MFPE Analyst to HF
Ignore title, incoming AN1 at MF PE shop. I was fortunate enough to have received the SA offer at the end of sophomore year and received a return offer after junior summer.
After seeing how insane on-cycle is (well, was) this year, I'm starting to look even extra ahead of "the timeline" in this industry.
My goal is to eventually transition to HF, and I'm wondering a million things about the process for that.
Do I need to be in contact with HHs now, like how IB analysts are well in contact with HHs their PE ASO processes?
Will the MFPE name help me get in front of HFs, even though I'm an analyst, or do I need to at least wait for ASO promote?
How do I land and ace interviews at top LOs, L/S, activists, etc?
Should I even leave PE for the volatile land of HF? Is switching PE firms even heard of (sounds uncommon, don't think I would, but curious)?
Any thoughts from experts on this forum would be appreciated.
bump
What types of funds are you looking for?
I’m honestly not sure yet, but I’m trying to see how quickly I’m forced to figure that out with this post.
Honestly open to anything - LOs like Lone Pine, L/S SM Tiger Cubs, activist funds like Pershing, Third Point, and even crossovers like Coatue or Dragoneer - they all sound like a dream.
I think my time in PE will help narrow down what I like (if I hate PE, activist may not be the move, and vice versa. I’m just concerned right now on how I should even be approaching it. There doesn’t seem to be anything straightforward to it like IB Analyst or PE ASO recruiting.
Lone Pine is not LO. Bill Ackman has gone on record and said that he would be surprised if Pershing is doing shorting or activism in the future. It’s effectively a LO now. Third Point is a multi-strat and also have a L/S arm
You’re right that the process is not structured generally, and spots at these places come up very rarely - just look at how infrequently Lone Pine / Tiger hire. Given that, would just try to network with investment professionals at these places - should be doable given how many of them come from PE backgrounds. Just need know when they start looking because a lot of them will just go through referrals as opposed to broader structured searches. Will also help you narrow down what type of fund you’re looking for.
Only piece of advice here is to do your research now. Your time in PE isn't going to do the slightest to help you figure out what you like. You should peruse WSO and try to speak to analysts at each fund / strat to get a sense of what the jobs are like. PE will just be two years of your life gone, 80+ hrs/week of pounding the pavement and you'll wake up one day wondering where all that time went. Try to have a rough roadmap sketched out in your mind as early as possible – ideally before you hit the MF desk.
Btw know a few PE AN exited to Citadel. Not sure if pod shop is ur thing tho
Tiger is still probably the best place in finance to work at. Everyone who says otherwise are just envious that they were able to produce multiple billionaires/centimillionaires essentially riding levered tech for 10 years. They still manage 60 billion and have Like 15 investment professionals. If you’re at an Apollo, this may be the only shop worthy of leaving Apollo for if your goal is comp but those Apollo guys get paid so it really is a matter of whether you want to be a crossover investor or a value-oriented PE investor. If you’re at a BX or something, there should be no question in your mind if you get a Tiger offer. Take it. Period. Lone Pine, as well, but the founder is old and hedge funds aren’t known for succession. Pershing square, it appears ackman is too focused on being a political influencer as opposed to an investor.
Is this referring to Tiger Global, or all Tiger Cubs? And if the former, isnt Tiger Global in a bad spot for being so blindly levered tech?
Tiger Global. They are but let’s not forget that Pershing square went through 4 years of underperformance in the 2010s before turning it around. Tiger had delivered great performance since inception before the 2022 debacle, hence why they were able to accumulate 100bn+ in assets. They are currently up 13% YTD so I believe that they will recover soon; especially once rates come down and they are able to ride the next bull run. If youre solving for comp, don’t think you can get much better than a shop that manages 60bn amongst 15 investment professionals. Period.
Side question - why Apollo? Obv everyone knows they pay extremely well at the junior levels, insane hours, and promotion. But in terms of a senior career, they are publicly traded (half the carry gone), fees and returns compression coming soon to private equity, and are getting overcrowded (as evidenced by the extra layer of promotion added).
Dont get me wrong, still an offer really nobody turns down, but wouldn’t it make more sense for some of the privately held, higher AUM & low IP PE firms to be better in terms of pure senior comp? Like Thoma, Vista, H&F, Advent, etc?
You are correct but the fact of the matter, APO senior levels are populated with really only like 6-7 performing partners in the NY office. The co-heads are paid in stock. Don’t know if carry is split 50-50 with public shareholders but nonetheless, from what I’ve heard, some of those tenured partners have carry in the 100’s of millions. You’ll prob find some pretty crazy real estate purchases by some of these people if you do some digging. Also, to your point, the bar is far higher for promotion (however, don’t think there is an extra level of promotion) but if you can cut it and play the political game well, then there is bo better place to be in PE or perhaps finance with the exception of Tiger (if you want to be a crossover investor)
What makes APO that much better than BX? Is it comp?
I would focus on understanding the differences between these firms / strategies so you will be able to make a better decision as to which owns to pursue.
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