No transparency to book and P&L - is this normal?
Just wondering if it is common in HF for the PM not to show their book to the analyst? This is my 2nd job in HF, and unlike my previous fund, the PM refused to show/share what is in the book and P&L even though I have worked there for a year. I have difficulty prioritizing research effectively or protecting the portfolio without knowing what is in the book or how positions are sized. My PM said this is so that I do not get biased. But I do get blamed when positions were not taken down in time when the sentiment shifted for some investments...
I doubt this is helpful for my career development. I've heard similar stories in other funds, but I'm curious if this is normal? How do you learn how to risk manage or perform well in such an environment?
"My PM said this is so that I do not get biased."
Sounds like he doesn't want you to see a red PnL number.
Let’s be serious it’s obviously #3 and #4.
I’ve seen this before. Generally I think it’s really dumb.
it’s a bad sign since it signals lack of teamwork or trust. And it’s not efficient
leaving you guessing and feeling like you’re on the outside
But it can also be so you don’t waste time watching the p&l and so you don’t get biased and focus on other stuff.
Or they want you to have independent thoughts on a name and not be biased about what’s in or out of the book
I’m in this situation and have seen it happen to one other person. This situation is not normal. The primary reason for this is to pay you less and limit your ability to advance your career. Nobody will hire you if you can’t point to a track, and a paper book is meaningless. Furthermore, he will tell people you have nothing to do with PnL. An analyst hire in this persons mind is not part of a PnL generating team. Rather, the analyst is equivalent to an external research subscription that he just decided to bring in house. You will only see downside and none of the upside. I would encourage you to not believe a word this person says. Get out of this as fast as possible it will derail your career.
Could you please explain why it would result in paying less and ability to advance career. Ideally an Analyst knows how well their position is performing and what the estimated position size is. I'm in this boat and early in my career, but have no visibility into the portfolio on a day-to-day basis.
"why result in paying less?" - Well, I had a few successful pitches that made my PM money, but I did not get any acknowledgement - neither verbally nor through the bonus. I could not make a case because I have no access to the actual P&L or the detailed attribution by name; I only have emails, investment memos, and a paper book, which were practically useless.
I care more about the latest positions and sizing in my day-to-day, less so about the real-time P&L. In my previous fund, I could easily prioritize my work and react quickly, but now I spend a lot of time guessing.
Thank you all for the feedback and advice!
He can claim whatever he wants regarding your contribution. It's just another lever to screw you. You think you have some kind of ownership but you don't. Your work is simply an academic exercise that he may or may not use and you will have zero visibility in that. You are simply a subscription service he pays for that he decides not to pay in bad years. That is all. You are not meant to be part of a productive team. There is no incentive to work for these people. The biggest thing (which has happened to me so I assume has happened to others) is that in bad years you get completely hosed and in great years you don't get made up for it.
There are more tells as to whether this is true in your situation. A major tell is that the PM doesn't want to explore ideas that aren't his own, or doesnt care for anything that isnt his explicit direction. He will not appreciate it if you go out of your way to do it. It will be tossed in the bin. In this situation even if you see the book you will get not get treated fairly as at the end of the year he will say you only do what he tells you to do (not true even in his own domain).
I was in this situation once. It did not turn out well. Get out as soon as possible.
My PM gave me every excuse but what it really was - they never made money, didn’t tell us our team was doing badly until year end, zero’ed us at bonus, when they got flack internally blamed the analysts, fired people to save their ass. I learned nothing from them - was a massive setback. Made recruiting extremely hard. That plus sitouts were 3+ years lost. Leave as soon as you are able.
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