For those who have made the jump or know someone who made the jump from MFPE (KKR, APO, BX, SL, H&F, etc) to a top SM HF (Tiger, Lone pIne, Pershing square, Coatue, D1, Viking), have you or they regretted and wished they had stayed at their PE shop?
I moved into a large ($10BN+) SM seat from top tier PE and don't regret anything. Pros: (1) comp is higher faster, (2) as a "senior analyst" I now completely own my investment process and determine how I allocate my time, (3) much wider range of transactions and trades (e.g. distressed, privates, short), (4) generally less deal minutiae (especially on publics). Cons: (1) in theory less stable comp, (2) fewer internal safety nets.
Before anyone asks, comp progression is below:
PE Yr 2: $450k
HF Yr 1: $500k (good year for fund)
HF Yr 2: $550k (ok year for fund)
HF Yr 3: $1.5MM (good year for fund, good year for my investments)
HF Yr 4: $1.1MM (slightly down year for fund, good year for my investments)
I know you’re a senior analyst, but does your fund have a MD / Partner / PM type title where you get a formulaic payout / carry / points in GP? How long do you think it takes to get to that level and what is comp like at that level?
Do you regret not doing pure public equities or do you enjoy cross cap stack event equity and credit style (im guessing that’s what you do?)? Could you have gotten this seat without top MF?
Works at Apollo Global Management
Anonymous
1y
I did try pure L/S equity for a year (at another $10BN+ SM) and I absolutely hated being a purely passive investor, despite performing well. In my view, buying / selling stock and betting (hoping) that the market will reward your view is "passive" investing and not wholly dissimilar from just day-trading as a sole proprietor. I much more enjoy having actual agency over the outcomes of my investments and this is commensurate with a much more people-oriented work cadence (e.g. building consensus with a company/board, with other funds in a restructuring process, more advisor engagement).
There is a path to partnership and managing a subset of the fund's overall strategy - that is probably ~5 years away.
I moved into a large ($10BN+) SM seat from top tier PE and don't regret anything. Pros: (1) comp is higher faster, (2) as a "senior analyst" I now completely own my investment process and determine how I allocate my time, (3) much wider range of transactions and trades (e.g. distressed, privates, short), (4) generally less deal minutiae (especially on publics). Cons: (1) in theory less stable comp, (2) fewer internal safety nets.
Before anyone asks, comp progression is below:
PE Yr 2: $450k
HF Yr 1: $500k (good year for fund)
HF Yr 2: $550k (ok year for fund)
HF Yr 3: $1.5MM (good year for fund, good year for my investments)
HF Yr 4: $1.1MM (slightly down year for fund, good year for my investments)
Agree with above. My average comp since joining HF (3 years ago) is ~$1.5M.
Have you guys been at these HFs long enough to have peers get pushed out or told they won't be moving up the chain (or at similar funds to yours)? A lot is made of HF being really high risk after doing 2+2, but would love to hear where you see people land after a multi-billion SM if it doesn't work out after a few years. For example, can you roll into a family office's public team (making close to 7 figures?), smaller HFs with (decent?) comp, etc.?
Ya actually struggling to think of firms where there's distressed credit + active/activist equity + privates where this is true besides Elliot, Baupost, Third Point, DK and Apollo HF. Even at some of those names it would appear the teams are somewhat siloed.
Plenty of distressed credit funds do invest in value equity but looking at Redwood + Knighthead 13-F, compared to overall HF AUM, there's pretty minimal equity that's not a reorg equity. Not really sure what's up with Appaloosa these days either, supposed to return outside money but ended up keeping a little.
Voluptatem debitis quod voluptates id commodi a. Temporibus vero perferendis et qui. Repellendus sapiente exercitationem sit voluptatem eum eius voluptas. Distinctio delectus magnam qui qui omnis non.
Nesciunt error nemo sunt mollitia hic et. Doloribus in quod et suscipit. Qui consequatur et unde est rem. Ab voluptatem distinctio voluptatem nihil reprehenderit facere iste.
Non eaque hic hic possimus commodi. Delectus deserunt et omnis minus optio. Accusantium velit veniam magni cum sit.
Blanditiis animi aut veniam hic. Qui saepe et aut nihil itaque voluptatem nobis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
Ut error culpa ullam qui itaque nostrum aliquam sed. Et incidunt qui mollitia. Recusandae dolorum aliquam dolore.
Hic sequi est quidem ipsa voluptatum nisi voluptatum. Eveniet rerum fuga ut qui et ea maiores. Delectus qui pariatur aliquam illo rem aut dolore placeat. Pariatur quidem omnis quia ex. Perspiciatis nisi debitis quia qui ut aut architecto magnam. Optio quia rerum voluptatem cupiditate molestiae omnis quos. Ipsa modi vel dolor aliquam a qui dolorem.
Earum ea voluptatem asperiores perspiciatis fugiat. Fugiat culpa nihil dolorum quasi itaque.
Sorry, you need to login or sign up in order to vote. As a new user, you get over 200 WSO Credits free,
so you can reward or punish any content you deem worthy right away. See you on the other side!
Will let you know how it goes
How did it go lol
If you had an offer from Bridgewater and one from Lone Pine - both for investment roles - which would you take?
Lone Pine
This is a dumb question bc bridgewayer is a quant / risk parity shop and lone pine is traditional long short equity.
