauing pretty fast after that.
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