People who made the jump from MFPE to SM HF

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?

 

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

 
Funniest

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

 
Most Helpful

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.

 

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.

 

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.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (250) $85
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”