Math / physics majors go to bridgewater and econ majors go to lone pine (generalizing).
nah polisci majors go to bridgewater, math majors go to HRT
1st wave finance movement: Genius maths/ physics majors go to math/ physics jobs, soft econ bros go to HF
2nd wave finance movement: Math/ physics majors go to Bridgewater, soft econ bros go to Lone Pine
3rd wave finance movement: Math majors go to Jane Street/ Optiver/ HFT/ RenTech, soft econ bros go to Bridgewater
4th wave finance movement: Math/ physics geniuses go to math/ physics jobs, soft econ bros go to HF
I made this move and do not regret it
What was your Y1 comp on the HF side? Also moved to SM HF post-PE but pretty sure I’m getting underpaid (~$400k) so wanted to understand the delta
Moved last year after 2+3 and I’m at $500-$700K
What’s your approx AUM? Coming straight from PE analyst or 2+2? Good bad or average year for the firm?
Can you explain why? What’s better?
What’s the all in comp ball park?
I moved into a large ($10BN+) SM seat from top tier PE and don't regret anything. Pros: (1) comp is higher faster, (2) as a "senior analyst" I now completely own my investment process and determine how I allocate my time, (3) much wider range of transactions and trades (e.g. distressed, privates, short), (4) generally less deal minutiae (especially on publics). Cons: (1) in theory less stable comp, (2) fewer internal safety nets.
Before anyone asks, comp progression is below:
PE Yr 2: $450k
HF Yr 1: $500k (good year for fund)
HF Yr 2: $550k (ok year for fund)
HF Yr 3: $1.5MM (good year for fund, good year for my investments)
HF Yr 4: $1.1MM (slightly down year for fund, good year for my investments)
Impressive, good work
I know you’re a senior analyst, but does your fund have a MD / Partner / PM type title where you get a formulaic payout / carry / points in GP? How long do you think it takes to get to that level and what is comp like at that level?
Do you regret not doing pure public equities or do you enjoy cross cap stack event equity and credit style (im guessing that’s what you do?)? Could you have gotten this seat without top MF?
I did try pure L/S equity for a year (at another $10BN+ SM) and I absolutely hated being a purely passive investor, despite performing well. In my view, buying / selling stock and betting (hoping) that the market will reward your view is "passive" investing and not wholly dissimilar from just day-trading as a sole proprietor. I much more enjoy having actual agency over the outcomes of my investments and this is commensurate with a much more people-oriented work cadence (e.g. building consensus with a company/board, with other funds in a restructuring process, more advisor engagement).
There is a path to partnership and managing a subset of the fund's overall strategy - that is probably ~5 years away.
Agree with above. My average comp since joining HF (3 years ago) is ~$1.5M.
Have you guys been at these HFs long enough to have peers get pushed out or told they won't be moving up the chain (or at similar funds to yours)? A lot is made of HF being really high risk after doing 2+2, but would love to hear where you see people land after a multi-billion SM if it doesn't work out after a few years. For example, can you roll into a family office's public team (making close to 7 figures?), smaller HFs with (decent?) comp, etc.?
What are some example funds that have yours' attributes? Being high AUM SMs that invest across the capital stack
Elliott, third point, who else?
Some of the larger guys are: Appaloosa, Apollo HF, Baupost, Canyon, DK, Elliott, Knighthead, Redwood, Third Point.
Ya actually struggling to think of firms where there's distressed credit + active/activist equity + privates where this is true besides Elliot, Baupost, Third Point, DK and Apollo HF. Even at some of those names it would appear the teams are somewhat siloed.
Plenty of distressed credit funds do invest in value equity but looking at Redwood + Knighthead 13-F, compared to overall HF AUM, there's pretty minimal equity that's not a reorg equity. Not really sure what's up with Appaloosa these days either, supposed to return outside money but ended up keeping a little.
Does it truly matter which MF you are at? Do you get knocked if you at a Bain vs a BX or at SL vs Carlyle?
Wait are you saying Bain is like less prestigious than BX or SL less than Carlyle? If so that’s a bit of a hot take haha
Voluptatem debitis quod voluptates id commodi a. Temporibus vero perferendis et qui. Repellendus sapiente exercitationem sit voluptatem eum eius voluptas. Distinctio delectus magnam qui qui omnis non.
Nesciunt error nemo sunt mollitia hic et. Doloribus in quod et suscipit. Qui consequatur et unde est rem. Ab voluptatem distinctio voluptatem nihil reprehenderit facere iste.
Non eaque hic hic possimus commodi. Delectus deserunt et omnis minus optio. Accusantium velit veniam magni cum sit.
Blanditiis animi aut veniam hic. Qui saepe et aut nihil itaque voluptatem nobis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ut error culpa ullam qui itaque nostrum aliquam sed. Et incidunt qui mollitia. Recusandae dolorum aliquam dolore.
Hic sequi est quidem ipsa voluptatum nisi voluptatum. Eveniet rerum fuga ut qui et ea maiores. Delectus qui pariatur aliquam illo rem aut dolore placeat. Pariatur quidem omnis quia ex. Perspiciatis nisi debitis quia qui ut aut architecto magnam. Optio quia rerum voluptatem cupiditate molestiae omnis quos. Ipsa modi vel dolor aliquam a qui dolorem.
Earum ea voluptatem asperiores perspiciatis fugiat. Fugiat culpa nihil dolorum quasi itaque.